“My Ph.D. has given me the title of ‘Doctor,’ but my purpose remains the same: to use education, storytelling, and research to preserve memory, promote understanding, and advance justice.”
INTERVIEW BY O. ABIOLA AKINTOLA
During July 2026, I conducted an interview with Zareen Taj, an instructor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC, where, for full disclosure, I graduated from in 2011). As a child, Zareen and her family fled their home country of Afghanistan in the 1980s when it was invaded by the Soviet Union. Settling in the refugee camps of Pakistan, Zareen eventually received a college scholarship from the Feminist Majority Foundation. At Towson University, Zareen completed a BA in Political Science and Women’s Studies, then an MA in Women’s Studies. It was during graduate school that she began on documenting the history and culture of her ethnic group, Afghanistan’s Hazara people. While pursuing a doctorate at UMBC in Language, Literacy and Culture (LLC), Zareen’s research led to her co-producing three documentaries – Oppression of Hazara (2008), Our Face Tells (2022), and For My People: A Hazara Women’s Journey (2026) – as well as co-publishing the book Journey to Empowerment: Women After the Taliban (2011). In addition, early last year she co-facilitated a workshop at Georgetown University where locally based Hazara women created digital productions in which they shared their personal and collective experiences.
Just a few months ago, Zareen successfully defended her dissertation, Journey of a Scholar-Activist: An Autoethnographic and Multimodal Inquiry. With the completion of her Ph.D studies, the newly minted Dr. Taj intends to continue to inform the world about her people and the generations of violence they’ve endured, most recently by the Taliban.
Our discussion focused on her personal journey, her research, her various projects, and her current and future efforts to continue advocating for the Hazara, especially Hazara women.
O. Abiola Akintola: How does it feel to have gone from schools in Pakistan’s refugee settlements, to coming to the US to pursue a bachelor’s in political science at Towson University, to finally finishing a doctorate in Language, Literacy and Culture, plus becoming a filmmaker on the way?
Dr. Zareen Taj: It is difficult to put into words because this accomplishment represents so much more than earning a degree. It is a deeply emotional moment of joy, gratitude, and fulfillment.
When I think back to studying in refugee schools in Pakistan, I could never have imagined that one day I would earn a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy and Culture, become a university educator, and create films that tell the stories of my people. My journey has taken me from classrooms with almost no resources to classrooms where I now teach, research, and create knowledge. That transformation still feels extraordinary.
This Ph.D. is not just my achievement. My voice is intertwined with the voices of countless people whose stories I have carried with me for more than two decades. It represents the resilience and agency of Hazara women and the broader Hazara community—people whose histories have too often been overlooked or erased. Every interview, every testimony, and every family who entrusted me with their memories became part of this journey. My dissertation and documentary are not simply academic projects; they are acts of advocacy, testimony, and remembrance.
I also carry immense pride in knowing that I began this journey as a refugee with uncertainty, displacement, and limited opportunities. Through perseverance, education, and the support of mentors and loved ones, I achieved what once seemed impossible.
What makes this moment especially meaningful is knowing that I am helping create history for my community. As one of the first Hazara women to produce scholarship that integrates academic research with documentary filmmaking, I hope my work shows refugee girls and women that our stories belong in universities, books, films, and the historical record. We can become scholars, researchers, filmmakers, and leaders without leaving behind who we are.
For me, earning this Ph.D. is not the end of a journey but the beginning of a greater responsibility. I am committed to documenting our histories, mentoring future generations, and ensuring that marginalized voices are recognized as valuable knowledge. If my journey inspires even one young refugee or a girl from Afghanistan to believe her dreams are possible, then this achievement becomes far greater than personal success; it becomes a shared victory.
O. Abiola Akintola: Why did the Taliban target the Hazara in the 1990s? What is the current state of affairs between Hazara and the Taliban, now that the latter has resumed control of the country?
Dr. Zareen Taj: To understand why the Taliban targeted the Hazara, it is important to understand Afghanistan’s history. The Hazara are Afghanistan’s third-largest ethnic group and have endured generations of ethnic, religious, political, and economic discrimination. During Emir Abdur Rahman’s campaigns in the late nineteenth century, historians estimate that up to 60 percent of the Hazara population was killed, displaced, or exiled. This legacy of persecution continued under the Taliban.
The Taliban viewed the Hazara as both ethnically and religiously different, labeling them “infidels.” Their ethnic identity and predominantly Shi’a faith made them targets of systematic violence. During the 1990s, the Taliban carried out at least five major massacres of Hazara civilians, killing thousands and displacing many more.
This history is deeply personal. My first documentary focused on the Hazara genocide, and I became the first Hazara woman filmmaker to travel in Afghanistan and document firsthand five massacre sites where the Taliban carried out mass killings in the 1990s. By recording survivors’ testimonies, I sought to preserve memories that might otherwise have been lost and ensure they became part of the historical record.
Today, Hazara communities continue to face discrimination, targeted attacks, forced displacement, arbitrary arrests, and severe restrictions under Taliban rule. Their educational, cultural, and social institutions have been significantly weakened.
Hazara women are especially vulnerable because they face persecution based on both ethnicity and gender. Like all Afghan women, they live under the Taliban’s system of gender apartheid, while also belonging to one of Afghanistan’s most historically persecuted communities. Restricting Hazara women from education, employment and public life harms not only women themselves but also the resilience and future of the entire Hazara community.
