Director of Research, Ailya Vajid, will be giving a talk entitled The Multiple Meanings of Mourning: How Shi’i-American Women Negotiate Tradition and Culture Through Commemoration and Activism. This paper focuses on how American Shi’i women negotiate tradition and authenticity with their own American cultural values, and how they draw upon the courage and strength of powerful female Shi’i symbols in their socio-political endeavors and in their activism for social justice and religious freedom. Read more.