The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) is a research organization with a focus on American Muslims. The Institute produces an annual American Muslim Poll and serves as a resource for journalists. Its reports and surveys have included topics such as political leanings, attitudes on censorship, experiences of discrimination, and responses to religiously motivated violence. The

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an American news media organization established in 2006 that sponsors independent reporting on global issues that other media outlets are less willing or able to undertake on their own. The center's goal ...

says, “The American Muslim Poll addresses a gaping deficit in popular knowledge: About 50 percent of Americans say they don’t know a Muslim in real life, leaving half the country to rely on the media to understand approximately 3.5 million of their compatriots, and 1.8 billion people around the world.”

Funding

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding is funded by individual donors and institutional grants, including the Democracy Fund,

New York Community Trust The New York Community Trust is the community foundation for New York City, with divisions in Westchester and Long Island. It is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the United States and one of the largest funders of New York C ...

, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Pillars Fund, Proteus Fund, and others.

Research areas and projects

ISPU’s research topics can be categorized in three parts: social policy, public policy, and thought leadership. Along with publishing original research, ISPU provides toolkits, interviews, webinars, presentations and workshops to disseminate this research to government officials, media professionals, educators, faith leaders and the general public. Subject matter covered by ISPU studies and projects include: Studying marriage and divorce among American Muslims, tracking challenges facing American Muslim youth, analyzing Muslim spaces (mosques, community centers, etc.), and fostering debate and discussion on CVE (Countering Violent Extremism). ISPU has also conducted studies on

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

and bias in media coverage of ideologically-motivated violence in the United States.

Key leadership

Meira Neggaz, Executive Director
Dalia Mogahed, Director of Research

Scholars and fellows

ISPU works with a number of experts on a wide variety of issues related to their respective areas of research and specialty. Affiliated scholars and fellows include:

Laila Alawa Laila Alawa (born 1991) is a Syrian-American entrepreneur, psychology researcher, and writer. Her work on examining gendered stereotypes in STEM led to results displaying continued issues in discrimination and prejudice against female scientists ...

Moustafa Bayoumi Moustafa Bayoumi (born 1966) is an American writer, journalist, and professor. He is of Egyptian descent. He is based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a professor of English at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Biography Moustafa Bayo ...

Hassan Abbas Hassan Abbas ( ar, حسان عباس; born 24 January 1974 in Homs, Syria) is a retired professional Syrian people, Syrian Association football, football midfielder who last played for Al-Karamah SC, Al-Karamah in the Syrian Premier League the t ...

Arsalan Iftikhar Arsalan Iftikhar (born September 1, 1977) is an American human rights lawyer, global media commentator and author of the book ''SCAPEGOATS'': ''How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies & Threatens Our Freedoms'' which President Jimmy Carter called “a ...

, Asifa Quraishi-Landes, Ihsan Bagby, and Hatem Bazian, among others.

References

{{authority control 2002 establishments in the United States Think tanks established in 2002 Think tanks based in Washington, D.C. Arab and Islamic culture in Dearborn, Michigan Organizations based in Michigan