Biographie
Dr. Isabella Alexander-Nathani is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, educator, and human rights activist. Trained as an anthropologist, her work is motivated by her belief that storytelling has the power to humanize complex political issues. Her latest book "Burning at Europe's Borders" (Oxford University Press) and documentary film "The Burning: The Untold Story of Africa's Refugee Crisis" (Small World Films) uncover the human sides of our global refugee crisis. She serves as the Founder and Executive Director of Small World Films, a non-profit production studio that combines grounded social science research and storytelling to raise awareness, incite community action, and fight for global policy change.
Her work has been featured on CNN, BBC, NPR, and Al Jazeera, and she is a regular contributor to Sapiens, where she writes a monthly column called "Borders." Her speaking engagements have brought her to stages around the world, including the United Nations General Assembly and the Parliament of the World's Religions, where she has delivered keynote addresses on human rights to audiences of more than 10,000. The American Anthropological Association presented her with the "Emerging Leader in Anthropology" award and her projects have been supported by grants from The National Science Foundation, The Creative Visions Foundation, The Sundance Institute, and others.
She earned her degrees from New York University (BA), the University of Chicago (MA), Emory University (MA, PhD), and the Spéos Institute in France (MFA), and she has held faculty positions in the Departments of Anthropology, Law, and Film Studies at The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Emory University, and Morocco's National University in Rabat.
