Kassam, Shelina

Shelina currently teaches at the University of Toronto in the Department of Historical Studies, Division of Women and Gender Studies. Among the courses she teaches are ‘Gender and Islam,’ ‘Critical Race Theory’, and ‘Women in World Cultures.’ She is a PhD candidate at the Ontario Institute of Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the emergence of the so-called ‘moderate Muslim’ in Canadian media, including in sites of popular culture. She has published articles on topics related to Muslims, race and gender in the contemporary context.

Until 2006, Shelina worked was Director for an international teacher education program, called the Professional Teacher Educators’ Program (PTEP). PTEP, a unique program with international partners, brings together teacher educators from around the world (from some 20 countries) for a 12 month humanities-based program and is a ‘train the trainer’ program to train educators who will then support and mentor primary-level teachers..

Shelina has a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree (Political Science and History) from Simon Fraser University. She completed her Master of Arts (M.A.) degree at McGill University where she focused her studies on contemporary Muslim politics, social movements and societies. Her Masters thesis, entitled “The Language of Islamism: Pakistani media response to the Iranian Revolution”, analyzed Pakistan’s relationship with its dominant socio-political ideology – that of Islamism – and explored the nature of contemporary Muslim political movements in their search for ideological and pragmatic meaning.

In her professional life, Shelina has worked with numerous academic and educational institutions. In addition to her work with the international teacher education program (PTEP), she has also worked with the UK-based Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS), affiliated with the Aga Khan Development Network, where she was engaged in the development of educational materials and human resource development programs. She has also worked with the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM), based in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Shelina has been long been involved in the social justice and global development sectors. She was the Director of Policy and Programming at the International Development Education Association (IDERA) in Vancouver, the Executive Director of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) in Toronto, and the Executive Director of the Saskatoon Open Door Society, an immigrant settlement agency.

Shelina has also been an independent consultant and trainer on human rights, including racism, sexism and other human rights issues. She has also been (and continues to be) a volunteer on numerous boards, committees and commissions.

Shelina was chosen to be a member of the Non-governmental Organization (NGO) Election Observer Delegation to monitor the first all-race elections in South Africa (April/May 1994). She was also the recipient of the 1995 CIDA Development Education Award for contributions to development education in British Columbia. The Award enabled Shelina to travel to India to work with development, women’s and human rights groups in 1995.