Faculty

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Profile

College / Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Media Communication

Teaching areas

Media, Journalism, Digital Journalism, Documentary, VR Documentary, Multiplatform Storytelling, Social Media, Film.

Research areas

Immersive Media to Engage Youth in Cultural Content, Media Ecology in the Arab World, Youth Engagement on Social Media Platforms.

Education

PhD, Doctorate Of Creative Arts, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, 2014

BA, B.a. Majoring In Communication, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, 2000

BS, B.sc. Majoring In Computer Science., University of Jordan, Jordan, 1990

Professional experience

Digital Media Lecturer, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, 2010 - 2014

Digital Media Lecturer, Metro Screen, Sydney, Australia, 2010 - 2014

Freelance Filmmaker And New Media Artist, Sydney, Australia, 2008 - 2014

New Media Lecturer, Australian Film Television and Radio School, Sydney, Australia, 2008 - 2010

Online Digital Video Manager, Lonely Planet Publications, Melbourne, Australia, 2006 - 2008

Media Consultant, United Nations, Jerusalem, Palestine, 2003 - 2006

Interactive Designer, Jack Morton Worldwide, Sydney, Australia, 1998 - 2003

Senior Developer, Monitor Interactive, Sydney, Australia, 1991 - 1996

Contact

[email protected]

+971 6 515 2530

Dr. Suheil Dahdal

Associate Professor

PhD, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

Suheil Dahdal has taught media and journalism at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and at the University of Technology, Sydney. Dr. Dahdal's areas of interests are social media, cultural diversity in media and new forms of documentary film making. He is also an award-winning filmmaker with 20 years' experience in creating documentaries and media stories for some of the most innovative media companies in Australia including Lonely Planet Publications, SBS and ABC Television Stations.

Publications

Suheil Dahdal And Hala Nasar. Immersive Learning through Virtual Reality Documentaries: Enhancing Engagement with Historical Narratives, International Journal Of Emerging Technologies In Learning, 1 August 2025

Suheil Dahdal And Sana Sayed. Engaging Youth in History Through Immersive Storytelling: A Case Study of the 'Once Upon a Time in Palestine' XR Documentary, Arab Media & Society, 1 December 2024

Suheil Dahdal. The Benefits of Involving Undergraduate University Students in Creative Practice-led Research Projects., International Journal Of Educational Reform, 18 August 2023

Mohammad Ayish, Mohammad Ayish And . Going Mobile in Journalism Education: How Media Students Perceive Mobile Journalism as a Professional Practice, International Journal Of Smart Education And Urban Society, 1 April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2021

Suheil Dahdal. My quarantine experience, Australia's E-journal Of Social And Political Debate, 29 December 2020

Sohail Dahdal. Using the WhatsApp Social Media Application for Active Learning, Journal Of Educational Technology Systems, 1 December 2020

Suheil Dahdal. The Illusive Ludonarrativity and the Problem with Emergent Interactive Storytelling Models in Interactive Movies, Journal Of Digital Media & Interaction, 29 July (3rd Quarter/Summer) 2020

Suheil Dahdal. Gaming Digital Content Creation to Engage Youth in Participatory Politics, 15 July (3rd Quarter/Summer) 2020

Suheil Dahdal. Kan Yama Kan a case of Using Immersive Technologies as Educational Tool for Factual Historical Content

Suheil Dahdal. Modernization, Nation Branding and Dual Discourse on Women in the Gulf, 2019

Suheil Dahdal. Using Virtual Reality Documentaries as an Immersive Educational Tool for Factual Historical Content, 2019

Suheil Dahdal. Using Virtual Reality Documentaries to Preserve and Exhibit Jerusalem Old City

Mohammad Ayish And Sohail Dahdal. Using Mobile Devices by Media Students as a Tool for Digital Storytelling, February 2019

Suheil Dahdal. Cultural educating of Palestinian youth through collaborative digital storytelling, E-learning And Digital Media, 27 February 2019

Suheil Dahdal. Educating Palestinian Youth About Their Culture Through Collaborative Transmedia Storytelling

Suheil Dahdal. Interactive Documentaries as Immersive Digital Space

Sohail Dahdal. Flow as a Framework to Engage Youth in Participatory Politics on Social Media Platforms, International Journal Of E-politics (ijep), 1 December 2017

Sohail Dahdal. Using Collaborative Gaming to Engage Arab Youth in Cultural Memes., The Journal Of Social Media In Society, 1 December 2016

Sohail Dahdal And Ralph Berenger. Al Jazeera, Bab Al Hara, and Social Media in the Resurrection of Arab Nationalism, February 2013

Sohail Dahdal. Social media and the Arab Spring, Cedem12: Proceedings Of The International Conference For E-democracy And Open Government, 2012

Conference Presentations

Attitudes, Behaviors, and Youth Engagement towards Climate Action through Immersive Storytelling, The Conference On Communication And Environment, 23 June 2025

