Marion Oudar
International Relations & Diplomacy Department, Ishik University, Erbil, Iraq
Email: [email protected]
Doi:10.23918/icabep2018p19
(Full Paper)
Abstract
During the academic year 2015/2016, I was teaching Kurdology or more precisely I was asked to design class that could be titled “The Kurds within world politics” to 1st-year law students of Soran University in Soran, Iraqi Kurdistan. It was my first teaching position in Iraq and the first time I had to really dig into Kurdish history and Kurdish national movement. Over the course of this semester, I experienced some unexpected challenges: some answers related to the Kurdish nationalist movement I was getting from the students differed partly or mostly from the resources I was finding. Being aware of the many debates that are taking place in France related to school programs and will of politicians to design a school curriculum that would promote a common and uniting cultural background to preserve the unity of the French society following the terrorist attack of November 2015. This research paper is the result of my questioning toward Kurdish nationalist historical account as we can find in libraries in Europe and US and what Kurdish youth are being taught during their years of basic education and during their first year of University during their “Kurdology lecture” about Kurdish nationalism. Few months after KRG referendum for independence who resulted in the victory of the “YES” at 92.7% for a voter turnout of 72% (Rudaw, retrieved on 08/04/2018), and people of Kurdistan having to faces the political consequences of such a vote (airport ban until end of March, handover of all customs and borders, etc.) it seems that some research on Kurdish youth identities and its relationship to the education system in particular and has never been more relevant.
ISBN 978-0-9962570-9-1
Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics
Tishk International University
