FARIBA NOWROUZI KASHAN

October 12, 2021 | 0 COMMENTS | by admin

It is my great pleasure to write this letter to strongly support The Salaam Network (TSN) of Louisville, KY, for the 2020 Atlantic Renewals Award. At this time, more than ever before, we need to bring people together regardless of their beliefs to establish peace and justice in our community. I am a Muslim woman with a Ph. D in Applied Mathematics from the University of Louisville. Currently, I am a faculty member at Kentucky State University. Aside from my professional work, I have also been a leader and facilitator of Islamic education for the local Iranian community (youth and adult) for almost twenty years. Over the past several years, I have been pleased to be involved with The Salaam Network and work as one of its core members.

Islamophobia is one of the largest problems that divides our nation and communities. The best solution for this problem is educate people (Muslim and non-Muslim) about Islam based on the holy book Qur’an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) without any prejudgments and from multiple perspectives. TSN has been extremely effective in spreading awareness regarding Islamophobia in Kentucky and abroad by offering free education classes. TSN outreach has offered many discussions groups, student panels, lectures, and workshops at venues of various religious followings and academic settings.

All conducted programs and presentations by The Salaam Network are listed and can be found in https://salaamnetwork.org/programs/. It verifies that TSN’s educational mission has advanced in various ways over time since its start in 2016. Its programs have provided free education not only about Islam, but have also highlighted the common values among different religions, especially amongst the three Abrahamic religions.

TSN has worked very hard since its inception to contribute toward building a culture of knowledge and dialogue in our city. I am sure that if TSN is awarded the 2020 Atlantic Renewals, it would be able to do much more to bring harmony to our diverse community, making Louisville truly a “City of Compassion” with a high level of understanding of, and respect for, all the individuals and groups that live in it in an atmosphere of equality and equity.

Fariba Nowrouzi Kashan, Ph.D. Mathematics Department

Kentucky State University

December 8, 2019