Personnel

Staff

Gaurav J Pathania
Interim Director
gaurav.pathania@emu.edu
Gaurav J Pathania serves as the interim director for the Center for Interfaith Engagement at EMU. He also teaches courses on sociology and peacebuilding for the School of Social Sciences and Professions and also for the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

Gaurav holds a doctorate in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University in India and his post-doctoral research was with the University of Massachusetts and the University of Southern California.

Gaurav is an anti-caste activist, poet and a community builder. His first book, The University as a Site of Resistance: Identity and Student Politics (Oxford University Press, 2019), explores student resistance in higher education in India. Currently, his research focuses on the socio-political activism of the South Asian diaspora in the US and UK. Dr. Pathania serves as a deputy editor for South Asia Research, a journal published by SOAS, University of London.
His writings have been featured in The Boston Globe and he has been interviewed by PBS and BBC on diaspora issues in the United States. Gaurav won the national poetry award for 2016 organized by the Poetry Society of India. His anti-caste poetry appears in J-Caste journal published by Brandeis University.

Gaurav made his Hollywood debut in Ava DuVernay’s film ORIGIN, portraying Dr. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution.

Trina Trotter Nussbaum
Associate Director
trina.nussbaum@emu.edu
As a faith-rooted and reflective peacebuilder, Trina works at building the spaces and facilitating the connections that enable authentic engagement across difference. Trina has an MA in Conflict Transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) at EMU and holds a BA in Theater and Psychology, with a minor in Justice, Peace and Conflict Studies from EMU.
More about Trina Trotter Nussbaum

Ed Martin
Former Director and Interfaith Specialist
ed.martin@emu.edu
Ed was CIE director from 2010 to 2016. He continues to advocate for Shia/Mennonite connections and for interfaith concerns in the Lancaster PA area. Prior to being director of the CIE, Ed served with American Friends Service Committee as the Quaker International Affairs Representative for Iran and worked for 18 years with Mennonite Central Committee as director of programs for Central and Southern Asia, as well as the Middle East.

Visiting Scholars

Bob Bersson
Visiting Scholar
Bob is Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History from James Madison University where he taught modern and contemporary art history, art criticism, and art appreciation from 1980 to 2004, and is the author of two art appreciation/art history textbooks. Bob has been involved with interfaith/intercultural work as a founder of the local Interfaith Initiative for Peace and Justice and creator/teacher of “The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict in Film” class which he taught at both EMU and JMU. His 2016 film series at EMU, entitled "Across Cultures: Profiles in Courage and Resilience,” looked at heroic instances of non-violent conflict resolution around the world. From a liberal Jewish, New York City background, he is married to Dolores Shoup, an EMU graduate.