CAAP is excited to announce that the The Jack G. & Bernice M. Shaheen Endowed Media Scholarship, housed at the Center for Arab American Philanthropy and in partnership with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), has awarded scholarships for the 2023 academic year to two stellar students! The fund supports juniors, seniors, and graduate students studying Journalism, Television, Radio, and/or Film, and who are committed to amplifying the voice and representation of Arab Americans through media.
Congratulations to the 2023 talented and driven recipients, Christopher T. Assaf and Taleen Hanna! Read their bios to learn more about the recipients:
Christopher T. Assaf is a highly experienced, award-winning Lebanese-American visual storyteller and a Journalism & Media doctoral candidate at The University of Texas at Austin. He researches the sociology of photojournalists and their practice, visual communication, technology adoption, image rhetoric, and journalism history. The breadth of his still and video photojournalism includes coverage of the unrest that followed the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the mass shooting at Virginia Tech, and the wildfires in Laguna Beach, Calif. He has also photographed major and minor sports and events throughout the country.
Taleen Hanna is a junior studying journalism and French at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. She has a passion for storytelling through writing, photography, videography, and audio production. In addition to being a student, she writes for the Macon Magazine, National FFA New Horizons, and Eventing Nation. After graduation, she hopes to be able to work in media in the equine industry, as she has ridden horses most of her life and is passionate about telling the story of the relationship between rider and horse. Dr. Jack G. Shaheen’s work in breaking stereotypes has inspired her to do the same through her work and into the future.