Dr. Homayra Ziad is a spiritual seeker, scholar-activist and nationally recognized interfaith practitioner, and has served in spiritual care and leadership roles in both Muslim and interreligious settings. She received her doctorate in Religious Studies from Yale, with a special interest in Islamic spirituality, philosophical Sufism, and Indo-Persian textual traditions. Dr. Ziad has served in universities, seminaries, and faith-based nonprofits and practices community-engaged teaching and scholarship grounded in equitable, compassionate relationship-building. She was Senior Lecturer and Director of the Program in Islamic Studies at Johns Hopkins University where she received the undergraduate teaching award, and was recognized for her innovative teaching and mentorship. Before this, she was Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at Trinity College and then Scholar of Islam at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, where she spearheaded public engagement on Islam.
For two decades, Dr. Ziad has created educational and spiritual care programs that connect religion with the arts, public health, and mental health and supported educators, activists, artists, and religious leaders in navigating pluralism and fostering networks of social change. While at Hopkins, she led a national faculty fellowship on community-engaged learning in Islamic Studies, partnered with American Muslim Health Professionals to mobilize students to address vaccine hesitancy and access in Muslim communities, and co-created Art, Religion and Cities with colleagues at Morgan State University and the Walters Art Museum. She also served on the founding teams of 99 Clay Vessels, an arts and social justice project by and for Muslim women, and Healing Khayal, a music and healing residency for young artists in Pakistan. Dr Ziad was on the Board of the ACLU of Maryland and served for two years as Board President.
Dr. Ziad was founding co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s (AAR) Interreligious and Interfaith Studies Group. She writes for academic and popular venues, consults on programs for film and media, and is co-editor of Words to Live By: Sacred Sources for Interreligious Engagement (Orbis Press, 2018). Most recently, she served as Director of Campus Partnerships at Interfaith America.
For two decades, Dr. Ziad has created educational and spiritual care programs that connect religion with the arts, public health, and mental health and supported educators, activists, artists, and religious leaders in navigating pluralism and fostering networks of social change. While at Hopkins, she led a national faculty fellowship on community-engaged learning in Islamic Studies, partnered with American Muslim Health Professionals to mobilize students to address vaccine hesitancy and access in Muslim communities, and co-created Art, Religion and Cities with colleagues at Morgan State University and the Walters Art Museum. She also served on the founding teams of 99 Clay Vessels, an arts and social justice project by and for Muslim women, and Healing Khayal, a music and healing residency for young artists in Pakistan. Dr Ziad was on the Board of the ACLU of Maryland and served for two years as Board President.
Dr. Ziad was founding co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s (AAR) Interreligious and Interfaith Studies Group. She writes for academic and popular venues, consults on programs for film and media, and is co-editor of Words to Live By: Sacred Sources for Interreligious Engagement (Orbis Press, 2018). Most recently, she served as Director of Campus Partnerships at Interfaith America.
hziad@aicusa.edu
