Associate Professor of Communication Studies Lamiyah Bahrainwala (LB) published the article “Caste-Attentiveness” in the Quarterly Journal of Speech, the #1 ranked journal in communication studies. In this article, LB refuses caste as an “India-specific” problem and places it alongside anti-indigeneity, anti-Blackness, and settler colonialism as a global system demanding unrelenting critical attention. Read more here.

Associate Professor of Communication Studies Lamiyah Bahrainwala steered several student projects that were accepted, presented, and recognized at a highly selective regional conference. Three Southwestern students traveled to Albuquerque, NM, to present their research at the 2025 Undergraduate Scholars Research Conference hosted by the Western States Communication Association. This marks the fourth conference Dr. Bahrainwala has mentored her students through. Faculty reviewers and the conference chair commended the students afterwards and attempted to recruit them to their graduate programs. Mia Santoscoy ’26 presented her paper “The Dehumanization of Palestinians in U.S. Media: Animal rhetoric through death tolls, Instagram infographics, CNN, and X.” Mia also received a standing ovation from the faculty speakers at the Palestine Solidarity day-long workshop on February 14. Vanessa Villarreal ’25 presented her paper “Mean Girl Feminism: Latina Narratives, TikTok, and the Fight Against Misogyny.” Elisabeth Barlin ’25 presented her paper “Sexy, Cute, and Popular to Boot: The Satirizing of Cheerleading within Bring It On.” Congratulations to these outstanding students.

Associate Professor of Communication Studies Lamiyah Bahrainwala (LB) has secured a donation of two dozen volumes by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar from the Ambedkarite Buddhist Association of Texas (ABAT). Dr. Ambedkar is one of the world’s most important contemporary thinkers, and authored the Constitution of India, the world’s largest democracy. He is also a leading anti-caste and Black-solidarity activist who has collaborated with W.E.B. DuBois to explore the overlapping injustices against Black and Dalit individuals. Metadata and Discovery Librarian Hong Yu and Director of the A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center Casey Duncan processed and catalogued the materials for the Library Center. In honor of Black History Month and this important donation, please join us for a special panel and refreshments in the Periodicals Room in the Library (the “First Thursdays” room) on Thursday, February 20, from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. The panelists include Ambedkarite scholars from UT Austin, and members from ABAT who will contextualize the donation.

Associate Professor of Communication Studies Lamiyah Bahrainwala published the chapter “The discursive eviction of Muslim women” in The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Feminist Rhetoric, edited by Jacqueline Rhodes and Suban Nur Cooley. The chapter examines how anti-Muslim logics are at the heart of menstrual discourse, COVID-19 measures, and even “Muslim-solidarity” movements. Sad! More information about the book can be found here.

Associate Professor of Communication Studies Lamiyah Bahrainwala (LB) attended the 2024 National Communication Association (NCA) conference in New Orleans, LA. She fulfilled her responsibilities as incoming Chair of the Feminist & Gender Studies Division. She also received a Distinguished Scholarship Award from the Critical/Cultural Studies Division for her co-authored article “De-whitening consent amidst COVID-19 rhetoric,” published with Dr. Kate Lockwood Harris in the Quarterly Journal of Speech.  While at NCA, LB caught up with SU alumna Sofia Salmeron, who is pursuing an M.A. in Communication Studies at Texas Christian University. Sofia presented her paper “You’re not working hard enough…you’re not trying hard enough: An analysis of privacy management and coping and resilience among your adults experiencing food insecurity.” Congratulations to this outstanding alumna.