Screening and Discussion of “1948: Creation and Catastrophe” with Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb (CSUSB) and Dr. Steven Rousso-Schindler (CSULB)

Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb is a professor of media studies and the graduate coordinator of the Department of Communication Studies at CSUSB. Her research interests include digital communication, digital resistance & decolonization, social justice, and diasporic communities. Her research has appeared in national and international publications, such as the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication and Arab Studies Quarterly and has been presented at national and international conferences. Her documentary “1948: Creation & Catastrophe” was screened at over 20 film festivals, universities, and community organizations worldwide. The film won the Jerusalem International Film Festival’s 2019 Special Jury Award in the Feature Documentary category. She is currently working on a study of Palestinian digital resistance and decolonizing digital spaces. She was the producer and lead researcher of the documentary “36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime,” which centered on the three young Muslims murdered in Chapel Hill in 2015 and the discussion of hate crimes, Islamophobia, and racism in the United States. The film had its global premiere at the Doc NYC Film Festival in November of 2023 and won the Subject Matter Grant for Audience Outreach and Impact Efforts.

Dr. Steven Rousso-Schindler is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at CSULB. He is a visual anthropologist and Middle East anthropologist. His anthropological research is primarily conducted in Palestine/Israel, where he focuses on understanding national narratives from a theoretical perspective—how different stories about historical and contemporary events are told in Israel/Palestine, especially as they are represented in the Israeli and Palestinian media. His current research analyzes the impact the Israel apartheid wall/separation fence has on Palestinian social and cultural practices. Dr. Rousso-Schindler has also participated in producing many ethnographic and documentary films. The topics of these films include environmental activism near the port in West Oakland, California, green home-building in the United States, and social/cultural changes in rural China. He had a film screened on PBS and other films screened at anthropological and documentary film festivals, including the Society for Visual Anthropology Film, Video, and Interactive Media Festival.