Mayida Zaal

The Weight of the Hyphen: Freedom, Fusion and Responsibility Embodied by Young Muslim-American Women During a Time of Surveillance

This article reports on a qualitative investigation of 15 young Muslim-American women living in New York City, after 9/11 and in the midst of the Patriot Act. Participants completed surveys about identity, discrimination, and coping; drew “identity maps” to represent their multiple identities and alliances; and participated in focus groups on several college campuses in the New York metropolitan area. Focus groups were conducted to investigate collectively their sense of hyphenated identities, their experiences of surveillance and their responses to scrutiny in families, communities, on the streets and in the political public sphere. Implications for the theoretical and empirical study of immigrant youth “under siege” are developed, with a particular focus on the burdens and responsibilities embodied by daughters of the second generation of Muslim-Americans.

Islamophobia in Classrooms, Media, and Politics.

Social and political tensions heightened after the attacks of 9/11 have created an increase in Islamophobia. Historically, vilified depictions of Muslims have legitimized discriminatory acts against Muslim Americans. In this context, Islamophobia has infiltrated our classrooms, making it urgent for educators to develop a critical pedagogical stance that counters discrimination and demystifies stereotypes against Muslim American students.

Public Science and Participatory Policy Development: Reclaiming Policy as a Democratic Project.

In December, the chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, Merryl H. Tisch, announced a new program: 13 research fellows would be selected to advise the education commissioner and the 17-member board. The fellows would be paid as much as

Authenticity, aims and authority: Navigating youth participatory action research in the classroom

189,000 each, in private money; to date,

Poetics of Justice: Using Art as Action and Analysis in Participatory Action Research

4.5 million has been raised, including

In the Shadow of Tolerance: The Discursive Context of Dutch-Born Muslim Youth.

1 million donated by Dr. Tisch, a member of one of New York’s wealthiest families.

Exploring dual identification among Muslim-American emerging adults: A mixed methods study

ABSTRACT Motivated by the addition of a curriculum standard for active citizenship into New Jerseys social studies standards a group of educators and researchers set out to integrate an action research curriculum, based on a youth participatory action research (YPAR) model, into social studies classrooms. Adapting YPAR, with its promising blend of critical thinking, civic engagement, and democratization, for use as in the classroom is appealing to those seeking to use education as a means of social change. But activism does not always translate neatly to the classroom; melding multiple purposes into one approach, particularly amidst the current push for standardization and accountability measures, is complex. This analysis considers three challenges to navigate when reshaping YPAR into a curriculum for classroom use - preserving authenticity, conflicting aims, and tensions around authority. Drawing upon qualitative data from the social studies classrooms of two public high schools, this article engages directly with the difficulties inherent in adapting a methodology premised on action, authenticity, and youth empowerment to the adult driven, extrinsically oriented, skills and content-focused world of the classroom. Understanding this shift, and the epistemological tensions underlying it, is essential for those wishing to integrate action research with youth into social studies classrooms.

Knowing What I Can Do and Who I Can Be: Youth Identify Transformational Benefits of Participatory Action Research.

This article explores the use of art as a form of communication and meaning-making in participatory action research (PAR). The authors, researchers and educators, contemplate this concept through a pedagogical lens, and consider the role that visual and performing arts can play in social action. Based on the work of a youth-adult participatory action research collective, the authors reflect on the pedagogical process used to analyze research findings, take actions, and affect local change. Created to investigate opportunity to learn issues, the youth members of the collective created spoken word poetry, post-cards, film shorts, and speak-outs to engage multiple audiences in their research findings. By engaging art as an element of PAR, actions can travel visually, viscerally, and verbally with the potential to influence individuals, communities, and policies.

Educating the children of immigrants in Old and New Amsterdam

Despite a public discourse on tolerance, anxiety about immigrants, Islam and the preservation of Dutch values has amplified fear of Muslim youth in the Netherlands. In this context, Dutch-born Muslim youth endure social and systemic discrimination that affects all aspects of their futures, including available educational opportunities and eventually their prospects for employment. ased on a one-year qualitative study conducted in Amsterdam, this article explores the lived experience of Dutch-born Muslim youth caught at the intersection of national policies and local realities. Grounded in critical literature originating in the Netherlands and in Europe, this inquiry triangulates participant observations, focus groups with youth (n = 25) and interviews with youth workers (n = 25) to disclose the hostile discursive contexts faced by Muslim youth. Findings indicate that anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant discourses permeate the everyday experiences of Muslim youth, including the practices and structures of youth programs they attend. The study raises questions about multicultural policies that appear progressive and attempt to build social cohesion but may in fact further alienate and oppress Muslim youth. It also reveals how Muslim youth navigate oppression by agentically constructing their identities while resisting the dehumanizing categories in which they are placed.