Carnegie Mellon Qatar Professor, Amal Al-Malki, keynote speaker at international language conference in New York

DOHA, QATAR – Amal Al-Malki, executive director of Qatar Foundation’s Translation and Interpreting Institute and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar was the keynote speaker at the Language and Popular Culture Conference at Baruch College in New York City. Al-Malki is the first Arab and Muslim speaker since the conference began in 1999.

Al-Malki’s speech drew on themes from her recently published book, Arab Women in Arab News: Old Stereotypes and New Media.

The book addresses views of Arab women built up by the Western media. She noted that despite the portrayal of Arab women by the Western media as “veiled and voiceless,” the Arab media has recently been a catalyst in highlighting many of the unheralded achievements of Arab women.

Al-Malki is renowned for her role in empowering Arab women through her writings, public talks, and university lectures. She stated the she “welcomes every opportunity to contribute to constructing new images of Arab women and breaking the historical Western images and stereotypes of us. Arab women are emerging as leaders and have been participating in changing history in Arab societies.”

As an assistant teaching professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Al-Malki teaches courses in writing composition, post-colonial literature, theories of translation and Islamic feminism. Al-Malki is the only Qatari faculty in Education City and a Qatar Foundation Achiever. Her research interests also include identity relationships between East and West and post-colonial literature.

Following her speech, Wayne Finke, deputy chair of the Department of Modern Languages at Baruch College said: “Several of my students from this summer’s class were excited to attend the talk, and learn about Dr. Al-Malki’s views.”

Finke, who has been running the annual conferences since 1999, added: “I had seen her article in The Economist back in August 2010, and was very much impressed. This year, we deliberately scheduled the conference earlier so that she could attend.”

Sohair Soukkary, professor of Arabic at Baruch College, was delighted to attend. She has written a review of Al-Malki’s book, which is scheduled to appear in Baruch College’s journal next month.

Al-Malki’s articles have been published in numerous scholarly journals. Her book, The Writer’s Craft: Teaching Creative Writing in Qatar, was published as a part of Doha, the Arab City of Culture of 2010. Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation published her book, Arab Women in Arab News: Old Stereotypes and New Media, earlier this year.