![[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
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…
Five Questions on Canadian Islamophobia with Amira Elghawaby
In Episode six of “Unpacking Islamophobia,” our guest is Amira Elghawaby who is Canada’s first-ever Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia. In the past few years, Canada has experienced more mass killings motivated by Islamophobia than any other country in the G7.
Five Questions on Islamophobia and the Future of Muslims in India
In Episode Five of “Unpacking Islamophobia,” our guest is Kashmiri Muslim journalist, Raqib Hameed Naik, who discusses Hindu nationalism in India and the growing violence and intolerance against the country’s 200 million Muslims. Naik provides an important historical overview of Hindu nationalism, the ideologues behind this political movement and their goal of achieving a Hindu-only nation. He talks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is an openly Hindu nationalist party and under whose rule India has witnessed a drastic rise in anti-Muslim violence and polarization.