Yasmina [Mina] El Gheur

YASMINA [MINA] EL GHEUR
ART HISTORY MAJOR
MELLON MAYS FELLOW

yelgheu00@citymail.cuny.edu

Mina El Gheur was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, but later relocated to a sleepy little town in the suburbs of New York where she attended high school.  She was overjoyed to return to her beloved Brooklyn and to begin her academic endeavors at City College, where she enjoys the social diversity she missed in suburbia.  While exploring fields outside her Art History major, Mina discovered a love for linguistics and declared a second major in French. 

As a Moroccan-American, Mina is increasingly interested in Arab culture, specifically orientalist portrayals of Arab and Muslim women. She is also interested in contemporary Arab artists who critique Western fascination with the odalisque, the veil, and the harem and who disrupt the voyeuristic fantasy of the Western gaze. She plans to pursue an Arabic minor in order to learn more about Arabic culture and to become fluent in both French and Arabic—languages spoken in her multilingual household.  Mina’s aspiration is to pursue a life in academia and research exploring the art, culture, and languages of the Middle East and North Africa.