Wikipedia

Mafaz Al-Suwaidan

Mafaz Al-Suwaidan is a Kuwaiti American academic and current doctoral candidate at Harvard University. She is also a producer and writer for American Muslims (2024),[1] a PBS film series about Muslims in America.[2]

Mafaz Al-Suwaidan
Born
Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
EducationHarvard University (PhD candidate)
Harvard Divinity School (MTS)
Emerson College (MFA)
Toronto Metropolitan University (BJourn)
SpouseHumood AlKhudher
FatherTareq Al-Suwaidan
Websitemafazalsuwaidan.com

Early and personal life

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Al-Suwaidan was born in Oklahoma, the Sooner state, to Islamic author and speaker, Tareq Al-Suwaidan,[3][unreliable source?] a leader of Kuwait's Muslim Brotherhood.[4][5] Although she was born in the US, she grew up in Kuwait,[6] and has also lived in Canada.[7]

In 2010, Mafaz married Kuwaiti singer-songwriter Humood AlKhudher.[8][unreliable source?]

Education

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Al-Suwaidan received her undergraduate degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) in 2011.[9] She then worked briefly as a journalist in Kuwait.[10][11][12] In 2016, she received her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts.[13][7]

She earned a Master of Theological Study (MTS) degree from Harvard Divinity School in 2018.[14] She is currently a PhD candidate at Harvard University in Philosophy of Religion, focused on Islam and Modern Thought, with a secondary degree in African and African American Studies. She is also a member of the university's Committee on the Study of Religion.[15]

She has been named as Dorothy Porter & Charles Harris Wesley Fellow for 2024—2025 by the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.[16]

Activism

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Al-Suwaidan is and has long been a supporter of social justice, human rights, and specifically, Palestinian liberation, in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[17]

She has participated in conversations and writings about racism in the Arab world in context of the Black Lives Matter movement.[18][19] She started the #ArabsForBlackLives campaign with Egyptian-American community organizer, Rana Abdel Hamid, about how Arabs can work to fight against anti-Black racism.[20][21]

In 2021, when philosopher Cornel West had threatened to (and eventually did) leave Harvard after his request for tenure was denied; Al-Suwaidan, who had trained with West as a master's student, organized a letter of support for him, which was signed by more than 60 other doctoral candidates.[22]

She was one of the representatives of HGSU-UAW who wrote a letter in February 2024 to Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), on behalf of the UAW Arab Caucus, demanding the union divest from Israel.[23]

In March 2024, she withdrew her participation from a Lowell House panel on antisemitism and Islamophobia, following a lack of institutional support for the event.[24] Lowell House Faculty Deans and the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics had removed themselves as co-sponsors for the panel, after some HDS students complained that "the event failed to include Jewish and Zionist voices". The students had criticized the moderator's affiliation with Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, which had reposted an antisemitic cartoon on Instagram,[25] and Al-Suwaidan's social media posts about Israel and Palestine allegedly equating Zionism with Nazism.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Creative Team". American Muslims. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  2. ^ "The Project". American Muslims. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  3. ^ "Pro-Jihad Kuwaiti Islamic Scholar And Muslim Brotherhood Leader Tareq Al-Suwaidan: Muslims In The West Should Advocate Against Zionism On University Campuses — Like My Daughter At Harvard". MEMRI. 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  4. ^ Faramarzi, Scheherezade (2012-04-18). "Kuwait's Muslim Brotherhood". Jadaliyya. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  5. ^ "TV preacher fired for Brotherhood links". Al Jazeera. 2013-08-18. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  6. ^ "HDS Viewbook by Harvard Divinity School". issuu.com. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  7. ^ a b Adams, Heather; Al-Suwaidan, Mafaz; Bains, Chamandeep; Mann, Sharon Cairns; Campbell, Catherine; Domenicucci, Julia; Fritz, M. Leanne; Fulton, Christina; Hausler, Kat (2015-08-04). Rozlyn: Short Fiction by Women Writers. Rozlyn Press. ISBN 978-0-9833260-2-1.
  8. ^ Mahmoud, Rowaida (2023-03-08). "من هي زوجة حمود الخضر" [Who is Hamoud Al-Khader's wife?]. موقع نواعم (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  9. ^ Vandezande, Luke (2011-02-09). "Egypt hits close to home". archive.ryersonian.ca. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  10. ^ Al-Suwaidan, Mafaz (2011-07-14). "Poetry as a reflection of life". Kuwait Times. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-05-05 – via Issuu.
  11. ^ Al-Suwaidan, Mafaz (2011-07-15). "SPEAK up to be heard: 'People would rather suffer in "psy-lence" than get treatment'". Friday Times. Retrieved 2024-05-05 – via Issuu.
  12. ^ Nurulain, Lisa (2015-06-24). "Gambar Isteri Humood Alkhuder" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  13. ^ "Emersonian 2016". issuu.com. 2017-05-15. p. 104. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  14. ^ "2018 HDS Dean's Report by Harvard Divinity School". issuu.com. 2018-12-10. p. 33. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  15. ^ "Mafaz Al-Suwaidan". studyofreligion.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  16. ^ "Mafaz Al-Suwaidan". hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  17. ^ Al-Suwaidan, Mafaz (2008-05-30). "More than just a chic checkered scarf". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  18. ^ Daoudi, Safae. "Understanding Racism in the Arab World". The Daily Q. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  19. ^ Biskup, Holly-Rose (2020-08-21). "Black Lives Matter in the Middle East and North Africa". YDS. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  20. ^ "Missing in Plain Sight: Who Are the Afro-Arabs and Where Are They in the World?". Amaliah. 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  21. ^ Hsieh, Eileen (2020-07-03). "Arab-Americans tackling anti-Blackness in the Middle East". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  22. ^ Krantz, Laura (2021-03-08). "Cornel West leaving Harvard teaching post after tenure dispute". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  23. ^ MLToday (2024-03-04). "UAW Arab Caucus Demands Stronger UAW Action on Palestine". Marxism-Leninism Today. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  24. ^ Montgomery, Asher J. (2024-03-21). "Lowell Panel on Islamophobia and Antisemitism Canceled After Panelists Withdraw". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  25. ^ Amponsah, Michelle N.; Kim, Joyce E. (2024-02-20). "As Harvard Warns of Disciplinary Action, Pro-Palestine Groups Apologize for Antisemitic Image". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  26. ^ Montgomery, Asher J. (2024-03-20). "Lowell House Deans, Safra Center Denounce Panel on Antisemitism and Islamophobia Following Backlash". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
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