Sama Raena Alshaibi

Interests

Research

Migration, Refugees, Occupation, Women/Gender, Post-War, Post-Colonialism, Aftermath, Borderlands, Memory Studies, Memorial Culture, Middle East North Arica

Teaching

Photography, Video, Imaging, Installation, Contemporary Art, Art Theory, Social Justice, Race, Migration, Women/Gender, Post-Colonialism, Memory Studies, Memorial Culture

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Books

• Alshaibi, S. R. (2014). Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In. NYC, NY: Aperture Foundation.
  More info

  Book will be released in March of 2015. The book was completed and went to publishing at end of November of 2014. I now have an advance copy. The fall was the time to go over proofs that came back from the printers in Turkey. I left Palestine and flew back to NYC to work with the Publisher and production team. We had to make changes in design, fix images, choose binding materials, work on translations and perfect transliterations of the Modern Standard Arabic titles (with my a translator - which was weeks of work), design the exhibition and book release plan (3 solos already in place for 2015), work the logistics of the book launch and print a single size portfolio edition set that will be sold as a special edition (through Aperture). The book abstract: Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In, the first book by this rising artist, presents work from Silsila, a video and photographic installation that premiered at the 2013 Venice Biennale, as well as other series. Alshaibi’s lyrical multimedia work explores the landscape of conflict: the ongoing competition for land, resources, and power in North Africa and West Asia, and the internal battle for control between fear and fearlessness. Additional material, selected from the artist’sseries Negative’s Capable Hands, Collapse, and Thowra, is presented in the context of Silsila, meaning “chain” or “link” in Arabic. The artist uses the desert, borders, and the body as overarching symbols of the geopolitical and environmental issues and histories linking the Arab-speaking world.Alshaibi operates between the United States, western Asia, and North Africa. Much of her work is inspired by and shot onsite in distinct natural landscapes, from the Western Sahara of North Africa to the eastern Arabian Desert on the edges of Iraq—highlighting the jarring contrast between desert and fertile oasis. Alshaibi is often a protagonist in the work, taking on the guise of distinct yet interrelated characters. Edited by Isabella Ellaheh Hughes, essay by Alfredo Cramerotti and Foreword by Salwa Mikdadi.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2015). Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In. New York City, NY: Aperture Foundation.
  More info

  Published in March of 2015."Alshaibi's consistent willingness to experiment and push at the boundaries of her expression and her ideas is undoubtedly impressive.” —Lens Culture, May 11, 2015Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In, the first book by this rising artist, presents work from Silsila, a video and photographic installation that premiered at the 2013 Venice Biennale, as well as other series. Alshaibi’s lyrical multimedia work explores the landscape of conflict: the ongoing competition for land, resources, and power in North Africa and West Asia, and the internal battle for control between fear and fearlessness. Additional material, selected from the artist’s series Negative’s Capable Hands, Collapse, and Thowra, is presented in the context of Silsila, meaning “chain” or “link” in Arabic. The artist uses the desert, borders, and the body as overarching symbols of the geopolitical and environmental issues and histories linking the Arab-speaking world.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2010). Suha Shoman. Darat Al Funun.

Chapters

• Alshaibi, S. R. (2019). Silsila: Linking Bodies, Deserts, Water. In Women and Migration: Responses in Art and History. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers.
  More info

