Written for The Argo by Irsa Khan

Dr. Nazia Kazi, an eccentric professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Stockton is ensuring her students are well-educated on topics that may be deemed sensitive to the mass media. Dr. Kazi has been a professor at Stockton for 14 years, teaching topics from anthropology, sociology, to American and Africana studies.

She makes sure her topics taught in class cover race, migration, and Islamophobia. Covering these types of topics during unprecedented times like these can be a little difficult. “I use my time in the classroom to think past this narrow approach, and instead focus on the material bases of race and racism,” said Kazi.

Kazi is also a published author. Released in 2018, her book Islamophobia, Race and Global Politics focuses on the powerful scope of Islamophobia in the United States. It teaches about the Barack Obama legacy, portrayal of Muslims in mainstream media, and American’s military endeavors.

She was inspired to write because she wanted her students to have an easy, accessible book that would be useful for the average university student, regardless of their major or their career plans. Her book has been required in countless college courses across the country, even internationally. Islamophobia, Race and Global Politics is readily available at the Stockton University’s bookstore and Amazon.

With the election coming up, students have been feeling discouraged to vote. Many feel their vote won’t make a difference.

Kazi has a message for these undecided students: “Change in the United States has been driven by organized, educated, committed movements of people forcing the political system – regardless of the party in charge – to heed their demands as workers, as women, as migrants, as people of color, as people who feel that the system does not, on its own, serve them.”