Steve Sider and Jasmin Zine named Laurier’s 2025-26 University Research Professors

April 14, 2026

Steve Sider, a professor in the Faculty of Education, and Jasmin Zine, a professor of Sociology and Muslim Studies, have been named Wilfrid Laurier University’s University Research Professors (URP) for 2025-26. The annual internal awards recognize excellence and leadership in research and provide time and funding for the winners to complete a major research project. Sider’s research focuses on building inclusive schools, while Zine tackles Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism.  

“Congratulations to my colleagues on their well-deserved recognition,” says Jonathan Newman, vice-president: research. “Both of our University Research Professors are deeply committed to their areas of study and funnel their passion into international impact.”

Steve Sider

Before joining Laurier in 2007, Sider worked as a classroom teacher, special education consultant and school administrator. His research helps principals create inclusive school environments where every child, regardless of ability, has a sense of belonging and can experience academic success. Sider has collaborators across Canada, from school boards in Yellowknife to Ontario principals’ associations and Inclusive Education Canada. He has shared his research findings internationally, leading workshops for principals in more than a dozen countries, including Haiti, Egypt and Ghana. Sider is currently working with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States to develop professional learning materials on inclusive school leadership for all principals across the eastern Caribbean.

In 2024, Sider was invited by Inclusion International, the largest global civil society organization representing the needs of children and adults with disabilities, to collaborate with a team developing a background paper for the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report. His previous honours include the Robbie Case Memorial Award from the Canadian Association for Educational Psychology, presented for exemplary research in the field of educational psychology; and an award from the Canadian Association for Educational Psychology for his co-authored book Leadership for Inclusive Schools.

How does it feel to be selected for the University Research Professor award?

Sider: Frankly, it was a surprise since there are so many outstanding researchers at Laurier. A number of the previous winners are mentors of mine, so it is humbling to receive the same award. 

This award will enable you to “complete a major program or piece of research.” What are your plans?

Sider: For the past few years, I have been co-leading the International Partnership for Research on Inclusive Education (iPRIE), which connects more than 60 researchers from 30 organizations in 13 countries. We have had multiple research projects funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and now we have applied for additional grant funding to extend this work over the next seven years. With the support of this award, I plan to further our research.

What impact do you hope to have as a researcher?

Sider: My hope is that through my research more students feel like they have been supported through their school journeys, and that those with disabilities or special educational needs will feel like they authentically belong in supportive school environments. I want to help principals foster their leadership competencies and understand they are catalysts for positive change so every child can flourish.

Jasmin Zine

Zine, the author of seven books, has made meaningful contributions to the fields of critical Muslim studies and Islamophobia studies. Her “firsts” as a researcher include publishing the first ethnographic study of Islamic schools in Canada in 2008’s Canadian Islamic Schools: Unraveling the Politics of Faith, Gender, Knowledge and Identity; co-editing Islam in the Hinterlands: Muslim Cultural Politics in Canada, the first book to delineate and develop the field of Canadian Muslim Studies; and completing the first report examining how Islamophobia is organized, orchestrated, networked and monetized in Canada. Zine was invited to testify before the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights about her research on the Canadian “Islamophobia industry.” Her latest book, Under Siege: Islamophobia and the 9/11 Generation, was named one of the Best Books in 2022 by The Hill Times.

Zine is dedicated to public engagement, regularly addressing non-governmental and community organizations, think tanks, media outlets, school boards and student groups. She has testified in 10 public policy consultations at the provincial, federal and international levels about Islamophobia and online hate. Zine advised Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s former special representative on combatting Islamophobia, on federal anti-Islamophobia initiatives and has served as an expert witness in two cases brought before the Ontario Human Rights Commission. In 2010, she was invited to UNESCO headquarters in Paris as an expert consultant for creating guidelines countering intolerance and discrimination toward Muslims as part of an international project that included the Council of Europe, the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 

How does it feel to be selected for the University Research Professor award?

Zine: It is an honour to be recognized for the work I have been doing at Laurier over the past 20 years. My research on Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism has become increasingly politically fraught, making this award even more important. It sends a positive message to all scholars whose research places them and their academic freedom at risk. I also hope that it provides racialized women in the academy encouragement to persist so they can succeed despite the barriers and challenges they face.

This award will enable you to “complete a major program or piece of research.” What are your plans?

Zine: I am currently leading a study examining the impact of heightened Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism on Canadian Muslims in a context where Canada leads the G7 countries in killings motivated by Islamophobia.

I am also examining how Muslims in western nations, as well as in Palestine, China, Myanmar and India, are constructed as existential threats, resulting in oppressive conditions that include systemic discrimination, hate crimes, violence, ethnic cleansing and genocide.

What impact do you hope to have as a researcher?

Zine: I intend to continue building the field of Islamophobia studies globally through my work as co-founder and vice president of the International Islamophobia Studies Research Association (IISRA). Islamophobia is a global phenomenon with dire consequences. IISRA has built a transnational network of scholars dedicated to studying and combating all forms of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism. This continues to be vital work in the current geopolitical landscape.