About Us
Nicia Bottini Morales
Nicia Bottini Morales is a junior at American University. She is double majoring in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Law and Society with a minor in Education. Nicia’s main interest in the project was rooted in how modern day policies and discourses reinforce racist neocolonial institutions. Within this project, Nicia was able to examine colorism, exoticism, and the discourses shown in political cartoons.
Noam Krainin
Noam Krainin is a junior at American University. He is majoring in Political Science with minors in International Studies, Economics, and Law and Society. Noam’s main focus and interest within this project was studying the many forms of United States policy toward Venezuela during the Chavez era. By examining congressional legislation along with White House and State Department policies, Noam was able to analyze the political relationship with the Venezuelan government established by the United States during the 15 years of Chavez’s rule.
Lama Mohammed
Lama Mohammed is a junior at American University. She is majoring in Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government (CLEG) with minors in Computer Science and Information Systems and Technology. Lama has a great interest in how media impacts public opinion in the political sphere as well as how media may influence election outcomes. With this project, Lama was able to analyze how media such as newspapers, newscasts, and televised comedy reflected American public opinion on Hugo Chavez’s leadership and the United States’ policy response to the state of Venezuela.
Natalie Peek
Natalie Peek is a junior at American University. She is double majoring in Political Science and Psychology. The importance of language and images in reinforcing neocolonial and imperialistic ideas in the United States discourse, and the reinforcement of the exotic, racist, and aggressive view of the Venezuelan people connect to her research in racism and perception. For this project, Natalie analyzed broadcast videos and created the theme compilation video.
Ali Shafi
Ali Shafi is a junior at American University. He is double majoring in International Relations and Spanish Studies. Ali is drawn to the discourse analysis of neocolonialism in this project and applying Edward Said’s writing to concrete examples such as US media and policy towards Hugo Chavez. For this project, Ali collected and analyzed articles from major news organizations to connect the dominant discourse to the other sources.
Dr. William Harder
Dr. Harder is the faculty sponsor for this project. He is a research methodologist in American University’s Center for Teaching, Research, and Learning (CTRL) and he teaches in the School of International Service and the School of Public Affairs.