Engaging Youth with Emirati Heritage: Immersive Storytelling in Museum Spaces, Humanities, Ai And The Digital Age, 1 May 2025

Transformative Learning for Climate Action through Immersive Virtual Reality: A Mixed-Methods Study of “Magical Forest VR”, Sustainable Business Futures: Innovating For A Greener Tomorrow, 24 April 2025

Step Into History: The Magic of Immersive Storytelling in Education, The Sharjah International Education Summit, 24 February 2025

The Power of Storytelling to Enagage the Public in Palestinain Narrative, Phoenix Of Gaza: From Freedom Dreams To Falasteen Futures, 6 December 2024

Using Immersive Storytelling to Engage Youth in Climate Action Through Virtual Reality, Australian Screen Production Education & Research Association Annual Conference, 28 November 2024

Using Immersive Storytelling to Engage Youth in Climate Action: A Case Study of the Magical Forest Virtual Reality Film, International Conference On Communicating The Climate Crisis And Extreme Weather Events, 10 October 2024

Showcasing Emirati Stories Virtual reality Documentary, Aus Research Expo 2024, May 2024

The Future of Education, Using Immersive Storytelling to Engage Youth in History, 2nd Annual Best Practices In Teaching And Learning Conference 2024, 5 February 2024

Enhancing Youth Engagement in Climate Action Messages through Virtual Reality Immersive Gameplay: A Case Study, 5th International Conference On Creative\media/technologies (iconcmt), 28 November 2023

Teaching Immserive Storytelling in the Metaverse, Australian Screen Production Education & Research Association Conference, 28 June 2023

Reimaging the past through Virtual Reality Documentaries: a case study from Palestine, Comparative Media Studies In Todays World, 10 November 2020

Using Immersive Media to Engage Youth in Distant Learning of History, Beyond Zoom: Xr For Teaching And Research In The Covid-19 Era Conference, 7 August 2020

ReImagining the Past: Immersive Visit to Al-Jazirah Al-Hamra, Connections: Exploring Heritage, Architecture, Cities, Art, Media, 30 June 2020

Modernization, Nation Branding and Dual Discourse on Women in the Gulf, Gulf Research Meeting 2019, 15 July 2019

Kan Yama Kan a case of Using Immersive Technologies as Educational Tool for Factual Historical Content, The 2019 Australian And New Zealand Communication Association (anzca), 3 July 2019

Reimagining History: A Case Study of Kan Yama Kan VR Documentary, International Conference On The Palestinian Oral History Archive, 12 June 2019

Using Virtual Reality Documentaries as an Immersive Educational Tool for Factual Historical Content, 13th Annual International Technology, Education And Development Conference, 11 March 2019

Kan Yama Kan: A Virtual Reality Documentary, Days Of Cinema, October 2018

Educating Palestinian Youth About Their Culture Through Collaborative Transmedia Storytelling, Trans Media Literacy International Conference, Barcelona, Spain., March 2018

PFM TALKS | NEW WAYS OF CINEMA, Days Of Cinema 2018, October 2017

Engaging Audience in Interactive Movies, Australia Screen Production Education & Research Association (aspera) Conference, June 2017

Engaging Audience in Interactive Fiction, Edinburgh International Film Audiences Conference, March 2017

Perceptions of Mobile Devices as News TV News Gathering Tools A Survey of Mass Communication Students, Innovation Arabia, March 2017

Gaming Story Worlds to Create Immersive Transmedia Narratives, Central And Eastern European Game Studies Conference, October 2016

Using Collaborative Gaming to Engage Arab Youth in Cultural Memes, Reinvestigating Culture In Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Conference, May 2016

Arabic Cultural Memes: Creating a Cultural Space to Engage Arab Youth, Ecrea Communication And Democracy 2015, October 2015

Crowd sourcing Arab Identity: Using Social Media to Engage Youth in Creating a New Arab Narrative, 13th Annual International Conference On Communication And Mass Media, May 2015

Cultural Diversity, creativity and innovation: exploring how migration generates new synergies, The 5th Asia-pacific Innovation Conference, November 2014

The Role of Social Media in Participatory Intercultural Dialogue, Internet Research 13 Conference, October 2013

Social media and the Arab Spring, Cedem 12 Conference For E-democracy And Open Government, Kerms, Austria, May 2012

Grants and sponsorships

Grant, Faculty Research Grant, American University of Sharjah, 1 June 2024 - 31 May 2025

Grant, Faculty Research Grant, AUS, June 2020 - June 2022

Grant, Reimagining the Past, September 2018 - May 2020

Grant, Kan Yama Kan VR/Ar Documentary, September 2018 - October 2019

Awards and Honors

Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, THE Arab Award 2024, December 2024

Winner of the Interactive Media Awards, New York, New York Media Awards, 22 May 2008

Winner of AIMIA Award - best cultural, lifestyle and art, Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, 14 September 2006

Winner of Australian National Youth Media Awards, Australian Government, 21 June 2003