Maytha Alhassen

Dr. Maytha Alhassen is a Syrian American journalist, historian, poet, and scholar whose work spans media, academia, and social justice organizing. Alhassen holds a PhD in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California, an MA in socio-cultural anthropology from Columbia University, and a BA in political science and Arabic and Islamic studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. While at Columbia, she conducted research for the university's Malcolm X Project.

As a journalist, Alhassen has worked as an on-air host for Al Jazeera English and The Young Turks, and has contributed field reporting and commentary for outlets including CNN, Huffington Post, Mic, Boston Review, LA Review of Books, and The Baffler. She appears regularly as a guest co-host and digital producer on the current-events program "The Stream" on Al Jazeera. As a commentator, Alhassen has been featured on CNN, BET's "Finding Justice," Al Jazeera, NPR's 1A, Fusion, HuffPost Live, The Young Turks, NPR, CBC, WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer Show," and KPFK. Her editorial work includes co-editing, with Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, "Demanding Dignity: Young Voices from the Front Lines of the Arab Revolutions," a volume on narratives from the Arab uprisings.

Alhassen has contributed to Hollywood as a writer and producer focused on authentic Muslim and Arab representation. She began her work in television and film as a consultant on projects ranging from major studio productions to independent films and documentaries, served as a creative advisor for season one of Hulu's scripted series "Ramy," was promoted to staff writer for season two, and later became Co-Executive Producer for season three. She produces and writes for the Golden Globe and Peabody-winning Hulu series "Ramy" as Co-Executive Producer and serves as an Executive Producer for the docuseries "American Muslims: A History Revealed." Her research into media representation is captured in her report, "Haqq and Hollywood: Illuminating 100 Years of Muslim Tropes and How to Transform Them."

Alhassen was awarded a TED residency that culminated in the TED talk "A Poem for Syria: Beyond a Geography of Violence," which addressed her ancestral relationship to Syria and work with displaced communities. She is a Religion and Public Life Fellow in Media and Entertainment at Harvard University, a Pop Culture Collaborative Pluralist Visionaries Fellow, and a Pillars Fund Muslim Narrative Cohort Fellow. Beyond her media work, Alhassen has facilitated healing workshops incorporating art, trauma-informed yoga, meditation, and reiki for displaced people in Greece, Turkey, along the US-Mexico border, in U.S. prisons, and in fugitive spaces.

Alhassen has co-founded several social justice organizations, including the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, the Social Justice Institute at Occidental College, Believers Bail Out, and the Arabs for Black Lives collective. As both artist and organizer, she performed and wrote for the internationally touring play "Hijabi Monologues," composed of lived experiences by Muslim women. Alhassen's journalism, scholarship, and activism are deeply intertwined, shaping the narratives of Muslim and Arab communities in media, academia, and social justice spheres.