Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations

Reza Jalali

Monday, November 15 at 12 Noon (Point Lookout)

Topic: Iran-U.S. Relationships: Hopes and Fears

Reza Jalali, is a Kurd from Iran, a human rights and refugee activist who has lived in Maine since 1985. He was prominently recognized  in Making it in America: a sourcebook on eminent ethnic Americans (©2001by Elliott Robert Barkan).  His essays, short stories, and commentaries have appeared in the local and international newspapers. As a member of Amnesty International USA Board of Directors, Jalali led delegations to different refugee camps in Turkey and Bosnia. He has participated in numerous United Nations-sponsored international conferences in Korea, Japan and Austria.

In 1992, he visited the White House as part of a national delegation to discuss the plight of Kurdish refugees fleeing Iraq. Jalali is one of the contributing writers to Child Labor: A Global View (©2004, Greenwood Press), the multimedia production Middle East Suitcase Project (©2005, Center for Cultural Exchange), and The World of Child Labor: An Historical and Regional Survey (©2009, M.E. Sharpe Inc.) Jalali wrote the Foreword to New Mainers (©2009, Tilbury House, Publishers) a book on immigrant’s experiences in Maine. His first children book, Moon Watchers, was published by Tilbury House, Publishers in June 2010. Jalali’s forthcoming book, God Speaks in Many Accents, is about the religions that Maine’s immigrants have brought with them to their new home in the U.S. Jalali has been included in “50 In 52 Journey”, a national project to name “Americans who are problem-solvers, idea-generators in their communities, in their cities, and in their States and are moving America forward.

Reza teaches Islam at the Bangor Theological Seminary and is the Muslim Chaplain at Bates College. Reza is employed at the University of Southern Maine in Portland, Maine.