  Edited by Deborah Willis, Ellyn Toscano and Kalia Brooks NelsonEssay, color reproductions of my photos including the cover of the book
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2019). Silsila: Linking Bodies, Deserts, Water. In Women and Migration: Responses in Art and History(pp 107-112). Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers.
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  The essays in this book chart how women’s profound and turbulent experiences of migration have been articulated in writing, photography, art and film. As a whole, the volume gives an impression of a wide range of migratory events from women’s perspectives, covering the Caribbean Diaspora, refugees and slavery through the various lenses of politics and war, love and family.The contributors, which include academics and artists, offer both personal and critical points of view on the artistic and historical repositories of these experiences. Selfies, motherhood, violence and Hollywood all feature in this substantial treasure-trove of women’s joy and suffering, disaster and delight, place, memory and identity.This collection appeals to artists and scholars of the humanities, particularly within the social sciences; though there is much to recommend it to creatives seeking inspiration or counsel on the issue of migratory experiences.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2014). 1. Photography Confidential 2. Ephemeral in Place. In Photography 4.0: A Teaching Guide for the 21st Century: Educators Share Thoughts and Assignments(pp p. 8-10, 157). NYC/UK: Focal Press; 1 edition (Taylor & Francis Group).
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  An invaluable resource for photography educators, this volume is a survey of photographic education in the first decade of the 21st Century. Drawing upon her 25 years of teaching experience and her professional network, Michelle Bogre spoke with 47 photo educators from all over the world to compile this diverse set of interviews. The themes of these conversations explore:Why students should study photographyThe value of a formal photography degreeTeaching philosophiesWhether video and multimedia should be an essential part of a photographic curriculaThe challenges of teaching photography todayChanges in photographic education overallThe second half of the book shares 70 photography assignments of varying level of difficulty from these educators, some paired with examples of how students completed them.Paperback: 280 pagesPublisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (August 23, 2014)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0415815215ISBN-13: 978-0415815215 0.5 x 9.2 x 9 inches
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2014). Why We Are Remembered. In Arab Art Histories: The Khaled Shoman Collection. Ideal Books / The Khalid Shoman Foundation.
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  Sarah A.rogers Eline Van Der VlistPublisher The Khalid Shoman FoundationISBN 9789082148404Idea Code 14045Begun in the early 1980s, the Khalid Shoman Collection in Amman is one of the first of its kind dedicated exclusively to contemporary art of the Arab world. This extensive and richly illustrated book gathers the voices of artists, architects, critics and scholars to reflect on the collection and its role in narrating a regional art history. Its presentation of diverse works by over 140 artists traces the shifts and transformations in Arabic artistic practices over the last 40 years, while contributions by Anneka Lenssen, Faisal Darraj, Hassan Khan, Sarah Rogers and Saleem Al-Bahloly, among others, offer essays and insights exploring a range of art historical concerns and personal reflections.464 p, ills colour & bw, 21 X 28 cm, pb, Arab/English, $47.50
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012). A Tale of Two Exiles. In We Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War. Syracuse University Press.

Journals/Publications

• Alshaibi, S. R. (2018). Part and Parcel: Cultivating Survival in the Village of Battir. Othering & Belonging, Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at the University of California, Berkeley, 3, I am on a residency and don't have that info with me.
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  Published in print, and also online:http://www.otheringandbelonging.org/part-parcel-cultivating-survival-village-battir/Essay on on history of the village of Battir and their non violent struggle to survive. Also, several color reproductions of my photographic work were included.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2017). Education: Discovering Place. Focal Plane: Magazine for Photography Education and Students, pp[. 58-61.
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  I was invited to write about a class or teaching philosophy. I focused on a trip to LA that I took my undergraduate students to, and how it ties into bringing the class to life in the field/city (and a class I teach called Discovering Place)
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2017). Student Focus: Maya Holzman. Focal Plane - Magazine for Photography Educators and Students No. 2, pp48-51.
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  I was asked to write about an undergraduate student. I chose Maya Holzman. I interviewed her, and wrote the article. It also included a number of her photographs that she did while she was in my class. In addition, I was asked to write a separate article about a class, teaching methods, or some aspect of our program.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2007). Without Papers. Social Dynamics, 0.
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  Dr. Marvin Gladney
• Alshaibi, S., & Gladney, M. (2007). Photo Essays: A Way Through: Understanding Modern Palestinian Narratives. Social Dynamics-a Journal of The Centre for African Studies University of Cape Town, 33(2), 204-223. doi:10.1080/02533950708628768
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2006). Memory Work in the Palestinian Diaspora (paper, cover and 8 photographs). Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies 27:2, 23.
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  n/a

