Meet our Senior Fellows
Senior Fellows collaborate with the Oxford Initiative on ongoing projects, design signature sessions for our seminars, and participate in our community of scholars.
Irshad Manji
Irshad is a renowned author, educator, and founder of the nonprofit Moral Courage Project and the Moral Courage College. Moral courage means doing the right thing in the face of your fears. Irshad began to practice it as she traveled the world to champion a reformist interpretation of Islam. In 2003, Irshad released her international bestseller, The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith, now published in more than 30 countries. In 2007, her Emmy-nominated PBS film, Faith Without Fear, artfully followed her personal campaign to reconcile Islam with women’s equality, respect for minorities, and honest debate.
As a Fellow of the Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights, Irshad will lecture at our annual seminars, tailoring a half-day workshop based on the curriculum of her Moral Courage Academy. She will explore: What is the most effective way to speak truth to power? When do you step up for the sake of honesty? When do you step back for the sake of humility? Combining her personal reflections with cutting-edge research, Irshad embodies the moral courage that is needed by anyone who seeks to have an impact. We are delighted that Irshad has joined our Initiative. More about her work at irshadmanji.com.
Damian Gorman
Damian is an award-winning poet, writer, and director. Damian was recently appointed the fourth and final national/international resident writer of the Theatre Peacebuilding Academy in Northern Ireland. Writer of the BBC2 verse documentary Devices of Detachment, which explored the role of the non-combatant during the Troubles. This was selected for INPUT as one of the 12 best public service programmes in the year of its making, and was subsequently broadcast across the United States on the PBS network. It had a sold-out cinema screening at the Belfast Film Festival in 2013, and in the Black Box in 2019. Damian was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1998 for his services to the Arts as a playwright and poet.
As a Fellow of the Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights, Damian will design and facilitate a signature writing workshop - one which will aim to challenge students to think about the redress of the word in conflict situations, and encourage them in the agency of their own creativity.
Manas Ghanem
Manas is a lawyer, Fulbright laureate, and has served as an international specialist with the United Nations since 2006. She is a Fellow of the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict at the University of Oxford. Manas built her career working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in various emergencies and post-conflict countries including Syria, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Jordan, and Yemen. She worked with UNICEF in Greece on child protection as part of the emergency response to the European refugees and migrant crises. Ghanem founded the UK-based Art & Culture association that works to showcase and grant exposure opportunities to artists residing in conflict zone countries, connecting their artwork with a wider global audience to alter stereotypes and promote creativity, authenticity, and peace.
As a Fellow of the Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights, Manas will continue building her Art and Culture association as well as develop a new children’s library project for children in refugee camps to have cultural stories in their native languages. She will lecture on art in conflict zones at our annual seminars and will direct the 10-day Thessaloniki, Greece portion of the Oxford Initiative’s summer seminar on global ethics and refugee policy. We are delighted to have her join our Initiative. More about her work at Stories Untold—Art from Syria.