Moderated by Joseph R. Farag, author of Politics and Palestinian Literature in Exile and assistant professor of modern Arab studies at the University of Minnesota where his scholarship and teaching focus is on the intersection of history, politics and cultural production in the Arab world. He is the board chair of New Arab American Theater Works.

Moderated by Khaldoun Samman, a professor of sociology at Macalester College. He is the author of several books, including Islam and the Orientalist World-System; Cities of God and Nationalism: Mecca, Jerusalem and Rome as Contested World Cities; and The Clash of Modernities: The Islamist Challenge to Jewish, Turkish and Arab Nationalism. He also teaches and plays the derbeke — the traditional Arab drum. 

Moderated by Andrea Shaker, a professor of art at the College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University. She earned her B.A. from Georgetown University and M.F.A. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is visual artist and writer. As an Arab American, her work explores questions of home and homeland. She serves on the executive board of New Arab American Theater Works.

Moderated by Anh-Thu Pham, a refugee from Vietnam. Raised in Minnesota and inspired by her family’s example of community service, she has worked as an activist on issues from anti-war to the more recent Asians for Black Lives Matter movement. Pham has worked at the University of Minnesota for over 20 years and currently serves on the boards of many local theaters, including New Arab American Theater Works.

Moderated by Lana Salah Barkawi, Ph.D., the executive and artistic director of Mizna, a critical platform for Arab film, literature and art. She serves as publisher of the art and literary journal Mizna: Prose, Poetry and Art Exploring Arab America and oversees Mizna’s Twin Cities Arab Film Festival.