Dialogue Institute to feature Dr. Nyla Ali Khan on Tuesday, June 11
Published: June 9th, 2019
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – The Dialogue Institute of Oklahoma City invites the public for a Dialogue Luncheon featuring keynote speaker Dr. Nyla Ali Khan on Tuesday, June 11, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. The event will be held at the Raindrop Turkish House, 4444 N. Classen in Oklahoma City. Lunch will be provided.
Dr. Khan will speak about “Building Community and Engaging Young People in the Process of Democracy“.
“It is important to diligently work to engage young people in the United States and other parts of the world in the processes of democracy, to acquire skills and knowledge that would enable them to effectively participate in decision-making, to recognize the importance of standing up and being counted as well as the value of the vote.” Khan stated.
“In order to improve the election process and civic engagement for the people of the United States, particularly millennials, to engage and encourage them to be informed and to vote, it is imperative to identify issues that are important to voters, so they are inspired to make a significant difference by participating,” Khan said.
Dr. Khan is the first South Asian Muslim member of the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women. Senate President Pro Temp Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, named her to the post. Khan She has served on the commission’s Advisory Council since 2015.
As a member of the Commission on the Status of Women (https://capitolbeatok.worldsecuresystems.com/reports/oklahoma-commission-on-the-status-of-women-names-state-rep-regina-goodwin-recipient-of-2019-guardian), she acts as a resource and provides her expertise on societal violence and structural inequities that result from what she describes as “deep-rooted prejudices against women.”
Dr. Khan stated, “The questions to which I seek to provide well-substantiated answers are as follows: How can we, as women, develop the ability to organize and mobilize for social change, which requires the creation of awareness not just at the individual level but at the collective level as well? How can we develop self-esteem for which some form of financial autonomy is a basis? How can we make strategic life choices that are critical for people to lead the sort of lives they want to lead? We require a quality education for these mammoth tasks.”
An Edmond resident born in New Delhi, India, Khan is a professor at Rose State College in Midwest City. She taught as a Visiting Professor at the University of Oklahoma and was a professor at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
She received her Ph.D. in English Literature and her Masters in Postcolonial Literature and Theory at the University of Oklahoma.
An author of several published articles, book reviews and editorials, Khan has written four books: The Parchment of Kashmir: History, Society and Polity, The Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism, Islam, Women and Violence in Kashmir Between India and Pakistan, and A Labor of Love.
She has given lectures on the subject of Kashmir at several universities including American University, Columbia University and New York University. As an Oklahoma Humanities Scholar she speaks publicly statewide, including at women’s correctional facilities, on education and women’s empowerment.
Dr. Khan is a member of the Harvard-based Scholars Strategy Network (https://scholars.org/scholar/nyla-khan), the Women’s Interfaith Alliance, and the Advisory council for the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women. She has served on the board of Generation Citizen, a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower the younger generation through civics education.
In 2016, Khan received the Oklahoma Human Rights Award from the Oklahoma Universal Human Rights Alliance and the Oklahoma City chapter of the United Nations Association.
Khan was honored as one of the 100 Trailblazers for 2018 by the Oklahoma League of Women Voters and recently received the President’s Volunteer Service Award & Silver Medal for her national public speaking and work at the community and grassroots level in Oklahoma.
In March Dr. Khan was appointed for a five-year term (http://city-sentinel.com/2019/03/dr-nyla-ali-khan-appointed-as-oklahoma-status-of-women-commissioner/) as a Commissioner
(https://www.ok.gov/ocsw/About_OCSW/Membership/Commissioners_/index.html) on the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women.
“Working and living in Oklahoma has taught me that community is the ability to organize and mobilize for social change, which requires the creation of awareness not just at the individual level but at the collective level as well,’ Khan said.
The mission of the Dialogue Institute of Oklahoma City is to promote mutual understanding, respect and cooperation among people of diverse faiths and cultures by creating opportunities for direct communication and meaningful shared experiences. (https://capitolbeatok.worldsecuresystems.com/reports/enes-kanter-reflects-on-oklahoma-and-oklahomans-this-is-my-home)
To reserve a seat for the Dialogue Luncheon, click here (https://www.facebook.com/events/405744730262377/?active_tab=about) before Monday morning. Limited seats are available. Suggested donation for the event is $20.
For more information about the Dialogue Institute, visit dialogueok.org .
NOTE: Darla Shelden is chief reporter for The City Sentinel newspaper, published in Oklahoma City. This story appeared previously in the June 2019 print edition of the newspaper and at the website providing “24/7” coverage of news.
www.City-Sentinel.com