Angelic Troublemakers and Immigration: How Faith Leaders Use Ritual as a Human Rights Tool

Watch the recording of this event above.

Join us for the 2020 Goldstein Lecture on Human Rights. This year’s speaker, Prof. Najeeba Syeed will interrogate, and trouble, the idea that civility is the primary goal of interfaith action and dialogue. In her lecture she will offer examples of how religious leaders and communities have developed ritual protests as a form of contemporary sacred resistance to inhumane migration policies.

Najeeba Syeed is Associate Professor in Muslim and Interreligious Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary. She previously taught at Claremont School of Theology and founded its Center for Global Peacebuilding. Syeed is recognized as a leader in peacebuilding and social justice based research. Her articles have focused on faith-based conflict resolution, restorative justice, and intersectional analysis of state violence and structural racism. Most recently she co-edited the volume Critical Perspectives on Interreligious Education: Experiments in Empathy (Brill, 2020). In teaching, she has designed courses on interreligious education and interfaith leadership, dialogue, and peacebuilding.

 In community engagement, Syeed has received awards for her work reducing violence in schools and interracial gang conflicts, as well as being named the Southern California Mediation Association’s “Peacemaker of the Year” in 2007. She has facilitated conflict resolution processes regarding school, community, environmental, and public controversies, and has provided training on theologies of peacemaking and nonviolent protest to dozens of organizations and faith based groups.

A sought-after writer and speaker, Prof. Syeed is a regular blogger for Muslim Voices, feminist.com, and Huffington Post and has been featured in publications and outlets including the Los Angeles Times, NPR, PBS, and the Tavis Smiley show.

This event is sponsored by the UNO Department of Religious Studies, the Goldstein Family Community Chair, the Goldstein Center for Human Rights, and the UNO Islamic Studies Program.

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