Presentations

• Alshaibi, S. R. (2021, Feb/Spring). “Photography from the Middle East: A Window into Time and Place". Intersect 21 Art Fair. Online due to COVID; https://www.intersect2021.com/monday-february-22: Intersect 21 Art Fair.
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  https://www.intersect2021.com/Moderator: Sueraya Shaheen. Panelists include Sama Alshaibi, Steve Sabella, M’hammed Kilitto, Heba Farid and Zain Khalifa.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2021, Feb/Spring). “Sama Alshaibi and Rania Matar”. Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA. Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA (online): Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2021, Jan/Spring). Instrument and System: bracketing Middle Eastern women within the photographic image. 109th College Arts Association Annual Conference. College Arts Association National Conference online: CAA.
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  Women and Migrations: Meanings in Art andPracticeChairs: Cheryl Finley, Spelman College; Deborah Willis, TischSchool of the Arts NYUDiscussant: Leigh Raiford, University of California, Berkeley"Instrument and System: bracketing Middle Eastern womenwithin the photographic image,: Sama Alshaibi, University ofArizonaMildred Thompson: The Tampa Years, 1974-1977, DestineeFilmore, Spelman CollegeMy Baby Saved My Life: Migration and Motherhood in anAmerican High School, Jessica Ingram, Florida StateUniversity
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2021, March/2021). Decolonizing Art Narratives: Sama Alshaibi in conversation w/ Beral Madra. Online Lecture Series “Decolonizing Art Narratives: Arab Women Artists Today," VCU Qatar. Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar: Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2021, Nov/Fall). Double Exposure: Sama Alshaibi and Hazem Harb. Double Exposure series with Afikra and Gulf Photo Plus. Afikra (podcast and zoom panel), Beirut, Lebanon: Afikra, Beirut, Lebanon.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2021, November, Fall). Visiting Artist Talk: Sama Alshaibi. Visiting Artist, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA: School of Art and Art History.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2021, Oct/Fall). Sama Alshaibi: Grainlines. Gallery Talk for solo exhibition. University of Washington at Puget Sound, Washington: Kittredge Gallery, University of Washington at Puget Sound, WA.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2021, September/Fall). ARTISTS / IDEAS / NOW – Imagine Democracy. Liverpool Arts Festival. Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), UK: Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF), UK.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2021, September/Fall). Cultural Hybridity and the Art of Diaspora. Middle East Institute, Washington D.C.. Middle East Institute, Washington D.C.: Middle East Institute, Washington D.C..
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  Inaugural panel for MEI exhibit of pioneering Arab-American artists
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, December). Rethinking the Movement: The Convergence of Art and Activism in the 21st Century. Race, Activism and Photography Symposium. https://www.cpw.org/symposium2020: The Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, Fall). Visiting Artist Colloquium: Sama Alshaibi. Visiting Artist. https://art.wisc.edu/2020/09/25/visiting-artist-colloquium-sama-alshaibi/: University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, Feb/2020). Sama Alshaibi: Imaging the Imagined. 2020 Artist and Scholar Lectures. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL: USF School of Art and & Art History.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, Feb/Spring). Artist Talk: Sama Alshaibi's Staging the Imagined. Visiting Artist. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR: King Fahd Middle Eastern Studies, School of Art and Gender Studies Program at University of Arkansas.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, Feb/Spring). Sama Alshaibi: Staging the Imagined. University of Arizona Faculty Showcase. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ: Office of the Provost, University of Arizona.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, March). Visiting Artist: Sama Alshaibi. Visiting Artist. MICA, Baltimore, MD (this is a separate event from the previous listing).
  More info

