Laila Shereen Sakr

Laila Shereen Sakr is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A media theory and practice pioneer, she demonstrates how digital platforms can predict and influence socio-political change. Her exhibitions like Rosetta Stones Resurrected and her book Arabic Glitch explore the fractures within digital systems, using glitches as a metaphor to reveal cultural and political disruptions in the United States and globally. As VJ Um Amel (the moniker she uses for her public-facing productions), she combines artistic innovation with critical inquiry, using data visualization and digital art to transform how we understand political engagement, social movements, and cultural identity. At UCSB, she co-founded Wireframe, a studio promoting collaborative theoretical and creative media practice with investments in global, social, and environmental justice. She also co-founded the Network of Arab Women in AI (2023), the R-Shief media system (2009), and the D.C. Guerrilla Poetry Insurgency (2003). As both producer and scholar of emergent media, she writes articles in venues like Minnesota University Press’ Debates in Digital Humanities series and Middle East Critique, develops machine learning (ML) software and natural language processing (NLP) analytics of social media, and creates solo art exhibitions such as Capital Glitch: Arab Cyborg Turns to D.C., on the January 6th Capitol insurrection, to analyze contemporary global culture. As VJ Um Amel, she has been featured in prestigious venues such as the SF MoMA, National Gallery of Art in Jordan, Camera Austria, Cultura Digital in Brazil, Kirchner Cultural Centre in Argentina, Tahrir Cultural Center in Egypt, Lagos Biennial in Nigeria, and the Qualcomm Institute in San Diego. Scholars, activists, and artists have engaged in her work and reviews have appeared in dozens of publications. She is Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Feminist Studies, Department of Media Arts and Technology, Center for Responsible Machine Learning, Center for Middle East Studies, and the Center for Information Technology and Society.