Teaching Beyond September 11th Project

Media and Representation

The negative representation of Muslims in Western mainstream media predates 9/11. In his book, Reel Bad Arabs, Jack Shaheen shares his analysis of over 1000 films featuring Muslims between 1896 and 2000. Out of 1000 films that have Arab and Muslim characters: 12 were positive depictions; 52 were balanced and approximately 900 were negative. Our curriculum picks up where Shaheen’s work left off. Not only do we show that these stereotypes continue to exist, but they have also become more insidious with the development of the “Good Muslim” character. Fortunately, in more recent years, there has been a shift with Muslims finally taking the stage in Hollywood and representing the myriad, nuanced and diverse experiences of Muslims in the world. The modules here not only look at representation in Hollywood but also in politics and sports. It will help students learn to interrogate the representations and characters they encounter in a variety of mainstream media.

2005 – Freedom of Speech  
2018 – Muslim Women and Representation  
2019 – Challenging Muslim Representation in Popular Culture