Name: Maha Hilal

Recipient Year: 2012

Major: Justice, Law and Society

Description: Maha Hilal holds a PhD candidate in Justice, Law and Society from American University in D.C. Her area of research interest is in the field of human rights, with a focus on survivors of human rights abuses. She has worked and volunteered at a number of human rights organizations. She was also a Kathryn Davis Peace Fellow for Arabic study at Middlebury Summer Language Schools, and a recipient of the Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship for Arabic study in Morocco. Dr. Maha Hilal was also the inaugural Michael Ratner Middle East fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. She was also an organizer with Witness Against Torture and a steering committee member of the DC Justice for Muslims Coalition. Dr. Hilal earned her doctorate in May 2014 from the Department of Justice, Law and Society at American University in Washington, D.C. The title of her dissertation was “’Too damn Muslim to be trusted’: The War on Terror and the Muslim American Response.”

School Name: American University

Sponsor: Muslim Women Giving Circle Scholarship

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahahilal/