Chafic Najem

About

Chafic Najem is a Global Postdoctoral Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University in Qatar (#IAS_NUQ). He received his PhD in Media and Communication Studies from Stockholm University, complemented by a post-master's degree in Artistic Research from the Royal Institute of Art, Sweden. Both his MA and BA degrees are from the American University of Beirut.

Chafic's research examines prisoners' illicit media practices and the smuggling and use of digital media technologies into carceral spaces, particularly in Lebanon. He engages with questions of social movements and mobilization, media witnessing and amateur-recorded testimonies, and visual culture in relation to political and media practices in and from carceral spaces. His scholarly contributions span media and communication, documentary studies, and artistic research, with recent publications in Mobile Media & Communication, Communication, Culture & Critique, Media, MERIP, Culture & Society, and Panoptikum.

Prior to joining NU-Q, he held teaching positions at Stockholm University, Uppsala University, and Södertörn University. His postdoctoral position is funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York through the Institute’s Arab Information and Media Studies (AIMS) project.

Alongside his academic research, Chafic has professional experience in television production and documentary filmmaking and maintains active artistic practice. His work was exhibited at Galleri Mejan- Kungliga Konsthögskolan, Stockholm (2019) as part of the Critical Images Exhibition, and was included in the group exhibition Printed Nostalgia at Fire Station, Doha.

Teaching Portfolio

• MIT313: Documentary History & Criticism

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Najem, C.T. (2025). Digital Carceral Mobilities: The Paradox of Illicit Prison Media Practices. Mobile Media & Communication (Details Forthcoming)
• Najem, C.T. (2025). Prison Media Mobilization: Smuggled Technologies
• and Media Practices in Lebanese Carceral Spaces. Communication, Culture & Critique - DOI: 10.1093/ccc/tcaf008
• Najem, C. T. (2024). Cell Phones Behind Bars in Lebanon. Middle East Research and Information Project, 312. https://merip.org/2024/10/cell-phones-behind-bars-in-lebanon/
• Najem, C. T. (2023). A Defiant Act of Looking: Prisoners’ Illicit Documentary Practices of Shooting-Back. Panoptikum, (29), 115–138. https://doi.org/10.26881/pan.2023.29.07
• Najem, C. T. (2023). Calls from Beyond the Walls: Prison cellphone
• recordings during the pandemic in Lebanon. Media, Culture & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221146889

Peer Reviewed Essays and Book Chapters

• Najem, C.T. (2025). The Violence of Time: Quotidian Carceral Suffering.
• AIMS publication. Accepted for Publication, Details Forthcoming
• Najem, C. T. (2019). Mazloum – Silenced Images of Incarceration. In Critical Images 2018/2019 (pp. 113–121). Kungliga Konsthögskolan.

Awards

• International Communication Association – Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2023
• Swedish Institute, Sweden — Global Swede Award, 2019
• American University of Beirut, Lebanon — Kamal Mrowa Award in Media Studies, 2015