Iman Zawahry, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Media Production, Management, and Technology lecturer, was one of about 15 academics and practitioners worldwide selected to participate in a two-day laboratory focused on humor and human rights.

The laboratory, which will take place June 15-16 in Padova, Italy, is part of the Road Less Traveled project, an initiative from the Human Rights Center at the University of Padova in cooperation with the Global Campus of Human Rights. The project explores how graduates from human rights masters’ programs use their knowledge and their skills by taking less usual career paths.

The event will include human rights advocates, academics, practitioners, comedians, cartoonists and others discussing how humor can be used more effectively to advance human rights.

Zawahry, an award-winning filmmaker, has used comedy since growing up in Panama City, Florida, to connect with people in a meaningful way. In a 2021 interview, Zawahry said “Using comedy to tell stories and to deal with the trauma that I grew up with in the South was the best way for me to dismantle what was happening in our lives and to educate myself and others through a way that really connects and relates to people.”

Her debut feature film, Americanish, is an American Muslim romantic comedy that follows two sisters and their cousin as they navigate love, careers and familial pressures in Jackson Heights, Queens. The award-winning film was recently acquired by Sony Pictures International.

Posted: May 18, 2023
Category: College News
Tagged as: Americanish, Comedy, Iman Zawahry