{"id":1765,"date":"2025-06-10T22:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T22:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/?p=1765"},"modified":"2025-06-10T22:04:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T22:04:15","slug":"telling-difficult-truths-dr-nawal-musleh-motuts-mission-to-decolonize-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/2025\/06\/10\/telling-difficult-truths-dr-nawal-musleh-motuts-mission-to-decolonize-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Telling difficult truths: Dr. Nawal Musleh-Motut\u2019s mission to decolonize media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Telling difficult truths: Dr. Nawal Musleh-Motut\u2019s mission to decolonize media<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Fe<\/strong>aturing:<\/strong> Dr. Nawal M<\/strong>usleh-Motut \u2013 Assistant Professor, Media and Communication<\/strong><\/p>\n

From classrooms to critical resistance, Dr. Nawal Musleh-Motut brings both vision and voice to the study of media and communication. A scholar, teacher, and advocate with deep roots in decolonial and social justice pedagogy, she challenges students not only to learn about the world\u2014but to help change it.<\/p>\n

Nawal joins the School of Culture, Media, and Society at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) as an Assistant Professor of Media and Communication, offering courses like \u201cDecolonizing Media,\u201d \u201cStorytellin<\/span>g, Photography, and Resistance,\u201d and \u201cGender and Media.\u201d Her research is shaped by lived experience, and her teaching is grounded in care, critique, and courage.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this conversation, Nawal shares her journey as an educator, the driving forces behind her research, and the words she carries into every classroom.<\/p>\n

College of Arts: Could you start by sharing a bit about your journey as an educator?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nawal:<\/strong> Prior to joining UFV, I spent eleven years teaching undergraduate research, media, and communication courses grounded in decolonial, critical race, and intersectional social justice theory and practice.<\/p>\n

As an educator, my main goal is to equip diverse students with the ability and confidence to apply communication and media related theories, methods, and practical skills through a decolonizing, anti-racist, and socially just lens, both inside and outside of the university.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, I\u2019ve been successful in achieving my teachings goals across a wide range and level of interdisciplinary undergraduate courses, but I\u2019m constantly striving to advance my understanding and application of educational theory and practice.<\/p>\n

For example, my postdoctoral research highlights the dangers and counters the consequences of institutional performances of equity, diversity, and inclusion, which support the neocolonial and neoliberal status quo, by creating decolonial and just futurities through teaching and learning \u2013 that is, by imagining what such a future might look like and then working to create it in the present using the pathways, tools, and resources currently available to us.<\/p>\n

Two major components of this research were the Decolonial Teaching and Learning Seminar Series<\/em><\/a> and the Decolonizing and Indigenizing STEM Website<\/em><\/a>, in which my student research assistants and I helped faculty members apply decolonial thinking and doing to their own learning and teaching.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m excited to apply the lessons learned from this project to my teaching, research, and service at UFV.<\/p>\n

CoA: What inspired you to specialize in your field?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nawal:<\/strong> My research, writing, and teaching are all influenced by my lived experience as a Settler of Palestinian descent. My family left our homeland to avoid living under occupation, but this meant that we came to occupy unceded Indigenous land. As a result, I\u2019ve come to develop a kind of double vision shaped by two instances of settler colonialism. It\u2019s enabled me to critically reflect on my privileged position and responsibilities as a Canadian Settler, while simultaneously binding me in solidarity with Indigenous struggles for decolonization, sovereignty, and justice.<\/p>\n

Experiences like mine and countless others are significant to media and communication studies, as it\u2019s through narrative and images that settler colonial power is both sustained and, most importantly, resisted.<\/p>\n

CoA: What do you hope your students take away from your classes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nawal:<\/strong> Again, I really want my students to gain the confidence to apply what they\u2019re learning in my courses, both inside and outside of the university. This includes nurturing critical thinking and media literacy skills, as well as empathy for and solidarity with those experiencing discrimination, oppression, and\/or\u00a0 injustice.<\/p>\n

CoA: Reflecting on your career thus far, what has been the most rewarding aspect of being an educator?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nawal:<\/strong> I love working closely with students to critically grow their knowledge of themselves, others, and the world and then watching them use their learning to create a generative life for all.<\/p>\n

CoA: If you could leave a lasting message or piece of advice for your students and community, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nawal:<\/strong> My late Masters supervisor, Dr. William L. Cleveland, always told me that \u201cthe beautiful things are difficult.\u201d Although I think the phrase originates from an ancient Greek proverb, he meant that the most significant and rewarding things you\u2019ll do in life will also be the most challenging and risky. He was right! It\u2019s undoubtedly the best and most inspiring advice I\u2019ve ever received, and it continues to motivate not only my research, writing, and teaching, but also my entire life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr. Nawal Musleh-Motut brings more than knowledge to the classroom\u2014she brings vision. In her work, media becomes a mirror, a window, and a tool for change. Her teaching isn\u2019t just about information\u2014it\u2019s about imagination, resistance, and the courage to build better futures.<\/p>\n

Through her courses at UFV, students are not only invited to examine the world\u2014but to shape it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Telling difficult truths: Dr. Nawal Musleh-Motut\u2019s mission to decolonize media Featuring: Dr. Nawal Musleh-Motut \u2013 Assistant Professor, Media and Communication From classrooms to critical resistance, Dr. Nawal Musleh-Motut brings both vision and voice to the study of media and communication. A scholar, teacher, and advocate with deep roots in decolonial and social justice pedagogy, she … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":1766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[236,188],"tags":[217,14,234,72],"class_list":["post-1765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-impact","category-teaching-and-research","tag-arts-faculty","tag-faculty","tag-faculty-story","tag-faculty-success"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1765"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1767,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1765\/revisions\/1767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}