A Talk and Performance by UW Alumna Hamda Yusuf

Taking the title from one of James Baldwin’s essays in his collection “Notes of a Native Son”,Yusuf will speak on her experiences traveling in Europe as a black Muslim woman, and the feeling of being a ‘stranger in the village’. She will also speak on the power of inter-cultural connections
and the importance of diversity in language learning and travel. Yusuf is also a spoken word poet who often writes about identity. She has performed her poetry for Youth Speaks and has been featured at events for TEDxRainier and at the Paramount Theater. To conclude the evening, she will perform one of her poems.

Hamda Yusuf is a 2016 alumna of the University of Washington where she majored in International Studies and minored in German and African Studies. She is currently a master’s candidate at the Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs at The New School and a Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellow. She works on media and culture, with particular emphasis on the African diaspora and black thought. While at UW, Yusuf took part in the Spring in Vienna program which inspired her to complete a Fulbright grant in Austria upon
graduation. Her keen interest in travel has taken her to over 20 different countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Slovakia, Bosnia, Hungary, Wales, and many more.