![[Farid Hafez]](https://bridge.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-10.45.01-AM.jpeg "Farid Hafez")
The Bridge Initiative is a multi-year research project on Islamophobia housed in Georgetown University.
The Bridge Initiative aims to disseminate original and accessible research, offers engaging analysis and commentary on contemporary issues, and hosts a wide repository of educational resources to inform the general public about Islamophobia.
Research & Resources
Report on #BankingWhileMuslim Analyzes Financial Islamophobia
A March 2023 study from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) analyzed survey data on banking challenges from financial institutions which millions of American Muslims face today. The study highlighted the impact these restrictions have on the ability for millions of American Muslims to run civic/charitable organizations, open personal bank accounts, or even buy movie tickets via PayPal and Venmo.
The Criminalization of Islamophobia Studies
The Bridge Initiative brings together a panel of experts who have faced targeted harassment for their scholarly work on the state’s role in promoting Islamophobia, to discuss this growing and dangerous phenomena and the impact it’s having on academic freedom and civil society.
Middle East Autocrats, Islamophobia, and “Reverse Orientalism”
The legacies of entrenched orientalist frameworks and dispositions continue to influence scholarship and discussions of the Middle East and Muslims. In his iconic work on the subject, Orientalism, Edward Said defined this notion as “a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the orient.” The hegemonic position of the West, coupled with an…