Sheherazade Jafari

Sheherazade Jafari, PhD, is director of the Carter School’s Point of View International Retreat and Research Center, where she works with students, faculty, alumni, and partners across the international peacebuilding community to support and sustain conflict resolution and reconciliation processes, provide trainings and other learning opportunities for diverse groups and communities, and advance research that develops innovative theory and practice in the field. Sheherazade also serves as Co-Chair of the Carter School’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee.

A scholar and practitioner, Sheherazade’s research and applied background and interests include gender, religion, and human rights in conflict and peacebuilding, as well as fostering a more inclusive and equitable approach to conflict resolution research, practice, and pedagogy.  Her recent research centers the work of women’s rights advocates in Muslim-majority societies and other religious communities, examining how they engagetheir faith and work across religious-secular divides in response to rising politicized religion and conflict.  She is also currently writing an action guide with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Salam Institute for Peace and Justice on Gender Inclusive Religious Peacemaking.

Sheherazade has worked in the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia with both large and small civil society organizations, and is an educator and experienced facilitator of group dialogues, workshops, and trainings. Previous experiences include overseeing an international interfaith youth summit and dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and USIP, and leading the Religion and Conflict Resolution Program at the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, where she worked with religious peacemakers from armed conflict zones around the world.  She serves on the board of Feminist.com, as Vice Chair of One Common Unity, as Student Awards Chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA), and on the advisory board of the Carter School’s Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation.

Degrees

• PhD, International Relations, American University
• MA, International Development and Conflict Resolution, The George Washington University
• BA, Sociology and Women's Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison