Azeta Hatef

Dr. Azeta Hatef is a media researcher and award-winning instructor. Her scholarly interests focus on issues of social media as activism for underrepresented groups, gender and identity, and media systems in a global context. Her research explores questions related to identity, belongingness, and representation, with a specific focus on media and Afghanistan.

Hatef has conducted research in Afghanistan examining the complex global beauty industry, as well as the development of independent media in the country. Her work has also explored the representation of Afghan women in U.S. news media coverage and its relationship intervention. In 2017-2018, Dr. Hatef was the recipient of a Fulbright Research Scholarship in the Czech Republic. Her research examined minority media production and social media engagement among Romani activists to better understand the contextualized dynamics of these mediated spaces in providing marginalized groups spaces to negotiate identities, build communities, and experience feelings of belongingness.