Conference on “Kurdish Studies and Politics”
May 6th, 2013, Columbia University.
For footage from the conference see (part I) and (part II).
The graduate student-led Organization for the Advancement of Inner Eurasian Studies (OASIES) at Columbia University will convene a series of panel discussions on Kurdish studies with eminent scholars and policy makers. Professors Robert Olson, Janet Klein, Zeynep Türkyılmaz, Mehmet Gürses and Abbas Vali will provide insights from an academic perspective. From the world of policy, Hasip Kaplan, the Peace and Democracy Party MP in the Turkish parliament, will complement the academic discussion with his vast experience in Kurdish affairs.
The panel discussions will be structured as follows: The first two will consist of academic conversations moderated by Columbia professors Richard Bulliet (history) and Katherine Ewing (religion/anthropology). The third panel, moderated by a Columbia PhD candidate specializing in Kurdish nationalism, Kamal Soleimani, will consist of a dialogue with Hasip Kaplan of Peace and Democracy Party from Turkey on contemporary affairs — from human rights issues linked to Syria to the recent cease fire between the Turkish government and the PKK.
The Kurdish Conference is part of a larger series of academic panels on ‘Forgotten Communities of Inner Eurasia’ that have taken Place over the past five years which we hope to install as regular series in the coming years which will focus on communities that have been systematically underrepresented or marginalized in academic institutions. OASIES inaugurated this series with a faculty panel entitled, “Power, Knowledge and the Kurds.” Moderated by Columbia Professor Gil Anidjar (Columbia University) that panel brought together Ahmed Ferhadi (New York University), Janet Klein (The University of Akron), and Robert Olson (The University of Kentucky). We are planning to continue these series with discussions on other underrepresented communities such as the Uyghurs, Hazara, and the Kalmyks.
If you would like to attend please RSVP. It is required to attend the conference. :
kurdishconference2013@gmail.com
Conference Schedule
Breakfast: 9:00 – 9:30
Opening Remarks : 9:30 – 10:00
Panel I : 10:00 – 11:30, Prof. Richard Bulliet (moderator)
Prof. Vali Abbas
Prof. Robert Olson
Lunch : 11:30 – 12:30
Panel II : 12.30 – 14:00, Prof. Ewing (moderator)
Asst. Prof. Janet Klein
Asst. ProfMehmet Gürses
Asst. Prof.Zeynep Türkyilmaz
Remarks : 14:00 – 14:20
David Phillips, Columbia University
Panel III : 14:20 – 15:50 Kamal Soleimani (moderator)
Hasip Kaplan, MP,Peace and Democracy Party, Turkey
Coffee Break : 15:50 – 16:00
Round-table (questions and answers from audience, conversation between panelists): 16:00 – 16:45
Concluding Statements : 16:45 – 17:00
Adress:School of International and Public Affairs
420 West 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
SIPA Building, 15th floor.
Kurdish Studies Network 