Dr. Niyozov grew up in Tajikistan, former Soviet Union, in a small village and a large family. He is a true plurilingual person with a vast international experience in education and research by engaging with numerous cultural groups along the span of his life. These experiences provided an ontoepistemological rationale that has driven the work he currently does with immigrant and refugees and with religious education. In today’s episode, Dr. Niyozov argues that religious education is important because there are subjects that have not been taught in some parts of the academic world or engaged as they have become taboo. It is important to provide the space for different religious dimensions from different parts of the world, engage, question and challenges how education is or not welcoming these experiences. He points out that we need to find spaces for challenging and pushing back ideas and to allow space for conflict and disagreement so we need to be able to handle controversy; this way it takes away the fear of being able to engage in academic conversations respectfully. * Biography: Prof. Sarfaroz Niyozov is an Associate Professor of Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development and Comparative, International and Development Education at OISE, University of Toronto. Prof. Niyozov is highly experienced in teaching and conducting long-term research on marginalized communities in Canada and internationally. Niyozov has authored and co-authored more than 70 publications, including books, journal articles, chapters, editorials and reviews. He teaches courses on cross-cultural teacher development, religious education, comparative education and researching in the Global South. He has held a number of leadership positions at OISE (co-chair of Curriculum & Pedagogy program of CTL (July, 2019-present); director of the Institute for Educational Development at the Aga Khan University, co-director of CIDE Program (2013-2019). He leads and co-leads education interest groups at OISE such as South Asia Education, Muslim Education; Central Eurasia Education groups and is on the Steering Committee of the World Congress of Comparative, International Education Societies. * Cite this podcast (APA): Ortega, Y. (Producer). (2021, February 24). CES5E4 – https://soundcloud.com/chasingencounters/ces5e4-religious-education * Sources: Niyozov, S., & Punja, Z. (2009). The role of spirituality in the life and work of Ismaili teachers. Insights from Central Asia. In J. Lin & J. Miller. (Eds.), Spirituality, religion and peace education. Greenwich CT: IGA Publishing.