Dr. Sylvia Maier, PhD
Advisory Board Member / E-Learning Volunteer
Dr. Sylvia Maier is a professor at New York University (NYU) and serves there as the Academic Director of the Center for Global Affairs. Her principal fields of interest and expertise include women’s rights in the Middle East, South Central Asia, and the Gulf States, with a particular focus on the United Arab Emirates, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Afghanistan, where she has taught and conducted extensive field research.
Professor Maier has a profound connection with Afghanistan, where she dedicated her time to teaching girls in AFCECO’s orphanages in Kabul. Her commitment to these children was unwavering, as she supported their education programs and financially supported the orphanages, ensuring the girls received the education they deserved.
Her teaching interests bridge gender studies and international politics, covering topics such as Gender and International Affairs: Sex, Power and Politics, Gender and Migration, Women’s Rights in the Middle East and South Asia, International Relations Theory, The Geopolitics of Afghanistan, Ethics in International Affairs, and Analytic Skills.
Beyond her academic work, Professor Maier co-founded and served as deputy editor-in-chief of Women Across Frontiers, a digital women’s rights magazine. She is also the VP and Director of Education Programs and serves on the board of The Peace Project, Inc.
Before joining the CGA, Professor Maier was part of the faculty at the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies at NYU and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, focusing on Islam-state relations and the politics of integration and multiculturalism in Western Europe.
Currently, Professor Maier is a valued member of the Shokofa Advisory Board, where she advises the management team with her extensive experience and knowledge of women’s issues in conflict zones like Afghanistan. She continues her passion for education by teaching girls in Shokofa’s safehouses online, covering subjects ranging from the English language to women’s issues.