Lama Kahhal received her Ph.D. in Communication and Media Studies from the University of Sorbonne-Nouvelle (Paris 3) in 2014. With a nine-year experience in higher education, she is currently an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on political communication in the Middle East, as well as the role of digital media and social networks in the political and social movements in the Arab World. She is also interested in the study of media representations. Lama is a former journalist who published articles in major Arab newspapers.