“On a sunny summer day in June 1992, a bomb ripped through the blue sky and killed four of my friends who were playing in the neighborhood. Their crime? Being Muslim. I was guilty of that same innocent crime and for the next four years of the Bosnian Genocide I starved, dodged missiles on the way to school, and learned that my name was on a list of girls to be sent to a rape camp…”

As expert panelist on targeted violence prevention hosted by CISA, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. She emphasizes the importance of resilience-building and non-violent problem solving.

With a new innovation grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the TC professor builds out her comprehensive vision for resilience to hate through education

Awards, grants, updates and more from Teachers College faculty from spring 2023

On July 11 – 28 years ago, Bosnian Serb forces methodically targeted and murdered thousands of Bosniak boys and men in and around Srebrenica. The pursuit of justice for Srebrenica’s victims and other heinous war crimes in Bosnia stands as a testament to the slow progress in delivering accountability.

Harriman Institute at Columbia University’s News featuring Dr. Amra Sabic El-Rayess.

Harriman Institute at Columbia University’s News featuring Dr. Amra Sabic El-Rayess.

The starting point of all forms of violence is cultural violence – the narratives of hate & supremacy that are seeded in schools, in the media & at the dinner table. Without words that make us fear one another, killing innocent people because of their identity is not possible.

Glacial and inadequate justice, the proliferation of genocide denial, and a severe failing in neutralizing divisive narratives that target minorities are just some of the reasons for this global escalation in identity-based, targeted violence.

Brown’s governing body elected each new member based on their commitment to the University and its mission of education and research.

The International Interfaith Research Lab, led by Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, hosted a special event on March 20 showcasing the Sarajevo Haggadah. The Haggadah is read around the table at Passover seders across the world, and the Sarajevo Haggadah is one of the oldest extant copies. The event featured a panel discussion, a display of a rare facsimile of the Sarajevo Haggadah, and a conversation about its journey and how it was kept safe through the courageous efforts of people from different faiths who demonstrated acts of respect, compassion, and collaboration.

It's a story about hope and survival: An ancient Jewish manuscript saved by different religious groups in the span of 650 years reminds us today about the power of the human spirit. Manuscript read during Passover created in Spain mid-14th century.

Ukrainian soldiers discovered evidence of the Bucha massacre. Far from owning up to its crimes, Russia has spent the past 12 months trying to spin the massacre as a Western-inspired conspiracy. 

Teachers have been refining their curricula to improve student outcomes by emphasizing science and math. This is valuable work because it addresses important deficits in U.S. education. But it stops short of what’s really needed.

Educators and Educational Staff have a vital role to play in preventing hate, violence, and disconnection in our students. By visiting schools across the U.S, we have seen that a connected and engaged classroom builds a resilient community.

Hate crimes have reached epidemic proportions—rising again in major U.S. cities during the first half of 2022 after double-digit percentage increases over the past two years. We stand together as religious leaders to urge anti-hate training from an early age to end this dangerous trend and to implore our fellow clergy to preach from their pulpits what extremists have tried to hide: All major religions abhor violence and reject militancy in their names.

The Teachers College at Columbia University inaugurated a new International Interfaith Research Lab to combat hate and radicalization based on one’s religion, race or ethnicity. Cardinal Timothy Dolan was a featured speaker and said that faith can never be used for hatred or violence.

The Cat I Never Named, by Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, featured in this book recommendation.

Eliminating extremism starts with thorough research and training, the new lab led by TC’s Amra Sabic-El-Rayess poses.

The Cat I Never Named, by Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, featured in this recommendation list.

In dialogue on storytelling, radicalization, the importance of student and teacher relationships, and identity

27th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide

To Help Students Prevent ‘Othering’, a form of targeted violence, in physical, virtual, and social spaces. DHS awards Grant for Innovation to Amra. This expands existing training to help teachers better identify and then engage students who are feeling displaced and to help prevent alienation.

Reimagine Resilience is an online professional development program designed for educators and educational staff in the U.S with the aim of building resilience to othering, disconnection, and narratives of hate. The mission of this program is to both recognize the importance of building resilient classrooms, schools, and communities as a measure of violence prevention, rather than intervention, with Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess’ model of radicalization in educational spaces serving as the theoretical foundation for this program.

How Do You Write the Story of Your Future, When Every Day Might Be Your Last? Whatever makes a child seem like an outsider, can rob them of the opportunity to be main characters in their own narrative.

“Our summer reading selection illuminates the shared experiences of womanhood from all walks of life. With their words, these authors help us connect as advocates for women, try on new perspectives, and bring us deeper into understanding resilience, courage, and community.”

Educators can build resilience to hate in a divided America.

A door to radicalization is first opened when educators and schools don’t provide students with opportunities to engage in tough conversations or constructively address their grievances.

Amra reads from the first chapter of The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival, her stunning memoir of her teen years struggling to survive the Bosnian genocide--and the stray cat who protected her family through it all.

Amra speaks about deciding how and when to tell her story, the power of education to uplift or diminish, and the importance of representation in the classroom and beyond.

What parents and educators should be looking for in teens when suspecting possible radicalization. Expert advice for parents on combatting extremist propaganda. What to do if you suspect your teen.

In this article, Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, talks about her insights into the Buffalo mass shooting and the road to radicalization which begins with “educational displacement,” a moment or transition where a child feels alienated from their primary social space, typically the classroom.

Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess is a Survivor of the Bosnian Genocide. She grew up in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. After surviving ethnic cleansing and more than 1,100 days under the Serbs’ military siege, she emigrated to the United States in 1996. By December 1999, she earned a BA in Economics from Brown University. Later, she obtained two Master’s degrees and a Doctorate from Columbia University. She is the author with Laura Sullivan of The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival.

In this podcast, Dr. Amra Sabic El-Rayess explains what it was like growing up in Bosnia & Herzegovina during the Bosnian Genocide. She talks about the courses she offers at Columbia University that examine social transformation and moral resilience. Her online program, “Reimagine Resilience,” teaches educators how to navigate classroom conversations about acceptance and othering. Amra and Morgan talk about how to be religious without being extreme and why her students find her so inspiring.

“The siege and the cat that saved my life.”

“Q&A with Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, Author, Professor and Activist”, Goldman Sachs Alumni Network.

Fleeing from the Muslim Genocide in Bosnia to becoming a professor at Columbia. Amra is an expert on “othering” – where people in one group are treated differently.

NEA’s President, Becky Pringle, wrote a column in the NEA Today magazine January issue highlighting her experience of reading Dr. Sabic-El-Rayess’ memoir. She writes:

I first heard Professor Amra Sabic-El-Rayess speak at last year’s meeting of NEA’s National Council of Urban Education Associations, where she shared her horrific experience of living through the Bosnian genocide. The terror and tragedy she faced took place decades ago and an ocean away. But her message is extremely relevant today, here in the United States.

Turning a war-torn childhood into a book that teaches lessons about hate, genocide. “The Cat I Never Named,” chronicles her life as a Muslim teenager surviving the the Serbian military siege.

The Reimagine Resilience Team will be presenting an experiential session at the International Transformative Learning Conference (ITLC) 2022. The paper that will accompany this work, entitled “Transformative Pedagogy and Radicalization: A Curricular Innovation,” will be presented by Dr. Amra Sabic-El-Rayess and Vik Joshi at the Conference. The Conference will be held online from April 6th – 9th.

Visit the Teachers College, Columbia University website for more details.