Karina Piser’s research explored measures to promote French secularism in public high schools in immigrant-heavy areas. Beginning in suburbs of Paris, she interviewed students, teachers, administrators, and education-policy practitioners to better understand how the government is targeting schools to improve social cohesion in the aftermath of the 2015 and 2016 terrorist attacks. Prior to receiving the ICWA fellowship, Karina was an editor at World Politics Review, and has previously held positions at the Council on Foreign Relations, the European Council on Foreign Relations, and the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights in Tunis, Tunisia. She holds a master’s degree from Sciences Po Paris, and has written for Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, and World Politics Review, among other publications.
In France, a heinous murder brings Muslim-Jewish tensions to the fore
The latest in a wave of violence against Jews is drawing attention to the changing face of anti-Semitism.
The Atlantic: Karina Piser on French Islam
Will the country’s diverse Muslim population buy into the government’s latest attempt effort to remake a religion?
The Nation: Karina Piser on France’s broken social ladder
Macron bills his government “radically centrist,” but its social policies are sliding to the right.
France attack an early test for Macron
He must reassure a public on edge while ensuring the response doesn’t deepen high tensions around Islam.
Converting to Islam in the secular republic
A determined girl tests the French law banning religious symbols in schools.