Home » Symposium » 2005 Symposium
Women and the Clashes of Culture, Politics, and Religion
- Alison D'Amario
Director of Education, The Salem Witch Museum -
In 1986, Ms D'Amario joined the staff at the Salem Witch Museum after thirteen years of teaching American Literature at Masconomet Regional High School in Boxford, Massachusetts. As Director of Education she has been involved in all aspects of program development from writing the educational material for the museum to giving television interviews about this very popular tourist attraction. Participating in local and national conferences, serving on community and school boards on the North Shore and making presentations to historical societies and business groups are all part of her very demanding schedule. Her goal in all of these activities is to impart accurate information about the Salem Witch Trials.
Alison received her BA, magna cum laude, from Smith College. She has appeared on numerous television programs including PBS Secrets of the Dead, The Witches' Curse, the History Channel, and the Discovery Channel. She has authored magazine articles as well as several educational packets and information booklets on witchcraft and in particular, the Salem Witch Trials. She currently is writing a book on Lowell to be published by Commonwealth Editions.
- Kamar Habibi
Instructor, Translator, Independent Researcher -
Ms. Habibi graduated from Kabul University, School of Journalism. In 1977 Kamar left Afghanistan. She received her M.A. from Indiana University, School of Education. Currently she is a Dari and Pashto instructor, translator, and an independent researcher/writer. Her literary work has included the translation of a scientific book "Mammals of Afghanistan" by Dr. Khushal Habibi, in 2003; participation as a member of a writing group-exceptional reader-for "A Beggar at the Gate" an historical novel by Thalassa Ali, in 2004; and most recently, as a research consultant for "The Companions of Paradise," an historical novel situated in Afghanistan by Thalassa Ali.
Kamar visited Afghanistan after 25 years of exile abroad when she attended a four-day conference Reconstruction of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan in September 2002. In January, 2005 she once again returned to her native country to visit family and complete a research project. Since 1992, she has resided in Marblehead with her husband, a medical doctor.
- Shahla Haeri
Director of the Women's Studies Program and Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Boston University -
Dr. Haeri is the director of Women's Studies Program and Assistant Professor of cultural Anthropology at Boston University. She has conducted research in Iran, Pakistan, and India, and has written extensively on religion, law, and gender dynamics in the Muslim World. She is the author of Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage, Mut'a, in Iran (1993), and of No Shame for the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women (2002). Shahla was involved in the University of Chicago's multi-year program on global fundamentalism and she contributed an article to the second volume: "Obedience versus Autonomy: Women & Fundamentalism in Iran & Pakistan" (1993). In 2001, she made a short video documentary titled Mrs. President: Women and Political Leadership in Iran, which focuses on six women presidential contenders in Iran.
Shahla has been awarded several postdoctoral fellowships. Including ones at Harvard University, Brown University, and Oxford University as well as a Fulbright.
- Krishna Mallick
Chairperson and Professor, Department of Philosophy, Salem State College -
Professor Mallick was born and raised in India. After receiving an M.A. in Philosophy from Calcutta University she emigrated to the United States to study, receiving her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Brandeis University. After several teaching positions she joined the faculty at Salem State College where she was coordinator of the Peace Institute. Currently she is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy.
Krishna has co-edited two books with Dr. Doris Hunter, An Anthology of Nonviolence: Historical and Contemporary Voices (2002) and Nonviolence: A Reader in the Ethics of Action (1990). Her research interests are in the area of peace and social/environmental justice and she has published and presented numerous articles in this area, the most recent one being "Aung San Suu Kyi: The Lady of Burma," published in the journal Fellowship.
- Mohammed Zakir
Owner, Silk Route Crafts -
Mohammed Zakir grew up in Karachi, Pakistan and came to the United States as an undergraduate at Middlebury College, VT. Upon graduating in 1998 he joined Charles River Associates, an economic consulting company in Boston. Combined with their religious beliefs, the Zakir's belong to the Dawoodi Bohras who believe in gender equality, and their interest in the socio-economic development of women, Mohammed and his wife, Amatulla, recently started their own business, Silk Route Crafts1. Their intention is to empower underprivileged women artisans in Pakistan by connecting them to the consumer market in the U.S. while providing them with fair wages and a healthy work environment.
Mohammed and his wife, Amatulla, who grew up in India, live in Cambridge and are expecting their first child.