MESOPOTAMIA NEWS RECOMMENDATION – WORLD KURDISH CONGRESS
The first Announcement and Call for Papers for: The 4th World Kurdish Congress (WKC2018) Science and Culture for Progress in Kurdistan November 23rd–25th 2018, Washington, D.C., USA
We are delighted to invite you to the 4th World Kurdish Congress (WKC2018) in Washington, D.C., November 23rd–25th, 2018. This scientific meeting is a unique platform for Kurdish and non-Kurdish academics, entrepreneurs, and professionals to interact and exchange ideas with each other. Through scientific presentations and networking, WKC2018 aims to study and identify the roots of existing problems in Kurdistan and to provide creative and scientific-based solutions. Specifically, WKC2018 seeks to explore diaspora’s capacities in order to build a prosperous Kurdish diaspora organization that can work with the Kurdish leadership to develop scientific-based guidelines and long-term strategies.
The Kurdish nation is currently facing complex issues, some of which are stemmed from international and regional politics and some from internal factors. In Northern Kurdistan (Bakur, currently within Turkey borders) the peace process between Turks and Kurds was sabotaged by the current Turkish regime leading to the massacre of Kurdish population, dissolution of Kurdish parties, and enemas imprisonment of activists, teachers, journalists, and Kurdish members of parliament. Additionally, Turkey, which is a member of NATO, recently extended its atrocity against Kurds beyond its current borders and invaded the Kurdish city of Afrin in Syria, with minimal condemnation let alone practical response from the international community.
In Southern Kurdistan (Bashur, currently within Iraq borders) 92% of the Kurdish and non-Kurdish residents voted unanimously for an ‘independent Kurdistan’ in one of the world’s most democratic referendums. But, once more the international community failed to support the natural right of Kurds for self-determination. The big powers and so-called advocates of human rights ignored this historic event and all the sacrifices made by the Kurds in their fight against ISIS. They watched silently when Iraqi militias supported by Iran drove out Kurds from their historic homeland of Kirkuk and surrounding cities.
In Western Kurdistan (Rojava, currently within Syria borders), the Kurds have been under decades of suppression under a totalitarian regime and were deprived of basic civil rights including citizenship. Since the emergence of self-declared Islamic state ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the Rojava Kurds including young girls have been at the front of fighting against the violent Islamic extremists. Unfortunately, they are facing mass displacement and are caught between the rivalries of great powers in the Middle East.
In Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhelat, currently within Iran borders) the Kurds are subject to constant detainment, persecution, cultural assimilation, and forced migration. The Kurdish leadership in Rojhelat needs to redefine its political vision and agenda to earn the trust and respect of the Kurdish community in order to receive international recognition.
In all parts of Kurdistan there are enormous potentials, opportunities, and resources for building a prosperous Kurdish nation. But there are also numerous issues related to education, culture, demography, economy, political leadership, and natural resources. Throughout history, the Kurdish nation has failed to exploit these potentials to become an integral part of changes in the Middle East. WKC2018 aims to provide a cross-disciplinary scientific platform to find answers to these issues and opportunities in the 21st century.
What are the key tasks of the Kurdish Diaspora? What is the motivation and pathway to unite the Kurds in their mission? How can one learn from the Jewish and Armenian diasporas to create an international Kurdish lobby organization? How can the diaspora take a leadership role to best serve the Kurdish people in this very unique and critical time?
In our view, the unity of Kurdish people based on national identity and interests is the first step for building a Kurdish nation. The diversity of opinion is an opportunity, not a problem. It is imperative to understand the ‘Google Society’ nature of our world, in which societies are interconnected, problems and solutions are cross-disciplinary, and data is power. WKC2018 aims to highlight these points and create a roadmap towards a scientific, knowledgeable, inclusive, and united Kurdish diaspora that will better grasp the 21st century opportunities for building a prosperous Kurdish nation.
WKC Mentor and Mentee program (WKC M2)
WKC2018 has a new program called WKC M2 to connect experienced and young professionals and to build a lasting mentor-mentee relationship. This program will provide an effective platform for mentors to assist young and talented Kurdish scholars (Mentees) to learn from experienced professionals (Mentors).
Mentors will have the opportunity to share their experience and knowledge with the up-and-coming generation of young leaders, help them with professional and career development, building new relationships, and exploring new opportunities within the diverse field of science.
Mentees will have the opportunity to connect with an experienced professional, who will provide continued guidance on how to achieve career and professional goals, deal with unprecedented issues, diversify skills, and expand professional networks.
The 4th World Kurdish Congress (WKC2018) invites researchers and professionals to submit standard (1 page) abstracts in various disciplines with an overarching aim of building a Kurdish nation through science and culture. The abstract can be in the form of opinion, finding, and/or research proposal.
Examples of the topics considered are:
Diaspora
Scientific, educational, economical, technological, political, and cultural opportunities in the 21st century for building a successful and inclusive Kurdish diaspora
Key challenges facing Kurdish diaspora (education of children in Kurdish language, cultural integration, health and safety, etc.)
Practical approaches to build a successful Kurdish diaspora
Lessons to be learned from successful diaspora such as Jewish and Armenian communities
History
Role of ancient history in building national identity
Scientific approaches to identify and amend systematic factual errors in Kurdistan ancient and modern history
Practical strategies to re-write Kurdistan history and communicate its highlights with other nations through scientific projects, movies, etc.
Historical sites and tourism
Politics
Scientific approaches to investigate the root of political failure in Kurdistan throughout history
Scientific approaches to identify key factors that play role in 21stcentury politics (economy, terrorism, water, food, religion, oil, global warming, technology, etc.)
