In this episode of History Speaks, I talk with Dr. Natalie Khazaal, Associate Professor in the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech. Drawing from her research, we explore how racism, speciesism, and cultural bias are embedded in animated films and how they shape what audiences learn about difference and belonging. We also discuss the MARS test, an original intervention Dr. Ghazaal developed, with two other colleagues, to analyze these biases in media and animation. Our conversation is framed by a larger question: how does animation reflect and reinforce societal prejudices, often without viewers even noticing? We consider how creative choices, protest, and advocacy can challenge these narratives. Ultimately, we ask: what does it mean to see – and be seen – accurately in stories meant for everyone?
Natalie Khazaal (PhD, UCLA) is an Associate Professor in the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech and the Dabney Adams Hart Distinguished Visiting Professor at Agnes Scott College. She is also a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) and co-creator of the MARS test (Media Analysis of Racism and Speciesism). Dr. Khazaal’s research examines the intersections of disenfranchisement, media, and language. She is the recipient of multiple awards for both research and teaching. Her book Pretty Liar: Television, Language, and Gender in Wartime Lebanon (Syracuse University Press, 2018) explores how audiences contribute to media legitimacy during violent crises, with particular attention to Lebanon. She is also a contributor to Global Media and Strategic Narratives of Contested Democracy (Routledge, 2019). Her work on racism and speciesism in media has received international recognition. She co-edited ‘Like an Animal’: Critical Animal Studies Perspectives on Borders, Displacement, and Othering (Brill, 2021) and edited the special issue Media, Racism, Speciesism (FiC, 2024), both of which have attracted the interest of scholars, journalists, and governmental as well as non-governmental organizations. As an ACLS fellow, Dr. Khazaal has also advanced the study of Arab atheists through publications on the use of pseudonyms and on embedded atheism in the literary oeuvre of Mohamed Choukri.
Dr. Roshan Iqbal hails from a small hamlet of 20 million–Karachi, Pakistan. She received her PhD in Islamic Studies from Georgetown University. Prior to this she read for her MPhil at the University of Cambridge. She has studied in Pakistan, the US, Morocco, Egypt, Jordon, the UK, and Iran. Her research interests include gender and sexuality in the Qur’an, Islamic Law, Film and Me
dia Studies, and modern Muslim intellectuals. Her recent book is titled, ‘Marital and Sexual Ethics in Islamic Law: Rethinking Temporary Marriage.’ As an associate professor at Agnes Scott College, she teaches classes in the Religious Studies department and also classes that are cross-listed with Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Film Studies. When she is not working, she loves talking to her family and friends on the phone (thank you, unlimited plans), tracking fashion (sartorial flourishes are such fun), watching films (love! love! love!), reading novels (never enough), painting watercolors (less and less poorly), and cooking new dishes (sometimes successfully).
