Dear colleagues:
My name is Soha Youssef (she/her). I’m a teacher-researcher from Thomas Jefferson University’s College of Humanities and Sciences, Department of Communication and Writing. I am collaborating on a survey study with Kefaya Diab from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The title of the study is “When is Ramadan? In the Spirit of the Muslim Month of Worship and Reflection.” Kefaya and I are hoping to gather as many responses as we can about the various needs that Muslim scholars/professionals in the field of writing and rhetoric (or any adjacent field) might have. We envision those needs to be at any level: organizational, institutional, and/or individual. Our goal is to create a space where our needs as Muslims are heard by and made visible to any entity that might be interested in meeting those needs.
So, if you self-identify as Muslim, this call for survey participation is for you (please, continue reading).
Here is some context. For the 2023 4Cs conference, the organization accommodated Muslim scholars and presenters by providing a dedicated space for the daily prayers that many Muslims practice. That move was highly needed and appreciated by the 4Cs Muslim scholars, as it meant that the organization listened to Muslim scholars’ needs and recognized our practices. Yet, for the 4Cs 2024, the organization overlooked the same Muslim scholars when it organized the conference during the last ten days of Ramadan, the fasting month for Muslims. Such oversight, though we are sure was unintentional, had consequences on the inclusion of the Muslim community: The majority of Muslims will not be able to be present at or participate in the conference while observing the Holy month. That organizational oversight also meant that much work needs to be done for true, meaningful, and intentional inclusivity of minoritized Muslim scholars and presenters.
This survey study aims to collect insights from self-identifying Muslim scholars/professionals about four areas:
- The impact of the 4Cs timing on their abilities to be present at the conference
- The general needs of Muslim scholars/professionals from organizations like the 4Cs
- The Muslim scholars’/professionals’ observations about existing institutional and/or individual efforts that accommodate Muslim scholars’ needs
- The Muslim scholars’/professionals’ observations about gaps in institutional and/or individual efforts that create barriers against accommodating Muslim scholars’ needs
This survey study was approved by the IRB office at Thomas Jefferson University (approval number: iRISID-2024-3038).
Eligible participants of this study must:
- Be 18 years or older
- Self-identify as Muslim
Our survey consists of three yes/no questions, one Likert scale question, and four open-ended questions. Completing this survey should not take more than 20 minutes. Participation in this survey is completely anonymous (the Google Form is not collecting email addresses) and voluntary. You are free to quit the survey at any point or skip any question(s) that might make you feel uncomfortable. Your care at Jefferson hospitals will not be affected if you choose not to participate in this study.
Answering all the survey questions, however, would enable us, the researchers, to better report the needs of Muslim scholars and professionals in U.S academia to the 4Cs institution, present the results in our panel that is planned for the 2024 4Cs, and publish the results in a scholarly journal down the line.
Needless to say, the results are meant to raise awareness about Muslim scholars’ and professionals’ needs from academic and organizational institutions, which, in turn, should result in more inclusivity of Muslims in the field.
Here is a link to our Google Form: https://forms.gle/2TPo5HXiawLvFeQh7
The link will stay live till the end of the 4Cs 2024 conference. Responding to the survey questions constitute consent.
Kefaya and I want to assure you that any information you provide will remain strictly confidential. Your name will not be identified or associated with any specific responses, and it will not appear in any published materials which result from this research.
Thank you for volunteering to participate in this study.
We welcome any questions you might have. Please contact either of us at soha.youssef or kdiab
Sincerely,
Soha Youssef and Kefaya Diab
Soha Youssef, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric
Coordinator of Written and Multimodal Communication
Thomas Jefferson University
East Falls Campus
4201 Henry Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19144 USA
Soha.Youssef