CAIR-Philadelphia is pleased to welcome Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu as our new Outreach and Education Director. Ahmet Selim is an academic and a scholar of American religious landscapes. He brings to us several years of on-the-ground work with Muslim American communities.
Ahmet Selim hails from Turkey and has lived in the US for more than a decade. He holds a PhD in Political Science from Boston University and a Master’s in International Relations from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. His research focuses on the American religious landscape, politics of ethno-religious identities, and Muslim minorities in the West. He has taught classes on race and ethnicity, international relations, and Islamic studies at Boston University and George Mason University. Ahmet Selim has widely lectured and presented in community forums and interfaith gatherings alongside scholarly forums.
Dr. Tekelioglu’s doctoral work focused on contemporary debates about American Muslim identity and transnational belonging among American Muslim communities in Boston, San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. From 2013 to 2015 he directed the Los Angeles leg of the Public Ethics and Citizenship in Plural Societies Project with Contending Modernities program at the University of Notre Dame.
In addition to his work for CAIR, Ahmet Selim is concurrently an instructor and the Content Editor for the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason Univeristy’s academic blog, Maydan.
At CAIR-Philadelphia, Ahmet Selim will be our primary liaison for all sectors of our community. He is eager to meet new faces and carry CAIR-Philadelphia’s work forward. Ahmet will also step in to further expand our educational programs. Please stay tuned for our forthcoming workshops that cater to both non-Muslim and Muslim audiences. We are also working to re-introduce our much-coveted Muslim Youth Leadership Program.
Ahmet Selim said, “I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work for CAIR-PA at this critical juncture of American Muslim story. I look forward to working with the Muslim and the broader Pennsylvania community to forward our shared goals of justice and peace. I cannot wait to learn from our wonderful Philadelphia Muslim community in the process.”
Please feel free to reach out to Ahmet Selim at atekelioglu@cair.com and 267-515-6710. He eagerly awaits to hear from you and looks forward to developing exciting programs in collaboration with individuals and institutions.
