Zahra N. Jamal, Ph.D.

Dr. Zahra N. Jamal is the Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow on International Women's Rights at the University of Chicago, the Director of Strategy and Research at the Isma’ili Tariqah and Religious Education Board USA, and a Fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. She was previously on the faculty at Harvard, MIT, and Michigan State University (MSU). Dr. Jamal also served as the Program Director of Central Asia and International Development at MSU. She has published in various venues, including I Speak for Myself, and serves as an ethnographic consultant to the U.S. Department of State, Aspen Institute, the Swiss Development Cooperation, the Aga Khan Development Network, and USAID on conflict resolution, gender equity, human rights, and civic engagement among Muslim communities in North America, Europe, South Asia, and Central Asia. Dr. Jamal received an M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University, and a double B.A. in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and in Slavic Studies from Rice University. She tweets at @znjamal.