Speaker to Offer Insights into American Ideology

Nazia Kazi, Ph.D hopes to inform students about institutionalized Islamophobia on Nov. 5

Politics can be a notoriously hard subject to discuss both on and off campus. From partisan ideology and hard party lines to the support of policies, disagreement runs rampant. Humboldt State University wants to teach students how some of the misconceptions and hardline policies can affect how we see the world.

“When it comes to matters of American empire, there is not much room for disagreement or dissent really in those matters and that’s what, really, has been motivating my research,” Nazia Kazi, Ph.D said. She is looking to change that, and hopes that students may change as well.

With the goal of bringing a wide variety of speakers and topics to help educate students, HSU has invited Kazi to be the keynote speaker at this year’s Campus and Community Dialogue on Race.

“From what I hear, students at Humboldt are really engaged and thoughtful about current social issues,” Kazi said. “So I’m always eager not just to get a chance to share my research with them, but to hear a bit from them too.”

Kazi received her doctorate at the City University of New York, her master’s at Columbia University, and her bachelor’s at Northwestern University and is the author of “Islamophobia, Race, And Global Politics.” As Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Stockton University, Kazi teaches courses on race, ethnicity and immigration. After giving speeches at various universities across the nation, she is finishing her educational tour for 2019 at Humboldt.

When it comes to matters of American empire, there is not much room for disagreement or dissent really in those matters and that’s what, really, has been motivating my research.

Nazia Kazi, Ph.D

“In terms of topic area, that’s the stuff that keeps me up at night. Thinking about race and American foreign policy,” said Kazi. “But what I want to think about when I’m at Humboldt is what it means to say, when it comes to 9/11, ‘Never Forget’.”

“This is the first year that incoming college aged freshmen, they’re the first generation coming into college born after 9/11,” Kazi said. “So I want to think about what it means to say ‘Never Forget’ and have that institutionalized; have that memorialized for people who weren’t even born at the time.”

That realization has lead to the creation of her presentation, “Islamophobic Nationalism in the U.S. Racial Landscape.” Kazi hopes to enlighten students who grew up in a post 9/11 world, of the role that the United States may have played in the rise of Islamophobia. In doing so, she hopes to address any incorrect ideas or concepts that students may have. She also hopes to also raise awareness on how to fight back against misconceptions about Islamophobia.

“I think college students all too often are aware of what Islamophobia is,” Kazi said. “I think people are aware of that but I don’t think that people are so aware of how that type of racism isn’t just about people’s attitudes and perceptions.”

“What motivates Islamophobia is the actions of powerful states,” Kazi said. 

Subjects like these can be tough to talk about, but Kazi hopes that students in attendance are willing and able to listen to the subject material. That hesitation and awkwardness when tackling heavier subject material is part of the reason Kazi picked this topic. She hopes that the audience is a mix of those who wish to know more about the subject and those who may have never really considered the subject, to get a mix of voices and help have a more educational discussion.

“We don’t want an echo chamber, we want the folks who maybe haven’t thought about this very much,” she said. 

Kazi, will be presenting on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m. in the Kate Buchanan Room.