February 28, 2008

Dr. Sunaina Maira, an Asian American Studies professor at University of California, Davis, will speak at California State University, Fresno about “‘Good’ Muslim, ‘Bad’ Muslim: Youth, Terrorists and Feminists.”

Maira’s talk will be presented from 6 to 8 p.m. April 10 in the Alice Peters Auditorium within the University Business Center (5245 N. Backer Ave.) under sponsorship of the Women’s Studies Program.

Maira won the American Book Award in 1997 for co-editing “Contours of the Heart: South Asians Map North America.” Her current book project is on South Asian Muslim immigrant youth and issues of citizenship and empire after Sept. 11, 2001. Research for the book -- funded by the Russell Sage Foundation – forms the basis for her Fresno State talk.

She will discuss experiences of Muslim youth from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh living in the U.S. after Sept. 11, grappling with issues well before and after that event, said Dr. Roksana Badruddoja, an assistant professor in the Women's Studies Program who is coordinating Maira’s visit.

“Dr. Maira’s research explores the meaning of national belonging and citizenship for South Asian Muslim immigrant youth” in light of U.S. reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and at the Pentagon, the war on terror and American ethnocentrism, Badruddoja said.

For more information, contact Badruddoja at 559.278.2858.