Welcome to the Sanford School of Pubic Policy's resource library for issues related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We hope these items are useful to you.

Educational Resources

Islamophobia and Racism in America

In Islamophobia and Racism in America, Erik Love draws on in-depth interviews with Middle Eastern American advocates. He shows that, rather than using a well-worn civil rights strategy to advance reforms to protect a community affected by racism, many advocates are choosing to bolster universal civil liberties in the United States more generally, believing that these universal protections are reliable and strong enough to deal with social prejudice. In reality, Love reveals, civil rights protections are surprisingly weak, and do not offer enough avenues for justice, change, and community reassurance in the wake of hate crimes, discrimination, and social exclusion. Book by Erik Love

Fear, Inc.

This report shines a light on the Islamophobia network of so-called experts, academics, institutions, grassroots organizations, media outlets, and donors who manufacture, produce, distribute, and mainstream an irrational fear of Islam and Muslims. Let us learn the proper lesson from the past, and rise above fear-mongering to public awareness, acceptance, and respect for our fellow Americans. In doing so, let us prevent hatred from infecting and endangering our country again. Report; Center for American Progress

The Rise of American Muslim Changemakers

This report provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of the rise of the American Muslim political class in the Trump era. It does so by profiling American Muslim candidates that ran for public office between 2016 and 2019 and offering insight from Muslim civic engagement organizations on effective methods of grassroots organizing. Report; Council on American-Islamic Relations

Hijacked by Hate: American Philanthropy and the Islamophobia Network

This report finds that traditional American charities, foundations, and  philanthropic institutions are being used to funnel money from powerful donors to the Islamophobia Network. Report; Council on American-Islamic Relations

How Antisemitism Corrupts Democracy

This article explains the threat of indifference to anti-Semitism on democracy, as exemplified through the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA). General indifference and a lack of direct policymaking against anti-Semitism allows anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic violence to increase around the world, and explicit government policies are necessary for securing the safety of vulnerable populations. OpEd; The Washington Post

Pinkwashing the "Honor Crime": Murdered Muslim Women and the Politics of Posthumous Solidarities

This article explores media constructions of the 2007 murder of a Canadian teenager named Aqsa Parvez as a case of an honor killing that shocked Canada. It traces the travels of the narrative of Aqsa Parvez’s murder from Canada to the United States and then to Israel in order to show not only how stories of death gain meaning but also how they make meaning by reproducing national boundaries and by reconfiguring relations of dominance, resistance, and power. Research Article by Dana Owen 

Americans and the Holocaust

This digital exhibition from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum examines the motives, pressures, and fears that shaped Americans' responses to Nazism, war, and genocide.

Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream

Proud is a moving story from one of America's most influential athletes. It illustrates how she defied expectations to make a place for herself in a sport traditionally reserved for wealthy and elite, and soon ended up on the international stage representing a country with a history of oppressing her race and disparaging her religion. Proud is the story of how a fierce athlete who was once the only Black, Muslim-American in hijab in her New Jersey middle school became an Olympic champion and outspoken activist. Book by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Consitutional Myth #4: The Constitution Doesn’t Separate Church and State

Garrett Epps discusses misinterpretations of the Constitution. Although some argue that since the Constitution itself does not require a "separation of Church and State," the establishment of Christian religion was intended by the Founding Fathers. Epps provides historical background to refute these claims and explains how the Constitution establishes a strict divide between religion and government in the US. OpEd; The Atlantic

The Muslims are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror

Based on several years of research and reportage, in locations as disperate as Texas, New York and Yorkshire, and written in engrossing, precise prose, this is the first comprehensive critique of counterradicalization strategies. The new policy and policing campaigns have been backed by an industry of freshly minted experts and liberal commentators. The Muslims Are Coming! looks at the way these debates have been transformed by the embrace of a narrowly configured and ill-conceived anti-extremism. Book by Arun Kundnani

Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire: The Cultural Logic of Empire

In response to the events of 9/11, the Bush administration launched a "war on terror" ushering in an era of anti-Muslim racism, or Islamophobia. However, 9/11 alone did not create Islamophobia. This book examines the current backlash within the context of Islamophobia's origins, in the historic relationship between East and West. Book by Deepa Kumar

