2020

Columbia Take 5

Hussein July 20, 2020

A fun little interview I did for Columbia College Today.

What, if anything, about your College experience would you do over?

I tried to go to as many talks as I could on campus, because we had so many great speakers. I always left feeling inspired and interested. I was generally pretty bad at reading further and really getting to know the issues some of these people were speaking about. I vividly remember talks by [civil rights activist] Yuri Kochiyama and [Muslim leader] Warith Deen Mohammed, but really only getting into their work after I left Columbia. We only stand on the shoulders of giants if we make the effort to climb.

Ms. Marvel’s America: Looking toward a superhero in challenging times | Goshen College

Hussein March 30, 2020

Ms. Marvel’s America: Looking toward a superhero in challenging times | Goshen College.

“Superheroes, of course, can’t swoop in and save us in times of crisis. But they can demonstrate ways for us to help each other with the tools we do have at hand,” says Goshen College Professor of English Jessica Baldanzi. 

A new book edited by Baldanzi and Hussein Rashid, a religious studies scholar, professor and interfaith activist, aims to combat the notion of a “stereotypical” superhero. “Ms. Marvel’s America: No Normal” features essays about being Muslim and female in the Marvel Universe.