Teach it... And See What Happens: Islamophobia & Orientalism

For centuries, Muslims have been cast as Europe's and Anglo North America's most dangerous "Other". How did Muslims and Muslim-majority societies become so feared and berated that their very portrayal serves to define the idea of the "Civilized West"?

A starting point is to understand Orientalism, a term popularized by Palestinian scholar and teacher, Edward Said. We will discuss how Orientalism has then seeped into popular culture and imperialist projects. It is the hope that through this teaching, we can begin to recognize its machinations so we can challenge and resist it in ways that those have done before us.

Throughout the teach-in, we'll incorporate a variety of "body breaks" where we'll be guided to feel how the material lands in our bodies. Instead of privileging the mind, we'll experience what it is like to fully learn through an emotionally and somatically grounded practice.

Dates / Times / Format

Sunday, September 14th

2:00pm - 4:30pm

Masks are Required

Register

Suggested donation: $20, up to whatever you can pay

All funds will be donated to a family in Gaza

Venmo for your donation: @AngelinaJoon

Register

About our Facilitators:

Mira Mohsini is a daughter of the Indian and Pakistani diaspora and is a cultural anthropologist by training. Mira has taught undergraduate and graduate courses that center anti-racist, abolitionist, and decolonial perspectives on Islam and Muslim societies; she also centers her work on race and racism, gender and sexuality, immigration, and various research methods.

Angelina Vasile is a trauma-informed movement teacher and embodiment educator with over 23 years of experience working with individuals, groups, and non-profits. The focus of her work is embodied presence and creating spaces for exploration, healing and justice, all while centering community, accountability and ceremony.

Sahar Yarjani is an Iranian immigrant, mover, teacher and agitator. Sahar teaches Pilates, yoga, aerial yoga, and resistance training. They reject spiritual bypassing and believes that we all have an obligation to remain present with and respond to the injustices of the world.

About The Bhakti Yoga Movement Center (The BYMC)

The BYMC is located in Portland, OR, and hosts in-person, livestream, and on-demand offerings. We provide trauma-informed and anatomically sound approaches to yoga and movement practices that encourage slowing down and tuning in. We're interested in what is possible when our yoga and movement practices engage and transform, rather than escape, from the complexities of this life. Explore how to harness yoga's liberatory power and move deeper toward individual and collective healing, into true inter-dependance with one another and with the earth.