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Khalil Abdur-Rashid

Where Were You When It Happened?

September 10, 2021
"My conversation about Islam with my boss on the first day of work had been hijacked by the terrorist attacks, and it would forever change the trajectory of my life," says Khalil Abdur-Rashid, Muslim Chaplain at Harvard University and Lecturer on Muslim Studies at HDS.
Professor Jocelyne Cesari

From 9/11 to COVID-19: Lessons Learned on Religion and Politics

September 8, 2021
"Religion is conceived very narrowly with exclusive attention to ideas or doctrines, even though we have established that most of the political conflicts related to religion do not pertain to beliefs but belongings," writes Jocelyne Cesari, T. J. Dermot Dunphy Visiting Professor of Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding at HDS.
A soldier stands guard at Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan on December 8, 2013. REUTERS/Mark Wilson/Pool. THOUGH NONVIOLEN

Could the U.S. Government Take Nonviolence Seriously?

September 3, 2021
“Baked into the international system and into diplomacy, especially in the West, is a great deal of simplistic and often biased thinking about religion,” said Susan Hayward, associate director of the religious literacy and the professions initiative at HDS.
Paintings of the victims of the 2019 El Paso shooting

'Month of Unity' Aims to Help El Pasoans Heal from 2019 Walmart Mass Shooting

July 6, 2021
“The healing garden is about curing, not just remembering. It’s about restoration, it’s about hope of transformation, coming out of this,” said HDS Professor Davíd Carrasco. "It's also saying to the people who have tried to put a boot in the face of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in recent years — that we will not imitate your cruelty with ours."
alestinian children play in front of their destroyed homes in Beit Hanoun town following the Israel airstrikes in Gaza in mid-May 2021.SOPA Images

As Palestinians Rebuild Following the Latest War Between Israel and Hamas, Housing Will Take Center Stage

June 3, 2021
Gazan architect Salem al Qudwa, 2020-21 Fellow in Conflict and Peace at HDS, and contributor to a new book called Open Gaza: Architectures of Hope, has developed a green, flexible, and affordable model for self-built homes in Gaza. They are designed to be constructed on sand and rubble, and can create a “nurturing and safe environment for women and children, and to empower communities.”
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are represented with Jewish Star, Cross and Crescent. Photo by Getty Images

Radicalization and Religion: How It Happens?

March 4, 2021

"People are not more fervent believers than they used to be, but their identification to religion has certainly shifted, creating a conjunction of religious and political identities that facilitate political mobilization and sometimes radical actions," writes T. J. Dermot Dunphy Visiting Professor of Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding Jocelyne Cesari.

A man prays in front of the United States Capitol during on January 6, 2021. Photo by Getty Images

White Christian Nationalists Want More Than Just Political Power

January 15, 2021
"For white Christian nationalists, taking back the country is about more than just political power. They see themselves as faithful patriots fulfilling the American Founders’ covenant with God to maintain a righteous Christian nation," writes Lauren R. Kerby, religious literacy specialist for HDS's Religion and Public Life program.

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