In April 2024, The Sister Judith Ann Heble Center for Benedictine Values sponsored an event to commemorate Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month, open to both the Benedictine and the wider community.
One Year Around the World: How Sikhi Taught me to be a Global Citizen
As a graduating senior at the University of Michigan, Harleen was awarded a life-changing experience: $20,000 and a year to travel the world. The catch? She had to do it alone and without any trips back to the US. Traveling to 15 countries as a Bonderman Fellow, Harleen's perspective on what it means to be a Sikh and a citizen of the world were transformed forever. In this talk, she shares some key insights into the overlaps between global travel and the origins of Sikhi, how Sikhi and global citizenry offer solutions for our increasingly volatile times, and how balancing identity politics and a humanistic approach could lead to social justice.
"Harleen Kaur studies the subjectivity formation of the US Sikh Punjabi diaspora through empire, memory, and advocacy for social and political inclusion. Her first monograph, Martialing Race, is under contract with Columbia University Press. It traces the co-optation of Sikh embodied sovereignty and community negotiations for safety and recognition into empire- and state-driven tactics of increased surveillance, militarization, and policing. Her passion project is utilizing Sikhi's radical notion of Oneness as a driver for higher community consciousness rooted in an intersectional, anti-oppression framework.
Much of Harleen's inspiration, voice, and vision was cultivated during her year as a Bonderman Fellow, when she backpacked solo through fifteen countries to better develop a global framework for liberation and sovereignty. Harleen Kaur holds a PhD in Sociology from UCLA and a BA in English from the University of Michigan, and she is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University."
