Fellows Fall Speaker Series 12/2/24

The BMRC invites you to the final session of the 2024 Fellows' Fall Speaker Series, "Muhammad Gazes: Islam, Blackness, and Resistance Cinema in the United States" on Thursday, December 4 at 12:00 p.m. CT.

Dr. Kam Copeland is an Assistant Professor in the Department of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University. Currently, he is working on a book project titled “Muhammad Gazes: Islam, Blackness, and Resistance Cinema in the United States,” which is a representational history of U.S. Black American Muslims in cinema. This project also explores how Black Muslims have employed alternative gazes to craft liberatory cinematic practices—through home video, public television, and independent film—to challenge dominant representations of Black Muslimness. His extensive review of collections this past summer at BMRC member institutions has enriched his book project. We will hear more details about Dr. Copeland's ongoing research.

ABSTRACT: This project is a representational history of U.S. Black American Muslims in cinema from 1959 to the present. It also explores how Black Muslims developed alternative gazes and liberatory cinematic practices by using accessible forms of film technology--such as public access television, public affairs television, home video, and independent film--to resist dominant representations of Black Muslimness in the mainstream U.S. media. Methodologically, this project employs a critical cultural studies framework that involves reading cinematic texts within a historical context that incorporates the production and political economy, as well as audience reception. This project is steeped in the histories of African American media production, religion, and activism.

JOIN US!