Moustafa Bayoumi (born 1966) is an American writer, journalist, and professor. He is of Egyptian descent. He is based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a professor of English at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

Biography

Moustafa Bayoumi was born in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, Switzerland, and raised in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Bayoumi completed his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in English and Comparative Literature at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He is co-editor of ''The

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''White ...

Reader'' (Vintage, 2002), editor of '' Midnight on the Mavi Marmara: The Attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and How It Changed the Course of the Israeli/Palestine Conflict'' (first published by

OR Books OR Books is a New York City-based independent publishing house founded by John Oakes and Colin Robinson in 2009. The company sells digital and print-on-demand books directly to the customer and focuses on creative promotion through traditional med ...

, trade edition by

Haymarket Books Haymarket Books is a left-wing non-profit, independent book publisher based in Chicago. History Haymarket Books was founded in 2001 by Anthony Arnove, Ahmed Shawki and Julie Fain, all of whom had previously worked at the '' International Sociali ...

, 2010) and has published academic essays in publications including '' Transition'', ''Interventions'', the ''

Yale Journal of Criticism The ''Yale Journal of Criticism'' was an academic journal published by the Johns Hopkins University Press which covered all humanities disciplines. It was named best new journal by the Conference of Editors of Learned Journals in 1989 and ceased p ...

'', ''

Amerasia ''Amerasia'' was a journal of Far Eastern affairs best known for the 1940s "Amerasia Affair" in which several of its staff and their contacts were suspected of espionage and charged with unauthorized possession of government documents. Publicati ...

'', ''

Arab Studies Quarterly ''Arab Studies Quarterly'' (''ASQ'') is an English-language academic journal devoted to Arabist studies. It was established in 1979 by the late Professors Edward Said and Ibrahim Abu-Lughod. They envisioned the journal to be a platform for academic ...

'', and the ''

Journal of Asian American Studies The ''Journal of Asian American Studies'' is a triannual academic journal established in 1998 and is the official publication of the Association for Asian American Studies. The journal publishes scholarly articles exploring theoretical developments ...

''.

Writings

His writings have also appeared in ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

'', and ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

''. His essay "Disco Inferno", originally published in ''The Nation'', was included in the collection "Best Music Writing 2006". From 2003 to 2006, he served on the National Council of the American Studies Association, and he was also an editor for ''

Middle East Report The ''Middle East Report'' is a magazine published by the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP). The headquarters is in Tacoma, Washington. History and profile MERIP began in 1971 by releasing an irregularly scheduled six-page new ...

''. Since 2015, he has also been a regular contributor to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper, mainly contributing opinion pieces. Bayoumi's work, ''How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America'', traces the experiences of seven young Arab-Americans navigating life in a post–September 11 environment, where complicated public perceptions of the attacks gave birth to new brands of stereotypes, fueling widespread discrimination. It is the story of how young Arab and Muslim Americans are forging lives for themselves in a country that often mistakes them for the enemy. His title is a reference to the W.E.B. Du Bois' 1903 classic, ''

The Souls of Black Folk ''The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches'' is a 1903 work of American literature by W. E. B. Du Bois. It is a seminal work in the history of sociology and a cornerstone of African-American literature. The book contains several essays on r ...

''. ''How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America'' was awarded a 2008

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

and the 2009

Arab American Book Award The Arab American Book Award, established in 2006, is an annual literary award to celebrate and support the research of, and the written work of, Arab Americans and their culture. The Arab American Book Award encourages the publication and excelle ...

for Non-Fiction. In ''This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror'' (

NYU Press New York University Press (or NYU Press) is a university press that is part of New York University. History NYU Press was founded in 1916 by the then chancellor of NYU, Elmer Ellsworth Brown. Directors * Arthur Huntington Nason, 1916–1932 ...

, 2015), Bayoumi reveals what the War on Terror looks like from the vantage point of Muslim Americans, highlighting the profound effect this surveillance has had on how they live their lives. The essays expose how contemporary politics, movies, novels, media experts and more have together produced a culture of fear and suspicion that not only willfully forgets the Muslim-American past, but also threatens all of our civil liberties in the present. ''This Muslim American Life'' was awarded the 2016 Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Arab American Book Award.

References

External links

Moustafa Bayoumi
''official website''
Faculty: Moustafa Bayoumi
at

A Postcolonial Scholar in the Department of English Takes Pride in Student Success
September 8, 2004
Column archive
at ''

''
Column archive
at ''

''
Edward W. Said (1935–2003) A Testimonial to My Teacher
''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

'', September 30, 2003
Shadows and Light: Colonial Modernity and the Grand Mosquee of Paris
Moustafa Bayoumi, ''

'', Fall 2000
Brooklyn College Facing Criticism Over Required Reading by Harsh Israel Critic
''

The Jewish Week ''The Jewish Week'' is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. ''The Jewish Week'' covers news relating to the Jewish community in NYC. In March 2016, ''The Jewish We ...

'', August 27, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayoumi, Moustafa Living people American academics of English literature Columbia University alumni Brooklyn College faculty Swiss emigrants to the United States Writers from Zürich American Book Award winners Writers from Brooklyn American people of Egyptian descent 1966 births