Christina M. Paschyn

About

Christina M. Paschyn, MFA, MSJ, is an international journalist, academic, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. She has reported for major news outlets around the world, with work appearing on Euronews, CNN, ETV, and in publications such as The New York Times, Chatham House, The Christian Science Monitor, The Markaz Review, Time Magazine, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Women’s eNews, Al-Fanar Media, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Cosmopolitan Middle East, and the Chicago Journal, among others.

In 2025, Paschyn completed her feature-length documentary debut, “Etched in Memory,” which follows Crimean Tatar activists as they continue their fight to liberate their homeland, Crimea, amidst Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The film is currently being submitted to festivals and is seeking distribution.

She is also the writer, director, and cinematographer of the 2015 short documentary “A Struggle for Home: The Crimean Tatars.” The film traces the rich and often tragic history of the Crimean Tatar people, from their ancient origins to the aftermath of Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. It premiered at the Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival and screened at several other venues, including the European Parliament in Brussels and the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C. It received multiple accolades, including Best International Film at the DC Independent Film Festival, Best Documentary at the Poppy Jasper International Film Festival, and First Place Short Foreign Documentary at the Indie Gathering International Film Festival. It was broadcast by Al Jazeera and Axess TV and is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

As a journalist, Paschyn has reported on a wide range of under-reported issues, including women’s rights and gender dynamics in the Gulf, education policy in the GCC, press freedom in Ukraine, net neutrality, and the ongoing legacy of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in light of the Fukushima crisis.

Her academic research focuses on media representation and the symbolic annihilation of women and other marginalized populations.

Paschyn earned simultaneous Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism through its Accelerated Master’s Program. She also holds a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in Film from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, an affiliate of the California Institute of the Arts.

Teaching

• JOUR 100: Journalism: Screens and Streams
• JOUR 390: Gender and Media
• JOUR 390: Fashion Journalism
• JOUR 390: Science and Health Reporting

Research

• Media, journalism and mass communication
• Documentary film
• Gendered representations in media
• Symbolic annihilation
• Marginalized populations in the MENA region and Eurasia
• Muslim ethnoreligious groups in Eastern Europe
• The Crimean Tatars
• Russo-Ukraine War

Awards & Grants

Creative

Documentary film: “Etched in Memory” (2025)

• Northwestern University in Qatar, Research and Creative Development Grant, March-December 2025 ($25,000)

Documentary film: “A Struggle for Home: The Crimean Tatars” (2015)

• Best International Film, DC Independent Film Festival, 2016
• Best Documentary, Poppy Jasper International Film Festival, 2016
• 1^st Place Short Foreign Documentary, Indie Gathering International Film Festival, 2016
• Silver Award, Spotlight Documentary Film Awards, 2015

Research & Academic

Best Paper Award, "The Role of State Policies on Family Formation and Stability" pillar, DIFI Family Research and Proceedings, 2015.

• Kane, T., Mir, S., Mitchell, J., Paschyn, C. M., & Pike, K. (2015). In Majaalis Al-Hareem: The Complex Professional and Personal Choices of Qatari Women. DIFI Family Research and Proceedings, Volume-issue 4, starting page 0. Journal published by Qatar Foundation.

Teaching

Northwestern University in Qatar Unity Award, 2014

• For fostering departmental collaboration across all NU-Q academic programs (journalism, communication, and liberal arts) on research project, “Qatari Women: Engagement and Empowerment.”

Publications

Films

Paschyn, C. M. (2025), Director. “Etched in Memory.” Documentary film.

Paschyn, C. M. (2015), Director. “A Struggle for Home: The Crimean Tatars.” Documentary film.

Journalism

Paschyn, C. M. (2024). The Gulf states have the power to revive two-state solution. Chatham House, The World Today.

Paschyn, C. M. (2023). How the West Misunderstood the World Cup. Chatham House, The World Today.

Paschyn, C. M. (2016). Russia is Trying to Wipe Out Crimea’s Tatars. The New York Times.

Paschyn, C. M. (2014). Educated and ambitious, Qatari women nudge their way into the office. Christian Science Monitor.

Research Articles

Paschyn, C. M. & Young, A. (2025). Disparate Media Representations of Ukraine’s Female and Male Soldiers: Comparing the Ukrainian Government Press Vs. International Media Outlets. Journalism Studies, Volume 26, Issue 10, pp.1224-1243.

Mir, S. & Paschyn, C. M. (2018). Qatar’s Hidden Women: Symbolic Annihilation and Documentary Media Practice. Visual Communication Quarterly, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp. 93-105.

Paschyn, C. M. (2014). Check Your Orientalism at the Door: Edward Said, Sanjay Seth, and the Adequacy of Western Pedagogy. The Journal of General Education, Volume 63, Numbers 2-3, pp. 222-231. Journal published by Penn State University Press.

Book Chapters

Lance, E. & Paschyn, C. M. “The Applicability of Symbolic Annihilation in the Middle East.” Feminist Approaches to Media Research and Theory, 1st ed., Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, pp. 37-52

Paschyn, C. M. “How International Media Tackled the Gulf Blockade.” Chapter in The 2017 Gulf Crisis: The View from Qatar, HBKU Press, 2018, pp. 162-172.