Kurdish Studies Network

KURDISH STUDIES CONFERENCE

Istanbul Bilgi University / Kuştepe BS, May 25, 2013
Organised by the Ismail Besikci Foundation and Bilgi Cultural and Intellectual Comunity

09.30- Opening:  Alaattin Ayhan (Bilgi Cultural and Intellectual Community)

09.45- Opening Speech:   Ismail Besikci

First session: Middle East and Kurds (10.30-12.30)

Moderator: Gencer Özcan (Bilgi University)

• Abbas Vali (Boğaziçi University) The KRG, the Opposition and the Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East
• Mesut Yeğen (Şehir University) “‘The Process’: Imperatives, Opportunities and Risks”
• Seda Altuğ  (Boğaziçi University) From Binxet to Rojava: ‘Society, Politics and the State in Syrian Kurdistan – Harun Ercan (Koç University) PKK in the Middle East Context

(12.30-13.30) Lunch break

Second Session: On Kurdish Studies (13.30-15.30)

Moderator: Ayhan Işık (Ismail Beşikçi Foundation)

• Celîlê Celîl (Vienna University) Education and Publishing in three Caucasian States. (1920-1960)
• Clemence Scalbert Yücel (Exeter University) “Development and Autonomisation of a Field of Kurdish Studies”
• Welat Zeydanlıoğlu (University of Uppsala/ Kurdish Studies Network) “The Kurdish Studies Network and the State of Kurdish Studies”

(15.30-15.45) Coffee break

Third Session: Identity Construction in Kurdish Language and Literature (15.45-17.45)

Moderator: Ronayi Önen (Bilgi University)

• Kadri Yıldırım (Artuklu University) Identity Construction in ‘Mem û Zîn’
• Ferhat Pirbal (Salahaddin University) The Role of Ebdul Rehîm Rehmî Hekarî in the Appearance of Modern Kurdish Theatre and Poetry
• Metin Yüksel (Hacetepe University) “Hidden Transcripts”, Sentiments, “Historiology”: Listening to Dengbej Reso (ca. 1910-1983).
• Özlem Galip (Oxford University) Reality or Imagination: the Image of Homeland in the Kurdish Novel.