Bio
Nehal is a first-generation CUNY graduate and current PhD candidate at Rutgers NB with a background in the activist, non-profit and human rights sectors. Her areas of interest are US/Middle East geopolitics, emotion, affect, and Islamophobia. Her project examines pivotal moments in US/Middle East history during the 21st century and argues that Arab emotion has been pathologized, policed, and prohibited through the figure of the terrorist and its propensity to be both hyper-emotional yet (somehow also) apathetic. She resides in Philadelphia with her two children and their trio of cats.
Preferred Pronoun: She/Her/Hers
Fellowships/Grants/Awards:
- Women Hold Up the Sky Award, 2019
- Center for Middle East Studies Research Grant, 2024