Ebtihal Mahadeen

Lecturer in Gender and Media Studies of the Middle East

Background

Dr. Mahadeen's research sits at the intersection between gender and sexuality studies, and media and cultural studies. Her research and teaching agenda focuses on the Middle East and North Africa context and in particular Jordan and the Levant.  

She has a professional background in reporting and online media, and has continued to cultivate a practice-led, not just academic, relationship with the media through various roles including Chief Editor of Jeem.me platform (specialising in producing Arabic-language content on gender and sexuality) and writing op-eds for various media outlets including The New Arab, 7iber, and Middle East Eye.

Before coming to Edinburgh, Dr. Mahadeen was a Visiting Scholar at the Council for British Research in the Levant in Amman, Jordan, and a Research Consultant with the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality.

 

Qualifications

- PhD, Women’s Studies, The University of York.

- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Responsibilities & affiliations

 

EXTERNAL APPOINTMENTS

- Advisory board member, Kohl, a journal for body gender research, Beirut, Lebanon (2016 - 2020)

- Council member, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (2016 -2019)

 

CURRENT ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

- Director of Postgraduate Research - IMES

- Deputy Director of Research - IMES

Undergraduate teaching

I am course organiser for the following courses:

  • Gender and Media in the Arab World 
  • Reading Arab Feminist Texts: Key Debates on Women's Rights in the Arab World (
  • Gendering the Middle East 

Past:

  • Research Skills and Methods for IMES Dissertations

  • Islamic and Middle Eastern Cultures

  • Research Methods and Problems in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Postgraduate teaching

I am course organiser for:

  • Gender and Media in the Arab World

I guest lecture on the following team-taught courses:

  • Critical Readings in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

  • Research Methods and Problems in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Past:

  • Diasporas of the Middle East
  • Advanced Issues in the Study of the Middle East
  • Research Skills and Methods in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

I welcome supervision enquiries on any of these areas: gender and sexuality in the MENA region, Middle Eastern and North African femininities and masculinities, contemporary Arab media, cultural politics of the Middle East and North Africa.

Current PhD students supervised

Primary supervisor:

  • Felicia Marchi Beltrao Campos (started 2022): recipient of College Research Award. Thesis title: Palestinian futurities: rap, hip-hop and future-making of Palestine
  • Moh Zamil Alivin (started 2022): Thesis title: Representations of queerness in Middle East diaspora literature
  • Margaux Gauthier (started 2024): recipient of the IMES PhD scholarship. Thesis title: LGBTQ+ Palestinians in Israel
  • El Beaton (started 2024): recipient of SGSSS 1+3 award. Thesis title: Middle Eastern trans migrants in Europe

Co-supervisor:

  • Julien Mittre (started 2020): Thesis title: Gender Discourse in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia
  • Adam Ferron (started 2018): Thesis title: Networked Public: Islamic Twitter in Salman's Saudi Arabia
  • Madiha Shwkaein (started 2024): Thesis title: Social Marginalization of Women in Arabian Gulf Fiction (2010–2020)
  • Jazaa Khaled (started 2024): Thesis title: The evolving role of Saudi Arabian women in Vision 2030

Past PhD students supervised

  • Ameerah Alshehri: The Marvellous Real in the Middle East: A Comparative Study of Magical Realism in Contemporary Women’s Fiction (completed 2022)
  • Jona Fras: Linguistic Practice on Contemporary Jordanian Radio: Publics and Participation (completed 2018)

Research summary

  • Gender and sexuality in the Middle East, particularly Jordan and the Levant
  • Arab feminist media studies
  • Digital feminism and knowledge production in the MENA
  • Sexuality in Islam
  • Gendered politics of culture in the Levant
  • The mediated constructions of Arab femininity/masculinity
  • The media as sites of hegemony and resistance

Organiser

- The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, 2017 annual conference, The University of Edinburgh

- Arab Women, Media, and Sexuality Conference, 2012, The University of York