Atalia Omer

Atalia Omer is a Professor of Religion, Conflict, and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs and a core faculty member of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. She specializes in the intersections of religion, nationalism, decolonial theory, and conflict transformation, with a geographic focus on Palestine/Israel, Africa, and diasporic communities. Her work critically examines peacebuilding practices, neoliberal frameworks, and the role of religious actors in justice movements.

Omer holds a PhD in religion, ethics, and politics from Harvard University (2008). Her education includes fellowships at Harvard's Center for the Study of World Religions and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

Her research explores:

• Decolonizing methodologies in religion and peace studies
• Critiques of the 'harmony business' in institutional peacebuilding
• Jewish diasporic solidarity with Palestinians
• Intersectional analyses connecting race, religion, and nationalism
• Political theologies in settler-colonial contexts

Her publications demonstrate consistent focus on deconstructing colonial legacies, with recent work examining white Christian nationalism, Afrofuturism, and the neoliberal co-optation of secularism.

Awards include:

• Andrew Carnegie Fellowship (2017)
• Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Studies Fellowship (2011)
• Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (2007)

She teaches courses on Jewish politics, peace studies, religion in global affairs, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a senior fellow at Harvard Divinity School's Religion and Public Life initiative, she contributes to transnational scholarly networks on religion and conflict.