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Photograph of Leena Jayaswal

Leena Jayaswal Professor Film and Media Arts

Additional Positions at AU
Director of the Photography BA
Degrees
BA Visual Media and Anthropology, 猫咪社区app University; MFA Photography, Maryland Institute College of Art

Favorite Spot on 猫咪社区app
AU Photography Labs
Bio
Leena Jayaswal is a documentary filmmaker, award-winning photographer and Professor in the School of Communication at 猫咪社区app University in Washington DC, where she is the director of the new BA in Photography. Her photography and film work often deals with the intersections of being Indian and 猫咪社区app. This work has been nationally recognized in galleries around the country, including solo shows at the Gandhi Memorial Center, and International Visions Gallery. Group shows include Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, The Washington Project for the Arts/ Corcoran Gallery of Art, Arlington Arts Center, Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Lexington Art League and the Studio Gallery. Jayaswal has photographs in group collections with the Society of Photographic Education's Multicultural Caucus at the Center for Photography, En Foco, Light Work, Photo Center Northwest and the Asian 猫咪社区app Arts Centre. Previously she has worked for famed photographer, Mary Ellen Mark, and with the Sandra Berler Gallery. Her award winning films have been screened in various film festivals around the country. 鈥淐rossing Lines鈥 was picked up for national distribution by NETA and has been broadcast on over 100 PBS affiliates across the country. The film has won numerous international and national awards including the prestigious Gracie Allen Award, and is currently being distributed by New Day Films. Her latest film, "Mixed", a collaboration with Prof. Caty Borum Chattoo, explores what it means to be mixed-race in 猫咪社区app, fifty years after the historic, landmark Supreme Court Decision, Loving v. Virginia which made interracial marriage legal. Jayaswal is also working with artist Monica Bose on a feature documentary about climate change, called, "Rising Up to Climate Change: Storytelling with Saris." Jayaswal was one of 8 filmmakers to be a part of the Futures Exhibition at the reopening of the Smithsonian's Arts + Industry's Futures Exhibition. Jayaswal was the Schools' first Inclusion Officer and Associate Dean from 2019-2022. She served as the Interim Dean for SOC in 2023-24
See Also
Rise Up to Climate Change: Storytelling with Saris
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Teaching

Fall 2024

  • COMM-479 Fine Art Photography

  • COMM-630 Principles of Photography

Spring 2025

  • COMM-330 Principles of Photography

  • COMM-402 Adv Portfolio: Visual Media

Partnerships & Affiliations

  • NOVA Photography
    Member, Advisory Board


  • Member


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  • Member, Advisory Board

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Research Interests

Professor Jayaswal鈥檚 research mainly involves the South Asian Diaspora, although she is also interested in music documentaries as well. She is a photographer, artist and filmmaker.

Grants and Sponsored Research

  • The Rivers Project- AU Faculty Research Award
  • Crossing Lines- Department of Education Grant
  • Crossing Lines- AU Faculty Research Award

Films/Documentaries

  • www.crossinglinesthefilm.com: 30 minute documentary aired on over 40 PBS affiliate stations. Distributed by NETA (National Educational Telecommunications Association) and has been accepted in 18 juried film festivals, including the International Film Festival of South Africa, Heart of England International, Mahindra Indo-猫咪社区app Arts Council Film Festival, NY, GiRL Fest, Hawaii, Cross Cultural Film Festival,and the DC Asian Pacific 猫咪社区app Film Festival
  • An Impression: Dischord Records 15 min documentary screened at 10 juried festivals including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Our City Film Festival, DC Meets Delhi, Berkeley Arts Center, Miami Independent Film and Music Festival, DC Independent Festival, and Woodstock Museum
  • www.seizethis.net a work in progress 30 min documentary on eminent domain abuse

Multimedia

  • Partition Revisited, iDMAa Conference, Georgia 2008
  • Partition Revisited, UFVA Conference, Colorado 2008
  • The New F- Word, (with Prof. Brigid Maher) Visions in Feminism Conference, Washington DC 2008
  • The New F-Word, iDMAa Conference, Philadelphia 2007
  • The New F-Word, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC 2007
  • The New F-Word, UFVA Conference, Texas 2007
  • Coding Identity: The Symbolic Deconstruction of Hurricane Katrina, UFVA Conference, California 2006
  • Coding Identity: The Symbolic Deconstruction of Hurricane Katrina, iDMAa Conference, Ohio 2006

Honors, Awards, and Fellowships

  • Best Documentary Award (for Crossing Lines) at California Arts Association Digital Short Film Festival
  • Best Selected Juror Film (for An Impression: Dischord Records) International Film Festival, Berkeley Art Center
  • Official Photographer for the Patsy Cline Museum

Media Appearances

  • Darshan TV, 鈥Crossing Lines鈥, Nov. 2008
  • India in New York, 鈥A Moving Ode to Art鈥 by Arthur Pais, Nov. 2008
  • India Abroad 鈥Film Festival Showcases Variety in Indian Cinema鈥 by Arthur Pais, Oct. 2008
  • India-West 鈥Crossing Lines Documentary Chronicles Identity Search鈥 by Ashfaque Swapan, Sept. 2008
  • India Abroad 鈥Indira鈥檚 Crossing鈥 by Arthur Pais, Aug. 2008

Professional Services

  • Juror for Photographic and Video Contests- (UFVA-Documentary Film, The Exposure Group, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ITVA- International Television Association, CINE Golden Eagle ASEAN Photography Festival)
  • Co-curator for Visual Griots Exhibition at the Kansas Public Library and The National Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian
  • Northern Virginia Community College Advisory Board for Photography

Exhibitions/Performances

  • Solo Show, 鈥渄in ke sapne鈥澛 (Dreams of the Day) International Visions Gallery, Washington DC 2004
  • Group Show, 鈥淩emix: East-West Currents in Contemporary Art鈥 Arlington Arts Center, Virginia 2006
  • Group Show, 鈥淧hotography NOW鈥 Kentucky, 2007
  • Group Show, 鈥淗armony of Hues鈥 Boston 2006
  • Group Show, 鈥淎nnual National Juried Competition Photography鈥 New Jersey 2004