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Podcast Friday - Kurdish studies history
Dec. 22nd, 2023 12:27 pmOkay no one else cares about this, but this was my recent podcast highlight: LSE Middle East Centre: The History and Development of Kurdish Studies with Professor Martin van Bruinessen
Van Bruinessen is the quintessential Kurdish scholar in Europe, who has continued to contribute to the field well into his retirement (he currently supervises a friend's post-doc, for example). At the inaugural Kurdish Studies Conference, his opening remarks described the evolution of Kurdish people and culture as a subject of inquiry, from colonial anthropologists and intelligence agents to today's Kurdish scholars, both in Kurdistan and the diaspora. It was a fascinating talk. It concludes with a funny anecdote about hitchhiking across the Middle East in 1971, how he came across Kurdish people and started getting interested in them.
Van Bruinessen is the quintessential Kurdish scholar in Europe, who has continued to contribute to the field well into his retirement (he currently supervises a friend's post-doc, for example). At the inaugural Kurdish Studies Conference, his opening remarks described the evolution of Kurdish people and culture as a subject of inquiry, from colonial anthropologists and intelligence agents to today's Kurdish scholars, both in Kurdistan and the diaspora. It was a fascinating talk. It concludes with a funny anecdote about hitchhiking across the Middle East in 1971, how he came across Kurdish people and started getting interested in them.