Hi,

Did anyone experience being the target of bullying/hate because of their religion?
I was a PhD student and I let it go of it because of that.

I need to restart again, but I can not due to the negtaive impact of this hate/bully thing and the years I spent in the program.

What should I do to overcome that?

Any academic advice is highly apprciated.
If you have any useful resources on how to overcome the negative concecounces of hate/bullying
Please do share.

I belong to a culture that doesnot understand what I am trying to do or what happened to me. So I am completely alone in that. Please help.

Thanks

Hi Shaimaa, very sorry to hear that you have been bullied and of its negative effects on you. Bullying is unfortunately a common and harmful occurrence in schools, institutions and workplaces.

I would have suggested personal counselling to help you regain confidence and to learn strategies that assist with managing the after effects of extreme bullying and its impact on your overall wellbeing and academic confidence. From your post however it reads as if these resources are not available easily perhaps.

However there are many sites online (genuine counselling and support sites) where you can access counselling and support. My experience (as an educator who has responsibility for the pastoral care of high school students) is that students benefit significantly from ongoing counselling in these cases, as well as general support from family, friends and teachers. Well done for your courage and persistence and for not letting this prevent you from an academic career.

Could you be a bit more specific as to country and program? Was the bullying coming from fellow students or faculty?

Also are you looking to get back into the same program at the same school?

Hello Pjlu,

Yes, I do not have resources on this topic. I took few online courses, read books about courage and fear...

This was Islamophobia!
Yes, someone must say it. I searched the internet desperately to read about it. I guess we are so scared to say it loudly.

In my country, people, social workers, physicolgists do not get it. Because it is not there .... they do not understand.....

So please share any useful reading about this topic.
What online counceling sites are there for my case?

I do apprciate your positive encouragement.

Thank you

Hi l_e

It was from prof and students. I will not go back to the program or uni or country. I do not trust them or their system.

I cannot say more. I choose to let go of this fellowship to save myself, mind and career.

My country was struggling at that time. The prof knew I wouldnot leave to go back.. he never doubt that I am that brave/ different or whatever the word that should describe my behavior.

Some people in my home country blame me or tell me that I should had stayed. They do not know how does it feel.

Wish me luck.

Hi Shaimaa, with regard to online counselling, if you google this phrase, you will get a range of sites that appear and the idea is to look through their pages, to select one that has good testimonials and provides information about their counsellors and methods. Many of these sites are run by credible groups who will provide genuine support.

I don't think I can paste links on this forum. I did this once before, pasting a link to a site that I thought would be helpful to a forum member and the post and link was removed as I think I breached copyright rules (unintentionally). It isn't hard to find them though if you look.

Re: Your request regarding information related to counselling and literature on Islamophobia...I do not claim to have experienced this personally so my understanding of how hurtful this might be is intellectual rather than emotional. However an experienced and accredited counsellor would be able to provide you with support to assist with a range of complex issues including prejudice, racism, discrimination and other distressing experiences.

This forum provides excellent support and advice for problems and issues related to postgraduate studies, However for very complex matters that go beyond postgraduate studies often you need to find support from experts outside of the forum. Kind regards and best wishes, P.

Hi Pjui,

One million thanks for your valuable advice.
I will definitly do it. I did not know that there is available online counseling. This is new to me.

I also want to highlight that I digged the internet for answers. In the begining, I found nothing, then I get the term Islamophobia and acadmic bullying.

I only found articles about such a horrible thing happening to students in schools and undergraduates in 2016 and 2017. No info for/about graduate students. Besides, my story started and ended by 2015.

Sometimes, I question myself -since I applied in graduate programs in 2015 and 2016- what if this happens again?

But now, I feel really empowered, it is there, it is not only me. I tell myself, I have a unique experience, I survived the Arab spring, I swam against it and I swam aganist hatred too.

I do apprciate your time and caring attitude

Thank you

There are plenty of countries I think where you wouldn't have that problem. I'm in the US and my girlfriend is a Muslim ex-PhD student and she never had that kind of trouble.

Hi l_e,

Yes, I agree. I got my master from USA. Europe is different.

I am happy for your girl friend. I will try to go back to USA.


All thd best

Shaimaa

Yes, definitely think the US (or Canada) would be a good fit. Don't give up!