Impact of a strong diaspora in Kurdistan politics
Education
Educational needs of the 21stcentury (cross-disciplinary, research-based, technology-driven, etc.)
Educational needs of nation building (leader training programs in academia and industry, higher education scholarship programs, etc.)
Importance of early childhood education
Approaches to promote publication and media in Kurdish language for kids
Strategies to fund and promote research in Kurdistan
Health
Scientific approaches to prevent the outbreak of diseases in Kurdistan
Public health strategies to promote health, lifestyle, and wellbeing
Studies of the genetic make-up of Kurdish populations (issues related to the lack of genetic diversity, information about migration and historical events, etc.)
Technology
Role of technology advancements in the future of the Kurdistan economy (future of oil-dependent industries, renewable energies, etc.)
Role of technology advancements in the future of Kurdistan boundaries (future definition of a country and physical borders in a virtual world, importance of land, resources, etc.)
Role of technology advancement in global aging and population control
Economy
Investment in education and health
Investment in productive infrastructures
Promotion of local production and self-sufficiency
Mechanisms for sharing oil and gas revenue and public debt sharing
Issues of corruption, transparency and accountability
Introduction of high civil servant examination to increase quality of institutions and governance
Shift from current business driven development strategy to a development strategy in national interest
Development of mining and agriculture sectors to supply material to industry sector
Development of taxation system and trade policy and regulations
Shift from current consuming service sector to a production service sector
Assessment of performance, capacity, and investment in health, education, transport, banking, construction, agriculture and industry sectors.
Analysis of inequality, poverty, wealth, concentration of assets, migration, and demographic changes
The scientific review committee initially requests the receipt of standard 1-page abstracts. Full papers will be requested in the next step. Abstracts will be peer reviewed and selected by the scientific review committee for oral or poster presentations. We are looking forward to your participation in the WKC2018, in Washington, D.C., USA on November 23rd–25th, 2018. For more information please refer to (www.worldkurdishcongress.org) or contact the congress secretariat at: info@worldkurdishcongress.org
Requirements for Paper Submission
TIMELINE: Abstracts are due by September 30th, 2018
LINK TO ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Each submission should have a separate TITLE PAGE which includes:
Title of the abstract
Up to six keywords that describe the areas of research submitted
Name(s) of the author(s)
Affiliation(s)
Mailing address(es)
Email address(es)
Phone number(s)
The name of presenting author need to be underlined.
Standard Abstract – 1 page for TITLE as described above and 1 page for the abstract text, English language, doc(x), 12 point Times New Roman or equivalence, 1.5 line spacing, at least 0.5 inch margins from all sides, include a clear title
Abstract should clearly state the objectives, problems and goals, methods and data used, results and conclusions.
Given the highly cross-disciplinary nature of WKC2018, we request that abstracts are prepared to target a broad audience with diverse background, interests and disciplines.
Abstracts that address complex and interconnected issues and provide practical solutions will be given preferential attention.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
Only abstracts that comply with the requested requirements will be reviewed by the scientific review committee.
Correspondence regarding the receipt of submission will be made by email unless otherwise requested.
With the exception of keynote speeches, the time allocated to each oral presentation will be 15 minutes presentation plus 5 minutes for questions and discussion.
There will also be a 10-minute discussion with the audience at the end of each session monitored by a chairperson.
The abstracts selected for poster presentations need to be printed as a maximum 30(height)×40(width) inches posters and presented at the specified dates.
A selection of the presented papers will be considered for publication in the WKC conference volume by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in 2019. The preliminary program will provide complete information concerning the conference venue, accommodation forms and social programs and will be published in the WKC2018 webpage soon.
Contact details: E-mail: info@kurdishcongress.org Tel. +46 70 453 90 70
Mailing address: World Kurdish Congress Box 7196 SE-103 88 Stockholm – Sweden
Timetable
August 10th, 2018, First announcement and call for papers
September 30th, 2018, Deadline for submitting abstracts
October, 2018, Authors will be notified of the decision of the scientific review committee and preliminary program and abstract book will be posted
November 23rd–25th, 2018, 4th World Kurdish Congress in Washington, D.C., USA
February 2019, an edited volume will be published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK
Objectives of the Conference
To provide a cross-disciplinary and inclusive forum for building a Kurdish intellectual entity and sharing knowledge and expertise
To work towards creating an international Kurdish lobby by learning from other international communities such as the Jewish and Armenian diasporas
To encourage participants to be proactive and create diverse think tank groups in their own area of expertise
All requests should be sent by e-mail to info@kurdishcongress.org and will be carefully evaluated. The applicants will be notified by e-mail and the final outcome will be suggested to the congress during the annual meeting.
The WKC2018 will not cover flight nor hotel expenses. We will recommend reasonable hotels for accommodation.
Scientific and Organizing committee: Prof. Alan Dilani, Ph.D. Sweden Prof. Almas Heshmati, Ph.D. Korea/Sweden Dr. Carol Prunhuber, Ph.D. USA Dr. Dawood Atrushi, Ph.D. Kurdistan Prof. Fereydoon Rahmani, Ph.D. Canada Dr. Hiwa Panahi, Ph.D. USA Dr. Koestan Gadani, Ph.D. Norway Dr. Lala Abda, Artist, Germany Mr. Sartip Kakaee, Canada
Media Communication: Mr. Halkawt Mala Ali, Norway Mr. Rahim Rashidi, USA
WORLD KURDISH CONGRESS
Science and Culture for Progress in Kurdistan www.kurdishcongress.org
August 2018