Noura Alaboudi (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Cinema and Media Studies at UCLA. Her research explores the political legacies of Black and multiracial Hollywood cultural workers in the 1930s–1950s, foregrounding their internationalism and global solidarities. She is interested in how artists confronted institutional repression during the Hollywood blacklist and adapted their political and artistic commitments under censorship and professional exile. Drawing on archival research and critical historiographical methodologies, her work situates these cultural histories within a transnational framework. Committed to public scholarship, she seeks to extend this history beyond the archive through film programming and curation, creating spaces where cinema can be reanimated with contemporary audiences.
Beyond her doctoral work, Noura photographs urban life in Los Angeles, collects vintage fashion and antiques, and seeks to build the labor movement with her academic worker union UAW Local 4811.
Research Interests
Hollywood blacklist, censorship and repression, internationalism and transnational social movements, star studies, feminist historiography, film programming and curation.
Selected accomplishments and professional work
“The Tallest Tree in Our Oasis: The Politics of International Solidarity and the SWANA Legacies of Paul Robeson” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference. Chicago, lL, 2025.
“Red Channels and Variety Programs: The 1950 Blacklisting of Hazel Scott and Lena Horne” Popular Culture Association Conference. New Orleans, LA, 2025.
“Regulating Black Televisual Stardom: Hazel Scott and Lena Horne on Cold War Variety Specials” USC Hollywood Conference. Los Angeles, CA, 2025.
“Salt of the Earth and Frances E. Williams’ Insurgent Grammars” Critical Approaches to Black Media Culture Conference. New Orleans, LA, 2026.
“Cold War Counterpublics: Salt of the Earth, the ACPFB, and the Radical Imaginary of Immigrant Activism” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference. Chicago, IL, 2026
Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program. UCLA, 2026.