PhD in Cultural Studies

Jaafar Aksikas, 2005

Jaafar Aksikas

Jaafar Aksikas is Associate Professor of Cultural Studies at Columbia College Chicago, where he was Director of the Cultural Studies Program from 2009 to 2013. He is also Past President of the Cultural Studies Association (CSA). His books include Arab Modernities (2009) and The Sirah of Antar: An Interpretation of Arab and Islamic History (2002). He is also editor of a number of edited collections, including the co-edited special issue, Cultural Studies of/and the Law, for the international journal, Cultural Studies (2014); the inaugural special issue on the culture and media industries, entitled Culture Industries: Critical Interventions (2011) and a special issue on engaged and community-based forms of cultural studies scholarship, entitled Critical Purchase in Neoliberal Times (2013), both for the Cultural Studies Association Journal Lateral. He is currently at work on a co-authored book (with Sean J. Andrews and Donald Hedrick) on the methodology and epistemology of research in Cultural Studies, entitled Practicing Cultural Studies (under review with Sage). He has taught, researched, and published widely in the fields of Cultural Studies, media and culture industry studies, critical legal and policy studies, American Studies, and Middle Eastern studies. He also serves on the editorial boards of Cultural Studies and Lateral journals. He has received numerous awards, including the George Mason University VISION Award. He is also a member of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars. He is the Founding and General Editor of Cultural Landscapes, the Founding Coordinator for Columbia College’s Cultural Studies Colloquium Series, and serves as a member of the Illinois Network on Islam and Muslim Societies. He has also served as consultant for lawyers and media on issues relating to Middle Eastern and North African cultures and politics.