  https://www.micaphoto.com/visiting-artists-and-critics
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, fall). New Paradigms that Celebrate Achievement and Diversity, Round Table discussion with Rebecca Senf, Fatemeh Baigmoradi, and Sama Alshaibi. Medium Summit. https://www.mediumphoto.org/medium-summit: Medium Photo, CA.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, fall). Photography, History, and Systems of Power. Photoville NYC 2020. https://photoville.nyc/online/photography-history-and-systems-of-power/: Photoville.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, fall). Sama Alshaibi: Visiting Lecture Series. Visiting Lecture Series (Artist talk). online: Southeastern Louisiana University, New Orleans, LA.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, fall). Session #1: Who gets to Picture, Narrate, Position?. Reading the Moment: Photography, Power & the Ethics of Representation. https://www.viad.co.za/photography-power-the-ethics-of-representation: VIAD, University of Johannesburg, South Africa and co-sponsored with Light Work (NY), the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE), SUNY Oswego (NY).
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, fall). Women in Photography: In Front of and Behind the Camera. Artist Talk. online: Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa, FL.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, spring). Carry Over. Women & Migrations II. NYU Washington D.C. Campus, Washington D.C.: New York University.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, spring). Migration(s) and Meaning in Art (panel). panel. MICA, Baltimore, MD: Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2020, spring). Women Empowerment Through a Lens (with Rania Matar). Art Circle Artist Presentations. https://www.theartcircle.ae/event-details/home-with-sama-alshaibi-rania-matar: Art Circle, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2019, April). Artist Talk, “Carry Over”. Women & Migrations II Conference. New York University Campus at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: New York University.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2019, October/Fall). Artist Talk, “Sama Alshaibi: Sonic Patterns”. Touching Sound: Passion and Global Politics Conference. Aga Khan Centre, London, UK: Aga Khan Centre and Lund University (London, UK).
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2019, October/Fall). Featured Speaker, “Carry Over”. Review Sante Fe Photo Festival. Review Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA: The Center.
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  Symposium catalogue
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2018, Fall). Imaging the Imagined: On the Representation of Arab Women in Historical Photography. Center for Middle East Studies Colloquium Series. Center for Middle East Studies, University of Arizona.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2018, Fall). Panelist, “Arts of Intervention”. What We Can Do When There’s Nothing To Be Done -Strategies for Change. New York City, NY: Center for the Study of Social Difference at Columbia University.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2018, January/ Spring). Artist Talk. Zeytinbur International Photography Festival (ZFotoFest). Istanbul, Turkey.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2018, March). Artist Talk: Sama Alshaibi. Phoenix Art Museum Education Program. Phoenix Art Museum.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2018, March/Spring). Image Maker Talk: “Ever Farther”. Society for Photographic Education National Conference. Philadelphia, PA.
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  "Ever Farther"Sama Alshaibi (I)Saturday, March 03 - 1:00PM to 1:45PMGrand Ballroom Salon HSama Alshaibi's photographs and videos weave the physical and psychological dispossession of the body in relationship to land, resources and identity- violated through war or occupation, and uprooted into physical and psychological exile. She uses her own biography and body in her work, positioned as an allegorical site that makes the byproducts of war and diaspora visible. Alshaibi's talk will focus on "Silsila", a 7-year project probing the human dimensions of migration, borders, and environmental demise in the Middle East and North Africa. "Silsila" debuted at the 55th Venice Biennial and is the subject of her monograph published by Aperture.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2017, Fall). Artist Talk: Sama Alshaibi, “Unchain My Feet”. Decolonizing Vision Speaker Series. New York City, NY: New York University's Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality and A/P/A.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2017, Fall). Artist Talk: Sama Alshaibi. Artist Talk at the Johnson Museum of Art, co-sponsored by the Art Department at Cornell University. Ithaca, NY: Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2017, Fall). In Conversation: Sama Alshaibi with Dr. Julie Sasse. Dress Matters: Clothing As Metaphor exhibition. Tucson, AZ: Tucson Museum of Art.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2017, June). Carry Over. "Women & Migrations" - work group at NYU Florence, Italy. Villa La Pietra, New York University, Florence campus, Itay: New York University’s Department of Photography & Imaging; La Pietra Dialogues – NYU Florence.
