Sheherazade Jafari

Dr. Sheherazade Jafari is Founding Director of the Point of View International Retreat and Research Center (POV) at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.  At POV, she works with partners within the international peacebuilding community, students, and faculty to develop programming that facilitates conflict resolution and reconciliation processes, trains a new generation of students and practitioners, and advances research to support the development of theory and practice in the field. 

Dr. Jafari is a practitioner and scholar of conflict resolution and international relations, with particular expertise in gender, religion, and human rights in peacebuilding and development. She has worked in the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia with both large and small civil society organizations, and is an educator and experienced facilitator of group dialogues, workshops, and trainings, including in taking a more inclusive approach within peacebuilding processes.  Her current research includes examination of how women’s rights activists are engaging religion and working across religious-secular divides in response to rising politicized religion and religious conflict.