Since 1851
Dr. Farid Senzai is on the faculty at Santa Clara University. His educational background includes a M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Oxford University, where he studied politics in the Middle East.
Dr. Senzai has worked with prominent think tanks (Brookings Institution, Council on Foreign Relations, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, World Bank) on varied topics--Islam in the United States, US foreign policy, connections between contemporary Middle East politics and religion, etc. Dr. Senzai is also active here in the Bay Area, serving on the boards of a number of organizations, including Islamic Networks Group, whose speakers and director have spoken at Notre Dame in the past. A native Californian (Sacramento), Dr. Senzai now lives in Fremont with his wife and newborn son.
For this session, Dr. Senzai will draw upon his expertise in the politics of the region as well as his family history--his father was born and raised in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan that are part of Greg Mortensen's story. Dr. Senzai's colleague at Santa Clara, Dr. Philip Boo Riley, will start the session with questions his students developed when they read Three Cups of Tea in January in a course on religion, globalization and solidarity. Following responses from Dr. Senzai, the audience will be invited to discuss the questions the book raised for them.