Think Globally, Welcome Locally
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Dear friends,
I am writing with an update and an invitation. Three years ago, I left Project Interfaith, the non-profit organization that I founded and ran for ten years with the support and partnership from so many of you. While my tenure at Project Interfaith is over, my vision for collaboratively building a world where people of all faiths, beliefs, and cultures are valued, included, and protected is not.
When Project Interfaith began, our intention was to progress local multifaith and intercultural relations. Within a few years of its founding, word of our in-person and online programming spread. This provided us with opportunities to work with people from communities across the globe and to collaborate with academic, governmental, and intergovernmental organizations such as the American Academy of Religion, the Obama administration, and the UN Alliance of Civilizations.
From these experiences, I observed the complex relationship between politics and social inclusion. An overarching question emerged for me: What compels people to reject nationalist movements that exploit and stoke divisions along ethnic, geographic, religious, and class lines and instead to build more inclusive, cohesive societies? I left Project Interfaith in December 2014 to discern my next professional chapter and to care for my son (who is now a toddler!). During this reflection, I realized that I could best explore this critical question through a PhD program. My desire to investigate this has only grown since the Brexit referendum and Trump’s election.
This discernment process also led me to the PhD program in Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, where I have been admitted for this September. My doctoral research will look at how the national government’s hostility to immigration and refugee resettlement is affecting local immigrant and refugee inclusion efforts in the US and the UK. I am particularly interested in examining how a hostile national political environment impacts the way that these local inclusion efforts communicate, resource, and carry out their work. It is my hope that by investigating and documenting these effects, I can enhance the understanding and efficacy of those seeking to increase social inclusion through policy, philanthropy, scholarship, activism, and business.
I view beginning this PhD program as the next step in building on what we generated at Project Interfaith: expanding the capacity of communities to be more socially inclusive through the development of interdisciplinary research, practical trainings, and innovative tools. But I need your help to be able to embark on this leg of the journey.
Unfortunately, funding for non-UK and non-EU nationals is extremely limited at the University of Edinburgh and so I need to look for alternative ways to finance my doctoral studies. I humbly ask that you consider making a gift that I can apply to the tuition costs for this program. I am happy to share with you more details about my proposed research, why I would like to pursue this research at the University of Edinburgh, and my funding needs if that would be helpful. Please just let me know. I also would be glad to share updates on my progress and research should you wish to see how your gift is making an impact. Again, please just let me know.
And if there are others who you think would be interested in learning more about this next chapter and how they can help, please feel free to share this link with them.
Thank you so much for your time, consideration, and attention. I am so grateful to have so many generous and caring people in my life!
With the deepest gratitude,
Beth
I am writing with an update and an invitation. Three years ago, I left Project Interfaith, the non-profit organization that I founded and ran for ten years with the support and partnership from so many of you. While my tenure at Project Interfaith is over, my vision for collaboratively building a world where people of all faiths, beliefs, and cultures are valued, included, and protected is not.
When Project Interfaith began, our intention was to progress local multifaith and intercultural relations. Within a few years of its founding, word of our in-person and online programming spread. This provided us with opportunities to work with people from communities across the globe and to collaborate with academic, governmental, and intergovernmental organizations such as the American Academy of Religion, the Obama administration, and the UN Alliance of Civilizations.
From these experiences, I observed the complex relationship between politics and social inclusion. An overarching question emerged for me: What compels people to reject nationalist movements that exploit and stoke divisions along ethnic, geographic, religious, and class lines and instead to build more inclusive, cohesive societies? I left Project Interfaith in December 2014 to discern my next professional chapter and to care for my son (who is now a toddler!). During this reflection, I realized that I could best explore this critical question through a PhD program. My desire to investigate this has only grown since the Brexit referendum and Trump’s election.
This discernment process also led me to the PhD program in Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, where I have been admitted for this September. My doctoral research will look at how the national government’s hostility to immigration and refugee resettlement is affecting local immigrant and refugee inclusion efforts in the US and the UK. I am particularly interested in examining how a hostile national political environment impacts the way that these local inclusion efforts communicate, resource, and carry out their work. It is my hope that by investigating and documenting these effects, I can enhance the understanding and efficacy of those seeking to increase social inclusion through policy, philanthropy, scholarship, activism, and business.
I view beginning this PhD program as the next step in building on what we generated at Project Interfaith: expanding the capacity of communities to be more socially inclusive through the development of interdisciplinary research, practical trainings, and innovative tools. But I need your help to be able to embark on this leg of the journey.
Unfortunately, funding for non-UK and non-EU nationals is extremely limited at the University of Edinburgh and so I need to look for alternative ways to finance my doctoral studies. I humbly ask that you consider making a gift that I can apply to the tuition costs for this program. I am happy to share with you more details about my proposed research, why I would like to pursue this research at the University of Edinburgh, and my funding needs if that would be helpful. Please just let me know. I also would be glad to share updates on my progress and research should you wish to see how your gift is making an impact. Again, please just let me know.
And if there are others who you think would be interested in learning more about this next chapter and how they can help, please feel free to share this link with them.
Thank you so much for your time, consideration, and attention. I am so grateful to have so many generous and caring people in my life!
With the deepest gratitude,
Beth
Organizer
Beth Katz
Organizer
Omaha, NE
