Public Affairs

AUK continued its Faculty Speaker Series with an engaging literary talk delivered by Dr. Hanan Muzaffar, Associate Professor of English Literature in the College of Arts and Sciences. The event was introduced by Dr. Salime Smadi, Chair of the Faculty Speaker Series, who welcomed attendees and provided an overview of Dr. Muzaffar’s academic background and research interests. Faculty members, students, and guests from the wider community attended the session, filling the Multipurpose Room for an afternoon of thoughtful discussion on literature, identity, and resistance.
 
Dr. Muzaffar, who joined AUK in 2015, earned her PhD from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2000, specializing in literary theory and minority writers. Her research encompasses women’s literature, minority narratives, gender studies, and comparative literature. Recently, her scholarly work has explored cyborg theory, as well as the intersection of medicine and literature. She is also involved in translating fiction and theoretical works from English to Arabic, contributing to the accessibility of literary scholarship in the region.
 
Her lecture, titled “Land, Body, and Resistance in Susan Abulhawa’s Against the Loveless World,” offered an ecofeminist analysis of Abulhawa’s acclaimed novel. Dr. Muzaffar explored how the narrative draws connections between the exploitation of the Palestinian landscape and the commodification of women’s bodies, arguing that these experiences reflect parallel forms of occupation and domination. To frame her analysis, she referenced notable ecofeminist scholars such as Vandana Shiva, Greta Gaard, and Ynestra King, whose work underscores the interconnectedness of environmental and gender-based oppression.
 
The presentation began with Dr. Muzaffar reading selected passages from the novel, introducing the audience to its protagonist, Nahr, who returns to Palestine after years of displacement. Dr. Muzaffar explained how Nahr’s personal transformation mirrors a collective Palestinian experience, where reclaiming land represents not only physical belonging but also cultural survival and bodily autonomy. She emphasized that Abulhawa uses Nahr’s character to illustrate how identity is shaped, threatened, and ultimately reconstructed through resistance.
 
Drawing connections to broader trends in Palestinian literature, Dr. Muzaffar highlighted the longstanding symbolic significance of land as both a physical and emotional anchor. She noted that Palestinian writers often depict land as intertwined with memory, heritage, and the body, forming a powerful narrative space for challenging erasure and asserting presence. According to Dr. Muzaffar, this tradition positions the land as a living entity that shapes identities and embodies the collective struggle for justice.
 
Throughout the talk, she emphasized that the degradation of the environment cannot be separated from systems of gendered, racial, and economic inequality. She explained that the same forces responsible for environmental destruction, colonialism, militarization, and patriarchal capitalism, also perpetuate violence against marginalized communities, particularly women. In Abulhawa’s novel, protecting the land becomes an act of defiance, just as preserving dignity and selfhood becomes a form of resistance.
 
Audience members engaged in a lively discussion following the presentation, asking questions about the role of literature in shaping political consciousness, the evolution of ecofeminist thought, and how contemporary writers navigate themes of displacement and identity. Many attendees expressed appreciation for the interdisciplinary nature of the talk, which seamlessly blended literary theory with social and environmental scholarship.
 
The Faculty Speaker Series continues to serve as a platform for showcasing the research and expertise of AUK faculty members, enriching the academic environment by fostering dialogue across disciplines. This event underscored the value of literature as a lens through which students and community members can explore complex social issues and deepen their understanding of global narratives.