Rasha Abdulla

Rasha A. Abdulla is a Professor in the Journalism and Mass Communication Department at The American University in Cairo (AUC). She has previously served as chair of the department. Abdulla has a PhD in communication (December 2003) from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. Her BA (’92) and MA (’96) in journalism and mass communication are both from AUC. She is the proud recipient of several teaching and research awards, including the AUC Excellence in Research and Creative Endeavors Award, the Mostafa and Ali Amin Journalism Award, and the GAPP School Research Award, among others. Abdulla is a former member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, a group of experts appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations. She is also a member of the board of Global Voices and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) board of Article 19.

Abdulla's current research interests include the uses and effects of new media; media in transition; social media and mobilization; social media and the public sphere; and issues of freedom of expression. Her doctoral dissertation was the first large-scale academic study of the uses and gratification of the Internet among Arab students in Egypt. She is the author of The Internet in Egypt and the Arab World [in Arabic, Afaq Publications]; The Internet in the Arab World: Egypt and Beyond [Peter Lang, Inc]; Policing the Internet in the Arab World [the Emirates Center for Strategic Study and Research]; and numerous other monographs, reports, book chapters, and research articles featured in top-tier international journals.

Abdulla has taught at the University of Miami, Georgia State University and Portland State University in the United States. She has spoken or guest lectured at many campuses around the world, including Stanford University, the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, Columbia University, Marquette University, California State University at Long Beach, Florida International University, San Francisco State University, University of California, Santa Barbara and Aarhus University in Denmark.

Abdulla is an international consultant, providing research consultancies and training to a list of international clients, including UNESCO; the Carnegie Foundation; IREX; Internews; the Open Society Foundations; the Anna Lindh Foundation; Panos Institute Paris; Cospe International; Media Diversity Institute; the African Journalists' Union; and others.