As both a researcher and filmmaker, I believe documenting these realities is essential. My work is about preserving memory, challenging denial and ensuring Hazara voices contribute to global conversations about human rights, gender apartheid, genocide prevention and justice.
O. Abiola Akintola: Describe the schools and educational resources available for refugees in Pakistan.
Dr. Zareen Taj: When I was growing up as a refugee girl in Pakistan, educational resources were extremely limited. I attended a school in a refugee camp, and in second grade our classroom was simply a tent. We had very few books, school supplies, or learning materials.
I remember practicing math problems by writing in the dust because I didn’t have paper or pencils. Once I learned to read, I read the same storybook more than a hundred times because there were no other books available.
Education was never guaranteed; it was a privilege. Despite the hardships, those experiences taught me resilience and gave me a deep appreciation for learning. They also shaped my lifelong commitment to expanding educational opportunities for others.
O. Abiola Akintola: As there was little to no prior research about Hazara women, your book and films are essentially primary sources. Do you consider yourself as being responsible for providing an accurate depiction of the women of your community? What kind of pressure does that put on you?
Dr. Zareen Taj: Absolutely, yes. I feel an enormous responsibility because when I began researching Hazara women, I found almost nothing. There was a painful silence. I felt frustrated, saddened, and isolated, as if the lives and contributions of Hazara women simply did not exist in the academic record.
That realization became even stronger during my 2004 research trip to Afghanistan. I witnessed the devastating impact of war and persecution, and I heard remarkable stories of resilience. Yet when I searched for books or research to help me understand what I had experienced, there was almost nothing available.
That changed the course of my life. I realized that if we did not tell our own stories, no one else would. It became my responsibility—not only as a scholar but as a Hazara woman—to document our history, preserve our memories, and ensure our experiences became part of the historical and academic record.
That journey began with my master’s thesis, Dual Identities and Dual Oppression of Hazara Women, and continues today through my Ph.D., books, and films.
There is certainly pressure, but I see it as a privilege rather than a burden. My work may become one of the first places where future scholars and young Hazara women learn about their own history. That responsibility motivates me to approach every project with honesty, care, dignity, and integrity. My hope is that future generations will never experience the silence I encountered.
O. Abiola Akintola: What kind of responses have your books and films received?
Dr. Zareen Taj: The response has been deeply moving and encouraging. My first documentary, Oppression of Hazara in Afghanistan, received an especially powerful response from Hazara communities around the world. Many people wrote to tell me, “You are our voice,” or “The story you told is my story.” Hearing that my work reflected their own lives and memories was incredibly humbling.
I also received many messages from Western audiences who said they had never heard about the Hazara before watching my films and reading my book. Knowing that my work has helped educate people about our history has been deeply meaningful. My first documentary has also been used by asylum lawyers to support Hazara asylum cases, allowing me to see its impact beyond the screen.
These responses have strengthened my commitment to continue writing, researching, and making documentary films that amplify Hazara voices and preserve our collective memory.
O. Abiola Akintola: Now that you’re officially Dr. Zareen Taj, what are your current and future goals?
Dr. Zareen Taj: Becoming Dr. Zareen Taj is not the end of my journey; it is the beginning of a new chapter. This degree has given me a stronger platform to continue preserving the stories, histories, and voices of communities that have too often been ignored.
My immediate goal is to write my autobiography, tracing my journey from a refugee camp in Pakistan to earning a Ph.D. in the United States while reflecting on more than 26 years of advocacy, research, and community work.
I also plan to continue screening my latest documentary in different cities in the United States and internationally. Each screening creates opportunities for dialogue about the Hazara genocide, gender apartheid in Afghanistan, and the power of storytelling to advance justice.
Another major goal is to establish digital storytelling workshops for Hazara communities across the diaspora. I want to empower women and young people to tell their own stories because those stories preserve our collective history, strengthen our identity, and inspire future generations.
Ultimately, my life’s mission is to build a lasting body of scholarship, films, and community-based storytelling that preserves Hazara history while inspiring others to see themselves not only as survivors but as authors of their own history. My Ph.D. has given me the title of “Doctor,” but my purpose remains the same: to use education, storytelling, and research to preserve memory, promote understanding, and advance justice.
O. Abiola Akintola: What advice, etc. do you have for other students, especially those with a background and/or aspirations similar to yours?
Dr. Zareen Taj: My advice is simple: never give up and never underestimate your own power.
If you come from a refugee, immigrant [and/or] marginalized background, remember that your lived experiences are not weaknesses—they are your greatest strength. They have taught you resilience, perseverance, empathy and courage—qualities no textbook can teach.
Don’t let anyone convince you that your accent, your English, your background or where you came from determines your future. I know what it feels like to question whether you belong. But those challenges do not define your potential—they become part of your story.
Focus on your strengths rather than your limitations. Every obstacle you overcome becomes evidence of what you can achieve. If you have survived displacement, discrimination, or rebuilding your life in a new country, you have already demonstrated extraordinary resilience. Education transforms that resilience into leadership, scholarship, and meaningful change.
Most importantly, remember that your success is never just about you. Every degree you earn, every barrier you break and every story you tell creates opportunities for those who come after you.
My own journey—from a refugee camp classroom to becoming a professor, filmmaker, and author has taught me that dreams are not limited by where you begin. They are shaped by your determination to keep moving forward. Believe in yourself, keep learning, and never stop telling your story. The world needs your voice.