Texas A&M University School of Law Professor Sahar Aziz received a Diversity Matters seed grant from the Office of the Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity in support of her research on civil rights and Muslims in the United States. The grant will study experiences of Muslim students at Texas A&M University.

Aziz will be working with Shaida Kalbasi, Instructional Assistant Professor in Health and Kinesiology, to conduct empirical research about the experiences of Aggie Muslim students. Kalbasi has a Ph.D. in medical sociology. Her dissertation focused on the experience of minority populations in the health care system.

With the rise of overt anti-Muslim bias, Aziz’s interdisciplinary research is a timely contribution to the legal and sociological literature on discrimination faced by religious and racial minorities.

Aziz and Kalbasi will examine such factors as national origin, time of immigration (first vs. second generation), clothing, language skills and religion in terms of their possible influence on discriminatory behaviors. The results of the study will provide a better understanding of the discrimination experiences of not only the understudied group of Muslims in America in general but, more specifically, Muslim students on a college campus.

More importantly, the findings from this study will tie directly to the issue of diversity at Texas A&M University and can be used to help raise awareness among the student body and faculty/staff about the delicate position of this group of students and how they experience discrimination at a time when Islam and Muslims often make national news.

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- Article by Jennifer Nassar, Communications Specialist, Texas A&M University School of Law