Dr. Simran Jeet Singh Visits for Residency Program

This spring, Dr. Simran Jeet Singh, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Religion and Society Program, joined the Marty Center as part of the 2023 Public Religion Residency Program, bringing his experience in advocacy, public speaking, and writing to campus for a series of events with students and the wider community. Launched earlier this year, the residency program engages recognized leaders whose work advances the public understanding of religion – with the goal of highlighting the insights of people from diverse fields, sharing new perspectives, and encouraging new partnerships.

On May 24, Singh met with Divinity School graduate students to discuss his professional path, which led him from the academy to the public sphere. He explained that his work in higher education began with the racism he experienced as a South Asian Sikh growing up in Texas.

"Back then we felt that if people just knew who we were, then our lives would be easier," he said. "Education seemed like the answer for so many of the challenges we faced."

September 11, 2001, the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the anti-Muslim sentiment surrounding these events increased Singh's interest in studying and teaching about religion while he was in college, and later, led him to earn an MTS from Harvard Divinity School and Ph.D. from Columbia University. All throughout, he consistently encountered a shortage of scholarly materials on Sikhism, he said; those that were available were predominantly written from a western colonial perspective, and did not cohere with his own experience and understanding of the religious tradition.

This was in part what later motivated Singh to leave his tenure-track position at Trinity University and pursue a career of activism, public speaking and thought leadership, and storytelling about and for Sikhs. In addition to writing regularly for outlets including Harvard Business Review, TIME Magazine, and Religion News Service, his publications include the children's book Fauja Singh Keeps Going, the true story of a Sikh man who broke world records to become the first 100-year-old to run a marathon, and, most recently, a memoir that illuminates Sikh teachings of love and service, The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life. He has also been an Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity with Columbia University and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, a Soros Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundations – and, in 2020, TIME Magazine recognized him as one of sixteen people fighting for a more equal America.

"Coming from a community that people don’t know about, and seeing the violence fueled by ignorance, we’ve learned how important it can be to help create more awareness. I loved being in the classroom and find teaching to be rewarding, but I kept feeling a real pull to reach more people.”

He likewise encouraged Divinity students to envision expansive possibilities for their own careers and interests.

While on the University of Chicago campus, Singh had lunch with Marty Center staff, Divinity School faculty, and best-selling author Samira Ahmed, who, along with former U.S. Representative Bobby Rush, was also part of 2023's inaugural cohort of residents.

To conclude his residency, Singh served as a public interlocutor for the Marty Center's signature Junior Fellows program and later spoke about The Light We Give with interlocutor Jenan Mohajir, Senior Director of Special Projects at Interfaith America, in front of a crowd at the Seminary Co-Op Bookstore. Part of the center's new Seminary Co-Op Author Talk Series, the event drew enthusiasts from the university and wider community, many of whom lined up to have book copies signed afterward.

Featured photograph by Lauren Pond. Dr. Simran Jeet Singh meets with Divinity School graduate students during his Public Religion Residency on May 24, 2023.