“Teaching universally is a very rewarding experience for me. I’ve always believed that education can fail a student if the instruction doesn’t match their learning profile. That’s exactly what we strive to accomplish at Carroll.” Today’s woman dreamer, Irum Haque is the Head of the Language Department at the Carroll School, and co-creator of the More Than My Religion arts initiative. From teaching kids with dyslexia/other needs to empowering young Muslim-American artists and a mother to two daughters, Irum shares how she seeks to empower the next generation of leaders!

1) You are an educator & artist, educating the Muslim-American community in Boston, and you have the platform, More Than My Religion. Tell us about your work and your passions? 

 Professionally, I am an educator at Carroll School, which specializes in teaching kids with language-based learning difficulties such as dyslexia. In my position as the Language Department Head at Carroll’s Lower School (grades 1-5), I oversee the Language curriculum, which is highly customized to meet the needs of each student. Another responsibility of mine is to monitor individual student progress over the course of their academic trajectory.

Beyond my professional career, I dedicate some of my spare time to engage in activism and social justice efforts. With my friend Dr. Ehsun Mirza, I have created a platform, called More Than My Religion, for local Muslim-Americans to showcase their artistic talent. The title of MTMR bears its central significance: human identities are complex and should not be narrowed down to any singularity. We need to learn how to appreciate each other with an open mind and celebrate our differences. Over the past six years, More Than My Religion has hosted five juried art exhibitions in Boston and Providence, featuring pieces from Muslim artists across the United States. Additionally, we have engaged the community by setting up two panel discussions to open dialogue about the themes we want to explore with this initiative. 

 2) You are the Language Department Head at Carroll School, working with students who have dyslexia. What is that experience like? How do you motivate students and help them when school is challenging? 

Teaching universally is a very rewarding experience for me. I’ve always believed that education can fail a student if the instruction doesn’t match their learning profile. That’s exactly what we strive to accomplish at Carroll.

3) What are your thoughts on women empowerment? How do you seek to empower female students & artists?

We, as a society, are well aware of the stereotypes and biases that consistently undermine young women. Young women today should counteract this culture of misogyny by owning who they are with confidence, and the responsibility of fostering this confidence starts with early educators, among others. Starting with promoting social justice and cultural awareness as early as possible is one theme that I’ve seen is particularly effective. 

4) As the platform for women dreamers, what is your next big dream? 

Being a mother of two daughters who have completely different personalities, strengths, and visions for their lives, my hope and dream is that they get every opportunity and a fair chance to achieve what they want.