Events

The Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century, University College Cork, Ireland, in conjunction with the Global Scholars’ Network for Rojava Universities, invites you to join this online seminar to learn from and support universities in Rojava at a critical moment.

Over the past 15 years, institutions such as the University of Rojava and Kobanî University have built a higher education system under conditions of war, displacement, and political uncertainty. These universities have served Kurdish students as well as many others across the region, becoming vital spaces of intellectual life and social transformation.

Today, as political negotiations over Syria’s future reach a critical stage, universities in Rojava are working to preserve their institutional autonomy, women’s participation at all levels, their jineolojî programs, and Kurdish and multilingual education.

This seminar will be an opportunity to learn about the Rojava Revolution and the current situation on the ground, support these universities in their struggle for recognition, and explore what the contemporary neoliberal university might learn from Rojava’s unique approach to education for liberation.

Speakers:

Dr Rojin Mukriyan is an interdisciplinary political scientist and a part-time lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at University College Cork. Her research lies at the intersection of political and feminist theory, decolonial studies, and Middle Eastern politics, particularly Iranian and Kurdish politics.  Her work focuses on Abdullah Öcalan’s political theory; Rojhelatî/Iranian Kurdish women’s political thought, agency, and activism; the Jin, Jiyan, Azadî movement; and broader questions of nationalism, gender, resistance, and decolonial politics. She is also a lecturer and executive member of Jîna Academy, a grassroots, non-profit virtual educational organisation working with marginalised communities in the Middle East.

Dr Sardar Saadi is Executive Director of Jîna Academy for Humanities and Social Research and an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University. He also teaches Kurdish Studies in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto.  He received his PhD in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from the University of Toronto in 2020, examining the urban dynamics of the Kurdish struggle for self-determination in Diyarbakir, Kurdistan. He subsequently completed an SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship at Wageningen University on youth politics in the Kurdish movement.  In 2020, he co-founded the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Rojava, where he served as co-director until 2024. His research focuses on popular sovereignty, social justice, stateless democracy, and higher education in conflict zones. He is also the host and producer of The Kurdish Edition podcast.

Organiser: Dr Matt York, UCC.