American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear

Using his unique lens as a critical race theorist and law professor, Khaled A. Beydoun captures the many ways in which law, policy, and official state rhetoric have fueled the frightening resurgence of Islamophobia in the United States. Beydoun charts its long and terrible history, from the plight of enslaved African Muslims in the antebellum South and the laws prohibiting Muslim immigrants from becoming citizens to the ways the war on terror assigns blame for any terrorist act to Islam and the myriad trials Muslim Americans face in the Trump era. Book by Khaled Beydoun

On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life

Sara Ahmed offers an account of the diversity world based on interviews with diversity practitioners in higher education, as well as her own experience of doing diversity work. On Being Included explores the gap between symbolic commitments to diversity and the experience of those who embody diversity. It also offers a critique of what happens when diversity is offered as a solution and how diversity workers generate knowledge of institutions in attempting to transform them. Book by Sara Ahmed

Interfaith Voices

Interfaith Voices, hosted by Amber Khan, is an independent public radio show fostering interfaith understanding by providing engaging conversation about religion, across many traditions and beliefs. The hosts and their guests explore how faith intersects with culture, public policy, and the news of the day.

#GoodMuslimBadMuslim

The #GoodMuslimBadMuslim monthly podcast featuring Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed and Zahra Noorbakhsh is about the good and the bad of the American Muslim female experience. But you know, satirically & disturbingly hilarious.

Buddhist Geeks

The Buddhist Geeks podcast has a primary focus on American Buddhism and includes interviews, dharma talks, and other topics of interest to people involved in modern Buddhist teaching and practice. These often include explorations of the interface between Buddhism and branches of modern science such as neurology or game theory. Vincent Horn hosts Buddhist Geeks.

Voices on Antisemitism

Voices on Antisemitism is a podcast series of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and features a broad range of perspectives about antisemitism and hatred today.

The Religious Studies Project

The Religious Studies Project is an international collaborative enterprise that features a weekly interview with leading scholars f Religious Studies and related fields. The hosts, David Robertson and Christopher Cotter, aim to provide engaging, concise, and reliable accounts of the most important concepts, traditions, scholars, and methodologies in the fascinating comtemporary study of religion.

Everyone's Agnostic Podcast

Cass Midgley & Marie D'Elephant interview people you don’t know, about a subject no one wants to talk about. They hope to encourage people in the process of deconstructing their faith and help curb the loneliness that accompanies it.

Heart and Soul

This podcast from BBC explores personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

On Being

Groundbreaking Peabody Award-winning conversation about the big questions of meaning — spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, and the arts. Each week a new discovery about the immensity of our lives. On Being is hosted by Krista Tippett.

They Call Me Muslim

This provocative documentary portrays the struggle of two Muslim women - one in France and one in Iran - to express themselves freely in their decision to wear a hijab. Western culture tends to define hijabs as a symbol of oppression and some democratic countries forbid the wearing of hijabs, taking away Muslim women's freedom to express themselves and their faith. Documentary dir. Diana Ferrero 

The Secret Life of Muslims

Featuring a diverse set of American Muslims from a wide range of ethnic and national origins speaking directly to their own respective experiences, the series illuminates the existing complexity and diversity of America’s 3.3 million Muslims, while pointing to a common shared humanity. The first season has been viewed more than 56 million times in our effort to contribute to a dialogue of tolerance and peace in contentious times. Documentary; Vox

God in America

This documentary series explores the 400-year history  of religion and public life in America, from the first European settlements to the 2008 presidential election. The series examines religious dissidence, religious liberty, religion and politics, the religious marketplace, religion and social reform, and the influence of religion on national conflicts. Documentary; Frontline and American Experience

Constructing the Terrorist Threat

Kumar's documentary on Islamophobia argues that U.S. media have turned Arabs and Muslims into the new face of terror, even though a tiny fraction of Muslims and Arabs have ever committed a terror attack. However, homegrown terror attacks  by right-wing violent extremist groups have far outnumbered attacks by Muslims and Arabs since September 12, 2001. Documentary dir. Deepa Kumar