 |  | Samiha Rahman, an assistant professor in the human development department, is on leave this year to work on research thanks to a prestigious Career Enhancement Fellowship administered by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars and funded by the Mellon Foundation. Rahman will focus on finishing a book manuscript based on ethnographic research that examines the educational experiences, aspirations, and life worlds of Black American Muslims who live and learn between the U.S. and Senegal. Rahman became interested in inequities in education during her time as a classroom teacher and after-school educator in New York City and Philadelphia and through learning about the educational initiatives of the Black Panther Party and Nation of Islam. Building upon her professional experiences and intellectual interests, Rahman seeks to understand how communities engage educational sites as places of self-determination and liberation. Rahman joined the HDEV faculty in fall 2020; she completed a dual Ph.D. in Africana studies and education at the University of Pennsylvania.
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