Third Space Thoughts to Policy

Listen in to Amina's 2-part interview with Afeefa Syeed. This second portion focuses on the value of grassroots engagement and the role of women. Afeefa Syeed most recently served as Senior Advisor at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has been a Scholar Consultant for the Carter Center, and is currently Research Associate with Cambridge University's Institute on Religion and International Studies, and Senior Fellow and Advisory Council Member for Institute for Global Engagement's Center for Women, Faith & Leadership.

She also founded a community-based school whose core curriculum includes peace education, service-in-action, and place-based learning. The school has been an incubator and global model for innovative practices in integrated learning and teaching including creating a curriculum to teach religious studies in a holistic manner.

Listen into Amina's interview with Professor Tyler Cowen, host of the popular podcast series Conversations with Tyler on iTunes. Professor Cohen is Director of the Mercatus Center and a professor at George Mason University. His book,The Great Stagnation: How America Ate the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better, was a New York Times bestseller. He received his PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1987.

Join Amina as she interviews Rania Rankoussi, an educational consultant and Director of Bright Signs, a business that offers education focused on kids learning life skills with the integration of Islamic values and morals. Rania also talks about her experiences serving UNICEF in Syria for an education project she talks more about in the interview.

Join Amina and Dr. Ahmed Alwani, Vice President of IIIT and Director of IIIT's Reform of Education project, as they discuss how to make the visions and goals of Advancing Education in Muslim Societies (AEMS) in the realm of human development and transformative education a part of reality with tangible results and pragmatic approaches.

In the third episode, join Amina as she discusses creating reading cultures with Saulat Pervez, a member of the AEMS research team.

In the second episode of Third Space Thoughts to Policy, join Amina and Dr. Ilham Nasser as the latter gives an overview of what "Mapping the Terrain" entails. Dr. Nasser also defines the four main constructs for listeners: empathy, forgiveness, moral reasoning, and community mindedness. Furthermore, Dr. Nasser explains the importance of what UNESCO calls "learning to be", where education is not only about knowledge and skills but also about being a human being, and how this fits in with the AEMS program.

This is the first episode of the Third Space Thoughts to Policy podcast. Join Amina and Dr. Miller-Idriss to listen in to their conversation on what "third space" means, why we don't have research on socio-emotional and spiritual aspects of the individual in that space, and how this discussion is relevant not just to Muslim societies, but globally as youth around the world grapple with anxiety, depression, and feelings of isolation. You'll also hear more about IIIT's work and how the AEMS program is working towards transformative education advancing holistic human development and overall wellness.