Kuwait City, 20 December 2021: Assistant Professor of English, Dr. Shahd Al Shammari Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) was awarded the 2021 Outstanding Monograph of the Year. The award was presented to her by the International and Intercultural Communication Division (IICD) at the National Communication Association’s (NAC) for her paper titled Microaggressions in Flux: Whiteness, disability, masculinity in Academia which was also co-authored by Kuwait University’s Assistant Professor of Mass Communication, Dr. HaneenGhabra. The paper worked to present experiences with intercultural communication across their disciplines, reflecting on academic experiences using the lens of performance studies and autoethnography which is a form of qualitative research in which an author uses self-reflection and writing to explore anecdotal and personal experience and connect this autobiographical story to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings. As an autoethnographic piece, the research localized their experiences both in the West and in Kuwait, reflecting on systems of oppression, injustices, and microaggressions.The IICD promotes research and teaching in intercultural, international, and intergroup (including interracial/interethnic) communication. The division presents research representing many perspectives and conducted by qualitative, quantitative, and rhetorical methods. The NAC presents this award annually that is selected by a committee which unanimously voted on Dr. Al Shammari’s paper for this year. Assistant Professor of English, Dr. Shahd Al Shammari said “We are both proud to be recognized internationally and hope to see our work read by scholars and students of various disciplines. Research has to be critical, reflexive, and also accessible. I am happy to have co-authored with Dr. Al-Ghabrain order to foster research practices across universities in Kuwait.”Dr. Shahd Al-Shammari also recently published an article with GUST alumna Yasmeen Al-Askari titled Exile and the Disabled Body in Randa Jarrar's "The Life, Loves, and Adventures of Zelwa the Halfie" and also is a member of TESOL International Association Kuwait. Dr. Al Shammari’s publications and research are an example of GUST’s dedication to become a hybrid teaching and research institute within the forthcoming years.