Thursday, August 4 at 8pm ET | 5pm PT, PBS Books is pleased to host a conversation with the filmmakers of The Great Muslim American Road Trip, a new series that recently aired on PBS.
The Great Muslim American Road Trip follows a millennial Muslim American couple on a cross-country journey along historic Route 66. As they meet new friends and explore more than a dozen stops, Mona and Sebastian weave a colorful story about what it means to be Muslim in America today. During a time when Islamophobia is on the rise, join us to learn more about this dynamic PBS show from the filmmakers—the director Alex Kronemer, artist and star Mona Haydar, and scholar Kambiz GhaneaBassiri.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Alex Kronemer has been working for peace and interfaith understanding for most of his adult life. In 1999, Alex and author Michael Wolfe co-founded Unity Productions Foundation, a media and educational nonprofit dedicated to creating peace and understanding about Muslims, Islam, and other religions in the world. Unity Production Foundation (UPF) has gone on to produce twelve documentaries for national broadcast and theatrical release and has received numerous prestigious film awards, including an Emmy nomination for a PBS docudrama “The Sultan and the Saint,” which Alex wrote and directed. Alex is the Director and Writer of The Great Muslim American Road Trip.
Mona Haydar is a Syrian American Muslim born in Flint, Michigan. An English major and a poet, Mona Haydar holds an M.A. in Christian Ethics from the Union Theological Seminary in New York. In 2016 she turned her talents to rap music. When her debut song “Wrap my Hijab” went viral, Billboard Magazine placed it among “The 20 Best Protest Songs of 2017” and named it one of the “Top 25 Feminist Anthems.” Along with her husband Sebastian Robins, Mona is the co-host of The Great Muslim American Road Trip.
Kambiz GhaneaBassiri is the Thomas Lamb Eliot Professor of Religion and Humanities
Religion Department at Reed College in Portland, OR. Dr. GhaneaBassiri is an internationally recognized scholar in Islam in America and the Middle East, he was named a Carnegie Scholar for his book A History of Islam in America and a Guggenheim Fellow for his current book project on the mosque in Islamic history. He also served as one of five national scholars who developed the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association Muslim Journeys Bookshelf.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Daniel Tutt is a philosopher and filmmaker. His work focuses on Islamophobia, interreligious dialogue, politics, and critical theory. Daniel is the Co-Editor of the forthcoming book Justice in Islam: New Directions in 21st Century Islamic Thought and he has lectured in philosophy at Marymount University, George Washington University and Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative. He is the Co-Producer of The Great Muslim American Road Trip and he led the scholarly and historical development of the main themes in the film.