Who is Jamil Khoury?

Jamil Khoury is the Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Chicago’s Silk Road Cultural Center, and the Founder and Director of Polycultural Institute, the think-and-create tank of Silk Road Cultural Center.

He is a producer, curator, essayist, playwright, and filmmaker. Jamil's passion for promoting cultural interchange and the study of cultural porosity dovetails seamlessly with his leadership in the non-profit performing arts sector, advocacy for expanding the American story, and earlier experience as an international relocation consultant for Fortune 500 clients.

His art-making focuses on West Asian themes and questions of diaspora. He is particularly interested in the intersections of culture, national identity, religion, and belonging.

Jamil is currently a student at the European Graduate School (Saas-Fee, Switzerland), where he hopes to complete a PhD in Philosophy, Art, and Social Thought by 2029. He is also enrolled in Cornell University’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy Certificate Program.

He earned a Master’s in Religious Studies from The University of Chicago Divinity School and a Bachelor’s in International Relations from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, with an emphasis on the contemporary Arab World. He is a Kellogg Executive Scholar (Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University) and has been awarded a Certificate of Professional Achievement in Nonprofit Management.

A noted artist and activist, Jamil is the recipient of numerous awards, including: The University of Chicago Diversity Leadership Alumni Award, the Community Leader Award from the Association for Asian American Studies, the Kathryn V. Lamkey Award from Actor’s Equity Association, the ChangeMaker Award from South Asian Americans Leading Together, the 3Arts Artist Award for Playwriting, the After Dark Award for Outstanding New Work (Precious Stones), and the Distinguished Alumni Award from John Hersey High School.

Committed to collaborative art making, Jamil has been an Artist-in-Residence at New Orleans’ Joan Mitchell Center, and a Playwright-in-Residence at Tufts University, Benedictine University, North Central College, Valparaiso University, and Knox College.

His work has been translated from English into Arabic, German, and Russian, and enjoyed by audiences in the US, Canada, Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, Portugal, Russia, the UK, and beyond.