Sahar Khamis

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Bio

Sahar Khamis is a nonresident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. She is also an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park.

An expert on Arab and Muslim media, Khamis was the former head of the Mass Communication and Information Science Department at Qatar University. She was also a former Mellon Islamic Studies Initiative visiting professor at the University of Chicago.

Khamis has co-authored the books Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and Egyptian Revolution 2.0: Political Blogging, Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and has co-edited the volume Arab Women’s Activism and Socio-Political Transformation: Unfinished Gendered Revolutions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). Additionally, she authored and co-authored many book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers in both English and Arabic.

Khamis has received a number of prestigious academic and professional awards, and she has been serving on the editorial boards of several journals in the field of communication, in general, and the field of Arab and Muslim media, in particular.

In addition, Khamis is a media host and an international media commentator and analyst, a public speaker, and a former human rights commissioner in the Human Rights Commission in Montgomery County, Maryland. Her analysis has been featured on various outlets including the Middle East Institute (MEI), the Arab Center in Washington, the Gulf International Forum, TRT World, Jadaliyya, The New Arab, and Al Jazeera, among others.

Research Areas

  • Media studies
  • Gender studies
  • Digital activism
  • Democratization

Countries of Focus

  • Egypt
  • Bahrain
  • Saudi Arabia
  • MENA region (Middle East and North Africa)

Other Areas of Interest

  • Journalism
  • Human rights
  • Gender equity
  • Arab Uprisings

Education

  • Ph.D., Mass Media and Cultural Studies, University of Manchester, UK, 2000.
  • M.A., Mass Communication, American University in Cairo, Egypt, 1989.
  • Graduate Diploma, Television Journalism, American University in Cairo, Egypt, 1988.
  • B.A., Mass Communication, American University in Cairo, Egypt, 1986.

Articles

It has been 10 months since Israel's war on Gaza began. Here is a closer look at how mainstream Western media has covered the conflict, compared to what is being shared on social media platforms.
Sahar Khamis, Felicity Sena Dogbatse
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is entering its fourth month with no end in sight. Council experts explore various dimensions of the fallout.
Adel Abdel Ghafar, Galip Dalay, Omar H. Rahman, Beverley Milton Edwards, Tarik M. Yousef, Abdalftah Hamed Ali, Alhala Alkuwari, Ranj Alaaldin, Sahar Khamis
Since the current crisis in Israel and Gaza began on October 7, the Western media has claimed a distinctly biased role in favor of Israel, adding significantly to the spread of disinformation and dehumanization.
Sahar Khamis
Middle East Council experts offer their thoughts on the unfolding crisis in Palestine-Israel that began on October 7.
Ali Bin Musa, Shahram Akbarzadeh, Sahar Khamis, Nader S. Kabbani, Beverley Milton Edwards, Hamidreza Azizi, Omar H. Rahman, Galip Dalay, Noha Aboueldahab, Saoud El Mawla, Faozi Al-Goidi
The recent outbreak of violence in Sudan has already taken a heavy toll on the country and threatened stability abroad. Middle East Council scholars offer their insights on what’s driving the conflict, the imperative to bring it to a swift end, and its implications for Sudan and beyond.
Nader S. Kabbani, Paul Dyer, Larbi Sadiki, Adel Abdel Ghafar, Sahar Khamis, Ranj Alaaldin, Dania Thafer, Faozi Al-Goidi