Katy M
- Research Program Mentor
MA at Princeton University
Expertise
Early and Modern Middle Eastern history, Political Science, Latin American history, Arab and Latin American cinema, feminist cinema, film theory, ethnography, Islamic Studies
Bio
Before tutoring, Katy worked with refugee legal aid organizations in the Middle East. For the last five years, she has worked as a private tutor and college advisor for elite high school students in the United States and China, teaching courses in writing/English (creative, academic, and college essays), AP World History, US History, French and Spanish. She has also advised several long-term high school and college students on research projects, extracurricular projects, and summer program applications. Her students have gained admission to top Economics, Math, and Sociology programs at the University of Washington in St. Louis, Emory University, Boston College, and Wake Forest University. Katy volunteers as an admissions counselor for Swarthmore College, writes film criticism, and is finishing her first feature-length film based in Houston, Texas. Her hobbies include dancing salsa, cooking, and gardening.Project ideas
The Visual Anthropology of Egyptian Women Filmmakers
In this project, we will write a research paper that explores the filmmaking practices of Arab women documentary filmmakers, with a focus on Egypt. Beginning with Ateyyat Alabnoudy and moving to Mai Masri and Jehane Noujaim, we will do a film analysis of their most important works and synthesize these to uncover what is unique to their vision, visual and cinematic language, and ethical practices. We will ask if they incorporate a particularly feminist gaze or methodology to their films. In doing so, we will draw conclusions on the future of gender and documentary filmmaking in this region.
Andalusia's Aljamiado Legacy
This project serves to uncover the fascinating history of Aljamiado, or manuscripts that use the Arabic script for transcribing European languages, to shed light on the history of hidden Arabic-speaking communities in the medieval Iberian Peninsula, particularly Andalusia (southern Spain). We will ask, how did these communities maintain a connection to Arabic culture, language, and religious traditions through their preservation of the Arabic script across centuries? How did they assimilate into Iberian culture? What are the impacts of this legacy on Andalusia, in terms of language, food, dress, and architecture today?