Education: BA, Harding University, 2010; MA, Saint Louis University, 2016; PhD, University of Missouri, 2020 At SPU since 2020.
Sara Shaban identifies as a critical/cultural scholar focused on the intersections between media, women’s social movements, and geopolitics in the Middle East. Shaban’s academic work is rooted within the theoretical frameworks of transnationalism and femonationalism. Her award-winning research is published in the International Journal of Communication, Communication and Critical Cultural Studies, and Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism.
Prior to life in academia, Shaban worked in U.S. local news as a producer before pursuing freelance journalism in Israel, the West Bank, and Sierra Leone. Shaban is fueled by her passion for social justice, specifically for immigrants and refugees. She was involved in initiatives to improve conditions for incoming refugees during the 2015 crisis and served as a volunteer and board member for the Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Program in St. Louis. Additionally, she served as the communications director for the St. Louis based NGO Project Peanut Butter — an organization committed to the eradication of child malnutrition throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Read Sara's introductory article here.
Selected Publications
- Shaban, S. (2020). Teenagers, Terrorism, and Technopanic: How British Newspapers Framed Female ISIS Recruits as Victims of Social Media. International Journal of Communication. 14, 535-555.
- Mislan, C. and Shaban, S. (2019). “To Ferguson, Love Palestine”: Mediating Life Under Occupation. Communication and Critical Cultural Studies. 16(1), 43-60. DOI: 10.1080/14791420.2019.1594325
For additional publications, please see Dr. Shaban’s CV (PDF).