Graduate Profile: Ameerah Ahmad, MTS ’25

Memorable Moment 

I have loved my time HDS so much and will always cherish my friends and the community we made here. I feel so lucky to call this place home! 

There are so many moments with friends I will remember forever, but I will especially always treasure getting to be a part of the Liberated Zone and People’s Commencement and seeing so many friends, professors, and community members come together over a shared sense of justice and an understanding and reclamation of our implicated belonging here. 

One of my favorite times was the unplanned detour we took on our pilgrimage to Great Salt Lake when our bus broke down after seeing the Sun Tunnels. All the stories we got to share together made it one of the best days of the trip. 

I can’t isolate one moment from my trip to Palestine with my RCPI cohort, but I the memories and friends I made on this trip will always be close to my heart. 

Favorite Class or Professor 

My favorite class was “Narratives of Displacement and Belonging in Palestine and Israel” taught by Atalia Omer, Hilary Rantisi, and Reem Atassi. This was one of the best taught classes I have ever experienced and the class community we formed was a home for me for the rest of my time at HDS. 

I feel so lucky to have taken “Walking the Inland Sea: Desert Contemplation and Great Salt Lake” when I did and with the people I did. I also loved “Virginia Woolf and Religion” with Stephanie Paulsell, “What is Lived Islam?” with Teren Sevea, and “Forgiveness” with Matt Potts. 

Message of Thanks 

Thank you, Atalia, Hilary, and Reem, for leading by example and showing all that is possible when you choose to care deeply and courageously. I won’t ever have enough words for my love and gratitude to the three of you. Learning from and traveling with you all will always be one of the highlights of my life! 

Thank you, Terry and Stephanie, for the class and pilgrimage—we learned as much from your brilliance as from your friendship. I will always remember the intentional space you made for gratitude each time we met and hope to follow your example of generous friendship and thoughtful community. Thank you for pushing us to keep “finding beauty in a broken world!” 

Thank you, Matt, for your kindness and for introducing me to many of my now favorite books. I feel so lucky to have had you as my academic advisor these past four years!  

Thank you, Teren Sevea, for the eye-opening class on “Lived Islam” and for always being a thoughtful and steadfast support to your students and community.  

Of course, thank you to the entire RPL office for understanding the need to ground education in community building. I love you all—thank you for your moral clarity and for making a home for us all! 

Thank you to all my friends on this journey with me and to my sisters and parents for showing me how to love courageously always!!! 

Future Plans 

I am excited to continue writing, exploring alternative education models that center belonging, and, of course, continuing to organize for a Free Palestine and an end to the far-reaching violence and destruction of empire.