2019 Ronald T. Takaki Teaching Award

HATEM BAZIAN

Dr. Hatem Bazian’s contributions to the AC curriculum spans over two decades. Dr. Bazian’s AC courses have expanded the field of Ethnic Studies and brought previously unstudied and under-studied communities into attention. In particular, Dr. Bazian’s Asian American Studies 128AC, Islam in America: communities and Institutions; and Asian American Studies 132AC De-Constructing Islamophobia and Otherness courses explore the American-Muslim experience, an experience previously un-touched, and Islam, a topic that existed in religious studies, anthropology, and political science but not Ethnic Studies. Before these courses, American-Muslim communities were not included as a category at UC Berkeley, as was the case for Islamophobia.

Dr. Bazian goals in teaching these courses are the same goals he holds of education in general—to empower individuals to make informed, sustainable choices about their own lives, family, society, and the world. Dr. Bazian’s teaching philosophy is vested in getting students to relate to the world as full participants in its discourse and break the metaphorically constructed walls between the university and the communities. His inspiration and compassion for the subject matter have infected his students with the love of learning.

Watch Acceptance Speech

AC Awards & Undergraduate Library Prize Ceremony - 2019

Hatem Bazian