WEDNESDAY 8 MARCH – UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER

The School of History, Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester in association with Peace in Kurdistan – Women Alliance for Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria are pleased to invite to a seminar on International Women’s Day.

5.30-7.30pm in Attenborough Tower Lecture Theatre 1

The Rojava revolution in Northern Syria is at its heart, a women’s revolution. The majority Kurdish regions in Northern Syria are undergoing a profound democratic transformation that offers the possibility of peace and freedom with the full participation of women.

Our panel on International Women’s Day will examine the key features of the democratic autonomy project in Rojava including first-hand accounts from an activist and academic perspective.

Opening Speech by Professor Julie Coleman, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, University of Leicester

Chair: Dr Omer Tekdemir, Research Associate, School of History, Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester

Guest Speakers: Isabel Käser is a PhD student at SOAS in London where she is writing her thesis on the Kurdish women’s movement. She has recently returned from a year in Eastern Turkey (Bakur), Northern Iraq (Başur) and Northern Syria (Rojava).

Elif Sarican is a member of the Kurdistan Students Union UK. She is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Social Anthropology focusing on Economic Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her research interests include transformations in the position of women in Kurdish society and women’s movements in the Middle East and North Africa.

Kimberly Taylor, an activist from Blackburn, is the first British woman to travel to Syria to join the fight against ISIS and is now working with the Kurdish Women Protection Units (YPJ) media team. She will be speaking via Skype.

For further information please contact: Peace in Kurdistan Campaign & Women’s Alliance https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com

To register your interest: KISU@leicester.ac.uk