Melissa Nozell is the senior program officer for religion and inclusive societies at USIP, where she leads initiatives to research and support the effective engagement of religious actors in conflict prevention and resolution.

Prior to joining USIP, Nozell lived in Jordan where she supported humanitarian aid efforts for Syrian refugees through several organizations, including NuDay Syria and Mercy Corps. Nozell conducted research on religious trends in the United States through the Pluralism Project at Harvard University and in the Middle East through the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center. She also worked as an educator in Abu Dhabi.

At USIP, Nozell oversees several key program initiatives in research and practice on strategic religious engagement, including on interreligious and intergenerational dialogue, religiously sensitive psychosocial support for displaced survivors of conflict, and religious actors’ roles in formal peace processes. She also develops training tools and resources, including for USIP’s Global Campus and for U.S. military chaplains.

Nozell was a 2021-2022 Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy and a KAICIID International Fellow in 2019. She earned a bachelor’s degree in religion and South Asian studies from Colgate University and a master’s in theological studies from Harvard University.

Publications By Melissa

In Religious Conflicts, Bolstering the Role of Military Chaplains

In Religious Conflicts, Bolstering the Role of Military Chaplains

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

By: Melissa Nozell;  Knox Thames

In the 2020s, how urgently should the U.S. military prepare to address religious facets of armed conflicts? Violence from Beirut to the Red Sea this month threatens to spread the Israel-Hamas war regionwide. Violence fueled through religious identities and extremisms also afflicts Asia and Africa. Russia manipulates religion to justify its invasion of Ukraine. However, simultaneously, religious ideas can help resolve conflicts. The United States should seize a current opportunity to improve its ability to navigate the religious terrain of conflicts with enhanced training and roles for an often under-appreciated resource: military chaplains.

Type: Analysis

Religion

What Can We Learn from Northern Ireland’s 25 Years of Peace?

What Can We Learn from Northern Ireland’s 25 Years of Peace?

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

By: Gary Mason;  Melissa Nozell

Next week marks 25 years since Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement ended three decades of violent conflict between Catholics and Protestants. What can we learn from that breakthrough to strengthen peace efforts today? A Northern Irish peacebuilder argues a that a vital step in his homeland’s peace process placed civil society — and, critically, civil society’s religious participants — at its center in a way that other peace efforts (between Israelis and Palestinians, for example) have not. Northern Ireland continues to build reconciliation, a demonstration that, while religious factors sometimes fuel conflict, a fuller engagement of religious leaders and groups contributes powerfully to lasting peace.

Type: Analysis

Peace ProcessesReligion

How Religious Actors Can Help Address the Western Hemisphere’s Biggest Challenges

How Religious Actors Can Help Address the Western Hemisphere’s Biggest Challenges

Thursday, August 18, 2022

By: Andrés Martínez;  Melissa Nozell

On the sidelines of this year’s Summit of the Americas, the Interreligious Forum of the Americas brought together over 100 religious actors, faith-based organizations and governments to discuss how strategic engagement with religious and interreligious actors can help address the hemisphere’s most pertinent issues.

Type: Analysis

Peace ProcessesReligion

Four Lessons From Desmond Tutu’s Life and Legacy

Four Lessons From Desmond Tutu’s Life and Legacy

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

By: Palwasha L. Kakar;  Melissa Nozell;  Knox Thames

On December 26, the world lost a “moral compass,” Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, aged 90. Grounded in his Christian faith, his legacy as a peacebuilder through his anti-Apartheid activism and promotion of peace and justice is unparalleled. Tutu’s great influence on the field of peacebuilding, and his mark on peace and reconciliation efforts have rippled worldwide. Here are four attributes that Archbishop Tutu exemplified as a religious peacebuilder, radically inspiring people across the globe to fight injustice and advocate for peace. 

Type: Blog

Religion

Two Years After Easter Attacks, Sri Lanka’s Muslims Face Backlash

Two Years After Easter Attacks, Sri Lanka’s Muslims Face Backlash

Thursday, April 29, 2021

By: Jumaina Siddiqui;  Melissa Nozell

Two years after the Easter Sunday attacks that left 269 dead and injured more than 500, Sri Lanka’s Christian community is still waiting for justice while its Muslim community is reeling from the backlash that followed the bombings. Recent government restrictions targeting Muslims have exacerbated religious tensions in the South Asian nation and risk alienating large portions of the community.

Type: Analysis

ReligionHuman Rights

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