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  Initiated by Dr. Deborah Willis (Chair/Professor at NYU) - I was invited with all expenses paid to this non-public conference/workshop in Florence, Italy (a three day event). We gave our papers to each other. The participants were leading scholars, critics and artists in the topic of women/migrations. Our papers will be published in a book in 2018.The “Women and Migrations” working group is an interdisciplinary project that examines motives for migration, issues of cultural identity relative to women and global political and cultural movements, with global travel defined in its various forms by participating scholars, journalists, artists and activists. During the three-day meeting, we explored a diverse range of topics. We considered comparative perspectives the role photography, art, film, and writing playedin identifying and re-membering the migratory activities of women. Each International and U.S.-based participant engaged in exchanges related to theinterpretations, conceptualizations and theories presented in the individual papers, and discussed ideas to be integrated into a forthcoming conference and publication. Each presented her individual research paper or artist’s project and addressed questions and concerns raised by other workshop participants. This collaboration builds on the current scholarship and theoretical debates focusing on migration and citizenship.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2017, Spring). Panel Discussion, “Migration, Patterns and Ecologies”, with Brett Graham. Honolulu Biennial Programming. Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2017, Spring). Visiting Artist Talk: Length of The Neck. Spellman College, Atlanta, GA. Spellman College, Atlanta, GA.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2016, February). Artist Talk: On Art and Beauty. Montclair State University. Montclair, New Jersey: Art Forum, Department of Art and Design, College of the Arts.
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  Art Forum is a series of lectures and presentations by artists, critics, museum directors, art historians, and curators.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2016, February). Artist Talk: Sama Alshaibi. Spring Photo Lecture Series, Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Boston, Massachusetts: Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2016, February). Artitst Talk: Sama Alshaibi's “Sand Rushes In”, in conversation with curator Maymanah Farhat. Aperture Gallery & Bookstore. New York City, NY: Aperture Foundation.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2016, September). Artist Talk: Silsila. Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Scottsdale, Arizona: Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2015, March). 2015 Book Launch Talk, “Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In". Artist Talk, Book launch. London, UK: Ayyam Gallery.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2015, March). Book Launch Talk: "Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In". Aperture Event, Art Dubai, 2015. Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Aperture Foundation.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2015, November). Artist Talk: Sama Alshaibi in conversation with Maymanah Farhat, moderated by Wael Hattar. The Yard. Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Alserkal.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Fall). New Perspectives From The Edge of Arabia. Art Salon at Art Basel (Miami). Miami, FL.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Fall). The Socializing Role of Technology. Working With Communities, #COMETOGETHER, Edge of Arabia (exhibition panel). Old Truman, London, UK.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). Art and Cultural Diplomacy. The 2012 March Meeting. The 2012 March Meetin, Sharjah Foundation, Sharjah, UAE.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). Artist As Nomad. The March Meeting 2012. The March Meeting 2012, The Sharjah Foundation, Sharjah, UAE.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). Between History, Memory and Art. Three Artist Talks (different classes) + workshop, Topic: "My Artistic Evolution", United Arab Emirates University Female Campus, Al Maqam, UAE. Al Maqam, UAE.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). End of September: Director Talk / Q&A. The Pavilion (cinema and art center). The Pavilion, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). My Artistic Evolution. Artist Talk. United Arab Emirates University Female Campus, Al Maqam, UAE.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). My Artistic Evolution. Nad Al Hamar School for Girls. Dubai, UAE.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). Public Talk: Symbol, Story and Process. Maraya Arts Center. Maraya Arts Center, Sharjah, UAE.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). Sama Alshaibi Artist Talk. Al Hosn University American Corner. Abu Dhabi, UAE.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). Sama Alshaibi Artist Talk. East Coast Photographers Conference. Al Fujairah, UAE.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). The Representation of Women in Art and My Practice. American Corner, HCT Fujairah Women's College. HCT Fujairah Women's College, Al-Ain, UAE.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). The Representation of Women in Art. Public Talk at Dar Ibn Al Haitham, Bastakiyah. Bastakiyah, Dubai, UAE.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). Transculture and Nomadic Existence of Contemporary Artist. UAE Photography Association at the Sharjah Foundation. the Sharjah Foundation, Sharjah, UAEpart of the lecture series as the U.S. Department of State Arts Envoy to the UAE, hosted by the US Consulate General.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2012, Spring). Where do we go from here? Women in Contemporary Arab Art. Panel at Traffic Gallery (non profit). Traffic, Dubai, UAE.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2011, Fall). Baghdadi Mem/Wars: Collaboration and Context. Artist Talk. San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2011, Fall). Director/Artist Talk. Artist Screening. Alwan For The Arts, NYC, NY.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2011, Fall). Sama Alshaibi: Creative Practice. Artist Talk. The Pavilion, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE,.