Discussing street harassment through media at AUB
The following project tackles the issue of verbal harassment on the streets of Lebanon and was completed by students at the American University of Beirut for a course on digital media literacy.
Project by: Ghalia Al Alwani and Rani Varma
Course: MCOM 241 – Digital and Media Literacy
Instructor: Sarah Mallat
University: American University of Beirut
Prompt: Students were asked to complete a critical research-oriented investigation into some aspect of mass media using a digital format (blog, video, podcast, photo essay, etc). The project involves the application of media literacy concepts with a topic relevant to Lebanon or the Arab world, including a review of previous literature about the topic, as well as originally created material by the students.
Instructor comment: “I am very proud of and impressed with what these two young women were able to put together in such a short time-frame (a little over two weeks). They did such a great job of explaining the context, framing the issue within the broader problematic of patriarchal culture in Lebanon and the lack of women’s rights as a whole, and giving pertinent examples from both everyday life and the mainstream/traditional media. They also really focused on the role the media plays in normalizing such behavior, and included expert opinions on how to ameliorate the situation. This is a perfect example of how and why it is important to be both media literate and digitally literate in our day and age of information overload and rampant misinformation. These young women, Ghalia Al Alwani and Rani Varma, were able to use the skills they learned in this class to create an informative and critical media package that raises awareness about an issue that is important to them and more broadly is an issue that concerns Lebanese society at large.”
Disclaimer: This section aims to highlight work being done to tackle issues related to discrimination and sexual harassment in relation to gender and sexuality within the Lebanese landscape. The statements expressed in these posts do not necessarily reflect KIP’s views and are highlighted in an ultimate effort to encourage dialogue about these issues.