Nazanin Knudsen

Naz  Knudsen is an Iranian-American educator, writer, and filmmaker. Her professional experience is informed by years of hands-on work developing and executing ideas for documentaries, short films, and corporate videos. Her writing has been published in online and print literary journals. In 2022, her piece, "Simon," was nominated for Best Microfiction anthology series. In addition to writing, she has published "Welcome to Sarajevo," a translated screenplay, and several essays in Farsi. She uses nonfiction storytelling to make a difference. In teaching, she empowers her students to do the same.

She has mentored students and taught several courses in storytelling, film production, and editing at Elon University's School of Communications and Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. She has been teaching at UNC  since 2019, and in 2022, she received the Val Lauder Award, which recognizes an adjunct instructor for excellence in teaching at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.