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2010, Fall). Contemporary Art in Palestine/Iraq. Near Eastern Studies Graduate Seminar. University of Arizona.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2010, Fall). Flight. Visiting Artist Talk. Lycoming College of Art Gallery, PA.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2010, Fall). SUMOUD (Steadfastness). Visiting Artist Talk. State University of New York at Oswego, NY.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2010, Fall). The Tale of Two Exiles. Middle East Studies Association Annual Conference. ", MESA 2010 Conference, San Diego, CA.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2010, Fall). Video in Contemporary Art. Visiting Artist Talk. Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2010, Spring). Directors Forum. The Chicago Palestine Film Festival. The Gene Siskel Center, Chicago, Il.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2010, Summer). The Arab Body. Adriatic Mediterranean Festival. Ancona, Italy.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2009, Fall). Palestine Perspectives Today. Visiting Lecturer, Political Studies/Near Eastern Studies 441. University of Arizona.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2009, Fall). Photography Now!. Society for Photographic Education Southwestern Conference. Amphitheater High School, Tucson, AZ.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2009, Fall). SUMOUD. Visiting Artist Talk. Lawrence University, Appleton, WI.
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  Keynote Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2009, Fall). Sama Alshaibi - Artworks. Slide Slam at Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art. Tucson, AZ.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2009, Spring). Beyond Counterstance. Arts in the One World Conference. CalArts, Valencia, CA.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2009, Spring). Iraqi Refugees in Jordan: a silence broken. Colloquium Series, Center for Middle Eastern Studies. UA Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Arizona.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2009, Spring). Positive Change. Re-inturrperting The Middle East Roundtable. Union Gallery, University of Arizona.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2009, Spring). Sama Alshaibi: Between Two Rivers. Visiting Artist Talk. San Juan College, Farmington, New Mexico.
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  Keynote Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2008, Fall). Birthright. Our Land, Our People, Our Images Panel. Amrind Foundation, AZ.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2008, Fall). Border Identities: Negotiating the Line in Contemporary Middle Eastern Art. Developing and Assessing Intercultural Competence, CERCLL. Tucson, AZ.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2008, Fall). Women, War and Violence. The School of Letters Sciences "Humanities Lecture Series.". Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2008, Spring). Artist Talk (Sama Alshaibi and Myra Greene). Nueva Luz Launch at Peer Gallery. Peer Gallery in Chelsea, NYC, NY.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2008, Spring). The 6+ Method. Collaboration and Feminist Practice. Bronx Museum, NYC, NY.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2008, Spring). We Make The Road By Walking: an Interfaith Collaboration. In Perfect Harmony Symposium. University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2008, Spring). We Make The Road By Walking. Conversations Across Religious Traditions. University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2007, Fall). And Other Interruptions- Artist Talk. We Make The Road By Walking. Mizel Museum, Denver, Colorado.
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  Individual Presenter
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2007, Fall). Gender and Identity in the Middle East and Latin America. Center for Middle East Studies Educator Workshops. Center for Middle East Studies, University of Arizona.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2007, Fall). Series of "Visiting Artists". Dar Al-Kalima College Artist Talk Tuesdays. Dar Al-Kalima College, Bethlehem, Palestine.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2007, Fall). The Best of Palestinian Cinema - Director's Talk. CinemaEast Film Festival. The IFC Center, New York City, NY.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2007, Fall). Without Papers. Middle East Studies Association (MESA) 2007 Annual Conference. Montreal, Canada.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2007, Spring). Facts on the Ground: an update of life in the West Bank. Center for Middle East Studies Educator Workshops. Center for Middle East Studies, University of Arizona.
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  Panel Speaker
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2006, 10/12/2006). Religion and Home in the work of Sama Alshaibi. Visiting Artist Lecture. Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2006, Dec 20th, 2006). Chair/Expressions under Duress: Palestinian Creative and Visual Arts. Middle East Studies Association 2006 Annual Conference. Boston, MA, USA.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2006, July 18, 2006). After "Roots": Artist Talk Sama Alshaibi. Opening film screening of "Roots" documentary, Artist Talk after the documentary (that I was a main character in). Al Kassaba Theater, Ramallah, West Bank.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2006, July 9-12, 2006). Emails From Palestine: An Electronic Witness to the Palestinian Apartheid. AUESTA Annual Conference. University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Reviews

