"Decolonizing Knowledge and Science: Breaking Isolation and Weaving Solidarity with the Universities of North and East Syria/Rojava"
SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM 2023
Education for Peace with Justice: Learning from Communities of Resistance - June 2023
The Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Rojava in collaboration with the University of Bremen and the Center for Solidarity with Alternative Universities (CSUA) organizes a summer school program on education for peace with justice: learning from communities of resistance. It will take place in June 2022 and have two forms of sessions: (a) closed seminars between MA students at the University of Rojava and the University of Bremen and (b) public seminars and workshops with speakers from diverse background of scholarship and activism on decolonization in Kurdistan and around the world. The public program of the summer school is sponsored and supported by the Peace with Justice Network.
The summer school program brings together scholars of education as well as organizers and activists in the areas of grassroots educational and learning initiatives from communities around the world. Many of these communities have historically been subjected to different forms of marginalization and exclusion; their rights for a free and democratic education in their own language have been denied; their language and cultural practices have been suppressed; they have been assimilated; and their life has been shaped in constant struggle for basic rights and for peace with justice. This program will provide an opportunity to learn from communities of resistance on how – against many forms of violence, suppression and injustice – these communities fight back and establish their own educational systems and initiatives. We will also hear from scholars of linguistics and higher education as well as academic members of the Peace with Justice Network on how academia and grassroots initiatives can fight back the dominant global landscape of education that favours those controlling power and capital.
Public Sessions:
There will be simultaneous English-Kurdish interpretation for the public seminars.
All seminars take place online via Zoom.
More details can be found here: csua-paris.org
Seminar – Education for Peace with Justice: Building Networks of Solidarity
Speakers:
Tejendra Pherali, University College London
Elaine Chase, University College London
Laila Kadiwal, University College London
Moderator:
Sardar Saadi, University of Rojava
How can we build networks of solidarity for educators and organizers around the world? What could be the objectives and projects of such networks, and how can we form stronger relationships among different grassroots educational initiatives? In this seminar, leading members of the Peace with Justice Network will talk about the network, its aims and activities, and the projects that members of the network are involved in.
Tuesday, June 13, 2023
17:00 Rojava Time (16:00 CET, 10:00 EST, 19:30 New Delhi)
Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMof-6grz4oHNdT2nDQnLx98UXRHQqkdjNc
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Roundtable – Building Communities of Resistance through Grassroots Education
Speakers:
Arif Sahar, University of Sheffield Hallam – Hazara Community (Afghanistan)
Tula Narayan Shah, Nepal Madhesh foundation (Nepal)
Berenice Celeita, NOMADESC - The Intercultural University of the Peoples (Columbia)
Jacinta Kerketta, Organizer with Adivasis community (India)
Hayso Thako, Karen Education and Culture Department (Myanmar)
Representatives from Universities of North and East Syria
Moderator:
Birgul Kutan, University of Sussex
This roundtable will bring together scholars and organizers from communities of resistance around the globe to talk about the role of education and learning in daily struggle against suppression and injustice. Speakers on this roundtable represent grassroots educational initiatives in geographies where violence has destroyed many lives. Despite all odds, they insist on building capacities of resilience among their people through education. They will share their experiences and challenges they face in their projects and the ways in which they navigate through them.
Thursday, June 15, 2023
17:00 Rojava Time (16:00 CET, 10:00 EST, 19:30 New Delhi)
Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwoc--qqD8rHtz0SVqxRgHAfYlXwPMYMMxZ
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Panel – Language and Decolonial Pedagogy
Speakers:
Jaffer Sheyholislami, Carleton University
Amir Kalan, McGill University
Moderator:
Shahrzad Mojab, University of Toronto
Abstracts:
Jaffer Sheyholislami
Multilingual Education as a Catalyst for Decolonizing Education
In this talk, I am exploring the potential of multilingual education in challenging and dismantling legacies of colonization including linguistic and cultural domination, that are mainly perpetuated through the education system. The paper suggests that one of the most effective ways of fostering a decolonized approach to education is to appreciate linguistic diversity and incorporate minoritized languages into the curricula of schools. Examples will be drawn from two opposing contexts: (1) regions that have embraced linguistic diversity including Rojava and Bashur; (2) countries that continue to deprive tens of millions of linguistic human rights and mother-tongue based multilingual education (MTBME) including Iran and Turkey. I will argue that a MTBME system can challenge some of the legacies of colonization by empowering students to project their voices and ideas, assisting linguistic communities to preserve and develop their languages, nurturing cultural heritage, and cultivating a more inclusive and equitable society.
Amir Kalan
European Nation-Statism and Language Education: Evidence from Newly Emerged Nations in the Middle East and Central Asia
In this talk, I draw on the experiences of newly emerged nation states in the Middle East and Central Asia to show that investment in the European nation-state model will not automatically lead to the creation of an anti-discriminatory educational system that is committed to protecting linguistic diversity, although in smaller and more ethnically homogeneous states. The creation of an inclusive language education takes the extra component of engaging in anti-discriminatory governance. Newly emerged states can oppress Indigenous minority languages and fall short of satisfactorily addressing the language issues of immigrants because of their narrow definitions of nationhood and national identity. These states can also undermine the very ethnic language that they claim to promote. This happens by devaluating “non-standard” varieties of the ethnic language and elevating the status of English over local languages as the language of science and learning.
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
17:00 Rojava Time (16:00 CET, 10:00 EST, 19:30 New Delhi)
Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlfu-orj8qHt2ArMmYAaENUVlbWa5RT16j
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