Doctoral Dissertation Research: Legal Practices of State Neutrality in Educational Settings

该博士论文研究项目旨在培养一名人类学研究生在科学严谨和实证数据收集和分析方面的方法，旨在通过研究中立的社会法律概念，促进对教育环境中主体-公民和国家-主体关系形成的科学理解。该项目将向投资改善教育政策的组织广泛传播其调查结果。该项目还扩大了历史上代表性不足的群体在科学领域的参与，促进了代表性不足群体的教育，并通过在这些科研团体中的国际合作建设能力和科学基础设施。哈夫萨·欧布，在西北大学凯瑟琳·霍夫曼博士的指导下，将探讨国家中立在教育实践中的司法概念，因为它与宗教在学校教育中的作用有关。这项民族志研究将探讨宗教教师如何回应教或不教宗教的政治。最近的事件使公立学校的宗教教学成为有争议的辩论的主题，导致重新定义国家中立的概念，并重新设想宗教在学校课程中的位置。研究者将研究教师如何在教育政策中协商少数民族宗教的角色，并将揭示这些教师如何1)应对对宗教信仰的歧视，以及2)重新定义公立学校宗教课程的位置。在实地调查期间，研究人员将在教育环境中进行参与性观察、半结构化访谈、口述历史、档案和媒体研究。该项目将推动人类学理论相关教育、政治人类学的分支领域，以及宗教人类学中关于世俗主义的辩论。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The doctoral dissertation research project, which trains an anthropology graduate student in methods of scientifically rigorous and empirical data collection and analysis, aims to advance scientific understanding of the making of subject-citizens and state-subject relations in educational settings through a study of a the sociolegal concept of neutrality. The project would broadly disseminate its findings to organizations invested in improving educational policies. The project also broadens the participation of groups historically underrepresented in science, contributes the education of underrepresented groups, and builds capacity and scientific infrastructure through international cooperation in these scientific research communities.Hafsa Oubou, under the supervision of Dr. Katherine Hoffman of Northwestern University, will explore the juridical concept of state neutrality in educational practice as it relates to the role of religion in schooling. This ethnographic research will explore how teachers of religion, respond to the politics of teaching or not teaching religion. Recent events have made the teaching of religion in public schools the subject of contentious debate, leading to redefining the concept of state neutrality and to re-imagining the place of religion in schools' curriculum. The investigator will examine how teachers negotiate the role of minorities' religion in education policies and will uncover how these teachers 1) navigate the discrimination towards religiosity, and 2) redefine the place of religion classes in public schools. During the fieldwork research, the researcher will conduct participant observation in education settings, semi-structured interviews, oral histories, and archival and media research. The project will advance anthropological theory related education, the subfield of political anthropology, and debates about secularism in the anthropology of religion.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.