• Alshaibi, S. R. (2008. Review: Stop For God's Sake(pp 10-14). Darat al Funun Catalogue.
• Alshaibi, S. R. (2007. Review of Oraib Toukan's Counting Memories(p. 0). Counting Memories.

Creative Works

• Baghdadi Mem/Wars; quarterly journal; kritiker; September 2014; Kritiker No. 31; 9 images used in their publication. The literary journal ”Kritiker” (kritiker.nu) is a quarterly journal for discussions about literature, philosophy, art and cultural studies. It is a small, tri-lingual journal (on the Nordic minority languages Swedish, Norwegian and Danish), which is distributed throughout the Scandinavian countries in around 500 copies. Small as it is, during it's 10 years of existence it has been very well established as a forum for artistic and intellectual matters; and also well received by critics and readers.   The issue I was a part of revolves around contemporary female Iraqi poetry, and is included in a wider, on going project on women’s networking, literary and personal, between the Nordic countries and the Middle East.
• Silsila; 64 new montages/photographs for my first monograph; Aperture Foundation; March 2015; Sand Rushes In (Monograph); For five years I have been photographing and making videos in the natural world of the Middle East and North Africa, primarily in deserts and areas where water sources are threatened. For the 2013 Venice Biennial, I produced all of the components for the video installation Silsila (chain or link, in Arabic). When presented the opportunity to have my first monograph published with Aperture (summer of 2013), I asked for some time to develop the photographic component of Silsila that remained untouched on my hard drives. Our editorial intention was to supplement the book with a few new photographs from more known and established projects of mine, but as I began working with my archive, I discovered the complexity of the project and the interplay between performances, photographs and moving image. I used much of my winter break and sick leave time to make new work culled from my archives and presented most of the 64 new photographs (montages and straight photography) to Aperture mid spring (a few were made over the summer). They decided to redirect the entire book to focus on the full story of Silsila using selected older works of mine that introduced the earlier visual motifs (land, symbol, body) that became the subject of my most lengthy and largest body of work to date. In Silsila, the desert became the subject, rather than a mere backdrop. The body was no longer the main symbol of site or country, but rather a protagonist whose wanderings and migrations both physically and metaphorically journeyed over land and water, connecting disparate spaces, erasing and breaking borders and reorganizing time.  The “body" in Silsila – my own body, performing – acts as a device that uncovers the interconnectedness of our history, our fractured present, and links to the collective dilemma of how to survive in an ecologically violated and depleted planet.  Eco-refugees of tomorrow are the political refugees of today, as they face similar predicaments and uncertainty; in my earlier practice, the desert acts as an allegory for those losses born by forced migration and national/political struggle. InSilsila, the desert suggests a different viewpoint where survival is only possible through individual mindfulness, human interdependency and ecological co-existence. This is at the very heart of Silsila – interlinked histories, bodies and struggles and an accounting for our position, for better or worse, in an eco-system facing a climate calamity. 
• Scholarship; Please see narrative portion (as instructed by Director)
• Diatribes, a decade later; Video Art / Community Engagement in Exhibition format; Part of the Exhibition "Opposing Gestures" - 2 person exhibition in 2 USM campuses; University of Southern Maine "Area Gallery"; In 2003/2004, I collaborated with my then MFA student classmate Joseph Farbrook. Our project, Diatribes, was an interactive digital artwork, which utilized a four-channel television screen to address the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The screen displays simultaneous interviews between Farbrook and myself in 2003/2004 as we grappled with the imminent invasion. Farbrook was born and raised in the U.S. and is of German and Jewish descent. I am a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Iraq and is of Iraqi and Palestinian descent. As the interviews stream, two separate channels feature mainstream media broadcasts and protest demonstrations during the build-up of the war. As the four videos stream simultaneously, the audio continually switches from one channel to the next, creating a mix of the four points of viewDuring the summer of 2014, Joseph Farbrook and myself created Diatribes, a decade later, which debuted at the AREA Gallery in Portland, Maine (a second space from where our two-person exhibition was held in Gorham, Maine). It consisted assemblage of video on four, old-style tube televisions, featuring new interviews between us as artists responding to the work that we have created since our initial collaboration in 2003/2004 (Diatribes was first exhibited at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art in 2004, while we were still in graduate school). Discussing visual, symbolic and technical devices of each other’s projects, we attempted to thread meaning through the social and political context in which each of us has been creating artwork over the last decade. We spent several weeks together in Boston conducting these interviews, which also reflected upon our initial responses to the war in Iraq (in the first project, which was conducted over six months of interviews), and what predictions and fears did and did not come true. In the summer of an explosion of war in Iraq, Ukraine, Gaza, Israel and Syria, and the rise of ISIL, the project Diatribes, a decade later, had themes of recycled frustrations and angst. Through time, story, medium and format, themes of repetition, duality and opposition were uncannily formed. However, the nature of the intimate "conversation" expresses a different sentiment, which what should appear to be at opposing sides, actually can transcend, connect and unite.  The University of Southern Maine community and other gallery viewers were invited to engage with BOTH projects, Diatribes and Diatribes, a decade later exhibits through a Community Response Wall, designed to foster a safe space for community reflection and dialogue. Written and visual responses to our work was displayed in the AREA Gallery and online athttp://www.usm.maine.edu/gallery.