Advocating for Southwest Asian, North African, and Arab (SWANA) community members in Iowa City

When: ​Wednesday , February 15th, @ 7:00pm
Where: in-person @  Center for Language and Culture Learning (CLCL) in Phillips Hall (room 123D) 
Speaker: Yasmina Sahir ياسمينة سهير  & Asel Nasr

In conjunction with the Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates (ICRU) and with the support of numerous UI faculty members, Yasmina Sahir and Asel Nasr have spent the last two years confronting racism, xenophobia, and other forms of violence against Southwest Asian, North African, and Arab (SWANA) members of the Iowa City community. This presentation highlights the main findings of their previous research and identifies ways in which both the University of Iowa campus and Iowa City residents can better support their SWANA peers and loved ones.

​Yasmina Sahir is a University of Iowa undergraduate majoring in Criminology and Social Justice. As a Moroccan American, her career focus is to advocate for the Southwest Asian, North African, Arab (SWANA) community through identifying disparities facing this group in the United States.
The research presented tonight was funded by a Summer 2022 Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates (ICRU) grant and advised by UI Associate Professor Yasmine Ramadan. In her years at UI, Yasmina has written and presented work on disproportionate incarceration and arrest rates, rights for immigrants, decolonization, and consequences of demographic mislabeling while highlighting the need for SWANA representation in academic discussions on these topics. She hopes her work will help bridge divides between an often-misunderstood world region and non-SWANA Americans.

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Asel Nasr is a dual degree student at the University of Iowa majoring in Global Health and pursuing a Master's in Public Health. She engages with public health research with the intent to advocate for the Southwest Asian, North African, Arab (SWANA) community in the United States. Her current research is centered around maternal mental health outcomes during postpartum which will be presented in her graduation thesis this May. Asel hopes that throughout her career she can continue to promote health equity by exploring social and structural barriers that individuals from the SWANA community face in a healthcare setting.

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