Curriculum Vita
Education
2017 • University of Oxford, UK
DPhil, Education
2010 • Teachers College, Columbia University, New York
M.A., Computing in Education
2001 • Stony Brook University, New York
B.S., Information Systems
Professional Experience
2024 - Present
Trustee, Ernest Cook Trust
Chair, Learning Committee
2021 - Present • Quotidian Strategies
Founder & CEO
2019 – 2021 • Skoll Centre, Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK
Associate Director for Programmes
2020 • Execllence Award
2016 – 2019 • Cambridge Muslim College, UK
- Executive Director (2018 - 2019)
- External Programmes Manager (2016 - 2018)
2009 - 2012 • Sesame Workshop, Department of Global Education, NY
- Assistant Director (2011 - 2012)
2011 • Department Top Performer
2012 • Core Values Award
- Senior Education Specialist (2010 - 2011)
- Education Content Specialist (2009 - 2010)
2008 - 2009 • Teachers College, Columbia University, NY
Web Content Specialist (Department of Math, Science and Technology)
2008 - 2009 • Hunter College - Technology, Teaching, &Learning Group, NY
Faculty/Staff Blackboard Facilitator
2007 - 2008 • Islamic Education Foundation, NJ
Technical Specialist (Contractor)
2008 • Bluefly, NY
Content Management Specialist
2003 • Watson Pharma Pvt Ltd, NY
Quality Assurance Documentation Specialist III
2001 - 2003 Shire Pharmaceuticals, NY
Quality Assurance Document Control Specialist
1999 - 2001 Stony Brook University, NY
Systems Analyst/Web Developer
Consultancy
2019 - 2022 • Public Education Strategist
Cambridge Muslim College, UK
2018 - 2019 • Programme Evaluator
Mu’allif Initiative, UK
Teaching Experience
University of Oxford, Co-Instructor
- Sufism and Muslim Education (Hilary 2016)
- First Year of Your DPhil (Michaelmas 2015, Hilary-Trinity 2016)
University of Oxford, Instructor
- Qualitative Data Analysis Using NVivo (Michaelmas 2015, Hilary-Trinity 2016)
- Qualitative Research: Ethnography (Michaelmas 2015, Hilary 2016)
Long Island University, Teaching Assistant
- ESL, (Winter 2005)
Al Ghazaly Primary School
- Technology Education (Autumn 2005, Winter - Spring 2006)
Publications
Books
2024 • Kabba, Z. Knowledge, Authority, and Islamic Education in the West. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon.
Book Chapters
2016 • Subramanian, M., Lee, J., Dollard, L., Kabba, Z. Promoting Peace through Children’s Media: The Case of Sesame Workshop. In M. Bajaj and M. Hantzopoulos (Eds.) Peace education: International perspectives (pp. 215-230). London: Bloomsbury.
2016 • Bucuvalas, A., Kabba, Z., Baxen, J., Fuld, J., Osuntusa, A. Feathered and Furry Health Communicators: The Sesame Street Approach to Child Health and Wellbeing in Africa. In C. Cole and J.H. Lee (Eds.) The Sesame Effect: The Global Impact of the Longest Street in the World (pp. 118-134). New York: Routledge.
Awards
2016 • Final Year Writing Grant, Department of Education, University of Oxford
2014 • Vice Chancellor’s Travel Grant, University of Oxford
2014 • Travel Grant, Comparative and International Education Society
2014 • Constant H. Jacquet Research Award, Religious Research Association
2014 • Short-Term Research Grant, International Institute of Islamic Thought
2013 • Travel and Research Grant, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
Presentation
Papers
2015 • The Education of Young American Muslims, Wolfson College, Cambridge University, 1- 2 May.
2014 • Educating Young American Muslims: Teaching and Preaching, Comparative and International Education Society Conference, Toronto, 10-15 March.
2013 • Education as Transformation, Anthropology of Education Conference, Columbia University, NY, 18-19 October.
2013 • Religious Knowledge and Authority in Islamic Learning Environments, Ways of Knowing Conference on Religion, Harvard University, 25-26 October.
2013 • Religious Knowledge and Authority in Islamic Learning Environments, Religion, Reform and the Challenge of Plurality, University Centre Saint-Ignatius, Antwerp, Belgium 25-30 September.
2012 • Building early mathematics skills the Sesame Street way: The Takalani Sesame program in Southern Africa, Comparative and International Education Society Conference, Puerto Rico, 22-27 April.
Discussant
2014 • Who Are We to Teach Religion? – Authority, persona, and audience in religious education, Educating religion: Questions of orthodoxy, ethics and power, Stanford University, 11-13 May.
2011 • The Tale of Two Media, Islamic World Forum, Brookings Institution 12-14 April.
Professional Service
2024 • Reviewer, Oxford Review of Education
2022 • Member, Oxford British Muslim Studies Editorial Board
2022 • Steering Group Member, Transformational: Converts in British Muslim Life
Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK, Cardiff University
2019 - 2020 • Project Associate, The Muslim Atlantic: Transnational Dialogues on Gender, Race, and Cultural Production between British and American Muslims
King’s College London and George Mason University Funded by The British Council & Henry Luce Foundation
2014 • Peer Review Abstract Reviewer, Travel Grant Applications, Under-Represented Ethnic & Ability Groups Committee - Comparative and International Education Society
2013 • Reviewer, Anthropology & Education Quarterly