“The 99” Panel Discussion

February 1, 2009 2:32 am by Neil Cohn

As I mentioned in my last post, last week I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel discussion here at Tufts with alum Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, creator and publisher of the comic The 99 and Dr. Chip Gidney of the Tufts Child Development Department. That video has now been put online and is viewable here (Windows Media, 1:09:09).

The description of the talk is here:

Naif al-Mutawa (A 94)
Creater of the new comic book series “The 99”. “The 99” is a series of comic books based on superhero characters who battle injustice and fight evil, with each character personifying one of the 99 qualities that Muslims believe God embodies. Publisher Teshkeel Media is dedicated to “… cultivating and harvesting those themes intrinsic in our regional culture that will speak equally to children both in and outside of the Middle East.” According to Forbes, the Teshkeel Media Group and “The 99” were one of the “top 20 trends sweeping the globe” in 2007. Dr. al-Mutawa attributes this to the “universal themes” in the series that transcend the Muslim backgrounds of its heroes. A principal author of the series, Dr. al-Mutawa is also the author of several children’s books on prejudice and race, and is a clinical psychologist and businessman by training.

Calvin “Chip” Gidney
Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development

Neil Cohn
Department of Psychology

and moderated by
Julie Dobrow
Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Communications and Media Studies Program

Co-sponsored by the Communications and Media Studies Program, the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, and the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service This program is made possible by a grant from the Tufts Diversity Fund.