E-mail: hahmad@nd.edu
Language: Arabic
Location of Study: Rabat, Morocco
Program of Study: Qalam wa Lawh Center for Arabic Studies
Sponsors: The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures, the Keogh School of Global Affairs, and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
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A different language is a different vision of life.
Federico Fellini
I am Haleemah Ahmad, a Master of Global Affairs student, specializing in International Peace Studies. Before coming to Notre Dame, I worked for 5 years as a Senior Researcher and Facilitator with the Dawah Institute in Nigeria, where I work with a team of researchers and facilitators to tackle social problems such as violent extremism and interfaith tensions, and thus contribute to peacebuilding in society. I am interested in researching the recruitment narratives and materials of Islamist groups and then working on the development and dissemination of counter and alternative narratives to them, amongst other holistic intellectual strategies targeted toward building individual and community resilience against recruitment into violent extremism.
I am excited at the opportunity to spend the summer in Morocco as this would help me to deepen my understanding of the Arabic language, not just by learning from a reputable Arabic institute but also from frequent interactions with native speakers of the language. I am optimistic that this would not only help me be a better peacebuilder, but also a better global citizen, especially as Arabic is spoken by 350 million native speakers, the 5th most widely spoken language globally, the liturgical language of 1.9 Billion Muslims, and one of the 6 official United Nations (UN) languages.