As Laila Farah walked through airport security on her way back to the United States from the Middle East she was interrogated; not because she was a terrorist, but because her last name was not the traditional American name.

Farah, an associate professor of women and gender studies at DePaul University, was joined by other performers who shared their experiences post 9/11 with audience members at the "Gender and Resistance In The Age of Empire," hosted by A.S. Women's Center and Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas.

"This event is to mark Woman's History Month and to shed light on the fact that women have not achieved all their rights yet," said Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, associate professor of Arab and Muslim ethnicities.

The performance titled, "Living in the Hypen-Nations," showcased some of the stereotypes that Farah has endured post 9/11. She wanted audience members to know that she was more than just Lebanese, and that she was living a "hyphenated reality."

"Hyphen is not binary. Hyphen is multiple layers, including race, culture, sexuality and class. I use this as power and strategy. It allows me to enter multiple spaces in multiple ways," she said.

She hopes her performance would "energize" the students to be more active towards social justice.

Some students did not get her intended performance.

"I thought the performance was informative but it didn't provide a call to action," said 21-year-old communications major Arianne Kader.

Abdulhad believes Farah's performance helps bring overseas experiences into the U.S.

"We believe it is really important to link issues around the world to people in the United States, which is exactly what presenter Dr. Laila Farah did tonight, " said Abdulhadi.