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This study was undertaken to begin to understand better the emergence of academic capitalism in public higher education in less developed countries. How and why income-generating practices have appeared in public universities in less developed countries has not been well examined (Maldonado-Maldonado 2014, 201). I chose the Iraqi Kurdistan region as the locus for this study in part for convenience, but also because it is unique in having emerged after the Second Gulf War from an oppressive National Socialist ruling government overtly hostile to market-based economic activities (Republic of Iraq 1970, Article 28). I found several instances of academic capitalist/income generating activities at Kurdish public universities. Consulting and language centers were in place well before the study began. Evening programs and parallel education emerged over the course of the inquiry as the economy in the region declined. I also elaborate on the specific relationship between the Kurdish Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the region's universities in developing and fostering different types of academic capitalism. Such cooperation is previously undescribed in the literature. I used an academic capitalism theoretical framework to guide my inquiry. This model provides four observable characteristics of neoliberal educational reform on higher education: new circuits of knowledge, interstitial organizational emergence, intermediating organizations, and expanded managerial capacity (Slaughter and Rhoades 2004, 26). I collected data through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Following on similar approaches by Hackett (1990, 249) and Kleinman and Vallas (2007, 290), this study incorporated selective sampling of institutions which were likely to be engaged in academic capitalism, and included Ministry of Higher Education officials, as well as public university administrators and faculty members who were likely to have knowledge of these academic capitalism activities. / Ph. D.

This thesis examines the role of the media in the Kurdistan Region focusing on developments since the fall of Saddam Hussein¿s regime in 2003 in order to identify the challenges which have faced journalists there, and the construction of national identity and the potential opportunities which this sector presents for shaping public opinion and strengthening the nascent democracy in the region. After tracing the history of the Kurdish media against the broader backdrop of Iraq, using an interdisciplinary approach, this thesis analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the Kurdish media, with particular reference to regulation, examining the Press Law (2008). It concludes with a series of recommendations regarding the growth and development of new opportunities in the Kurdish media. In addition, it will present arguments to support the urgent need to develop a legal and regulatory framework which is fit-for-purpose for the media in this style democracy.

In 1988, the Iraqi regime executed the Anfal Genocide against its Kurdish population, killing a conservative estimate of approximately 50,000 to 100,000 Kurds (Human Rights Watch, 1993). This genocide involved the widespread usage of chemical weapons and marked a highly traumatic moment in modern Kurdish history. As of today, little academic research has been completed on the long-term medical and political consequences of exposure to chemical weapons in the Kurdistan region. This exploratory research aims to contribute to the body of literature on this topic through interviews with medical professionals, Kurdish politicians, and non-governmental organization employees that have expertise on the Anfal attacks and their aftermath. By following a semi-structured interview format with the help of a native Kurdish translator when necessary, this research project was able to collect novel information on the lasting legacy of chemical weapons in Iraqi Kurdistan. The commentary included topics like how to medically and politically address the aftermath of chemical weapons, and how chemical weapons changed Iraqi Kurdistan’s healthcare system, societal relationships, and economy. Data collected for the medical findings proposes that improvements to Iraqi Kurdistan’s general medical infrastructure and emergency healthcare capacity are necessary to aid Anfal survivors and the future safety of the nation. Evidence within the political findings suggests that chemical weapons are not only detrimental to health, but also to the social, economic, and international components of Iraqi Kurdistan’s politics. Overall, this project adds to the growing body of literature that focuses on contemporary Kurdish affairs within the context of historical violence.

Internet has emerged as an interactive platform. Thus, new communication technologies are challenging the traditional media with interactive devices turning online journalism into a rich media environment. While new information technologies have enabled media organisations to use interactive features in the constructed presentation of news websites, few news websites in the Iraqi Kurdistan region are maximizing such features. Also, this thesis argues that despite the lack of a good infrastructure in the field of communication technology and the Internet in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), online journalism has become a major part of Kurdish media outlets and distinctive from traditional media because of its interactive nature. The study presented in this thesis focus on interactivity in online journalism by examine interactive features of Kurdish news websites of the (IKR) and analyses how news is presented and to what extent these news websites tried to apply the interactive features on their hompages and inside the news pages. The level of interactivity of those Kurdish websites was also measured using several dimensions of interactivity by conducting web-based content analysis. The analysis of the qualitative part based on in-depth interviews with Kurdish reporters, editors, editor in chiefs, media experts and web developers. The findings show that the Kurdish news websites did not fully utilize and enhance interactive features in online journalism.

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No description available.

The utilisation of collaboration and collaborationism as a strategy to address the Kurdish question in Iraq and the involvement of the collaborators in the perpetration of mass violence and genocide is a subject that has not been thoroughly investigated.  The objective of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying motivations that drove a specific subset of the Kurdish population to engage in collaboration and collaborationism with the Iraqi regime. Additionally, the study seeks to comprehend the factors that contributed to the behavioural changes within those collaborationists “Jashes”, as they shifted from a collaborative role to assuming a rescue role during the Anfal Campaign.  This study employs the theoretical frameworks of collaboration and collaborationism, as well as altruism and egoism, to analyse data obtained from in-depth interviews with the Jashes. By employing qualitative content analysis, this research could be able to gain insights into the motivations underlying their actions.  This study posits that the collaborative activities observed in southern Kurdistan can be most accurately categorised as collaborationism. The motivations behind participating in these activities were varied, encompassing factors such as evading conscription and punishment, tribal conflict, economic incentives, and internal political disputes within the Kurdish political parties. Moreover, this research contends that the incentives behind behavioural changes within jashes encompassed both egoistic and altruistic motivations.

This thesis examines online journalism in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and its role in political debate in this emerging democracy. It also focuses on the role of the internet in the public sphere, explores the historical context in which Kurdish online journalism has developed and compares mass media in the Kurdistan region to that in other newly democratic countries, in addition to the mass media landscape, human rights conditions and political system in the Kurdistan region and Iraq overall are explored. Data has been collected through in-depth interviewing of journalists, both independent and affiliated with political parties, as well as media academics and other educators. Moreover, as a case study, a qualitative thematic analysis has been carried out on opinion articles in online news sites to search for key themes and messages published and explore the limits of free discussion online. The thesis argues that although there are many barriers to media work and freedom of expression, online journalism in the Kurdistan region is an alternative tool for expression and constitutes a better medium for promoting freedom of speech than mainstream media outlets. It then suggests recommendations for conducting further studies about the development and influences of online journalism and social media on Kurdish society. / Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)

Le Šarafnāma est un ouvrage écrit en persan par Šaraf Xān Bidlīsī (949-1009/1543-1600), gouverneur kurde de la principauté de Bidlīs, en 1005/1596-1597 environ. Il s’agit d’une chronique des dynasties et tribus kurdes, commençant avec la dynastie des Marwānides, à la fin du IVe/Xe siècle, pour se terminer avec les événements de l’année 1005/1596-1597 et le récit de l’histoire des Diyādīnides de Bidlīs, lignée dont était issu l’auteur. La chronique est composée d’une introduction (muqaddima) et de quatre ṣaḥīfas (livres). À cette chronique, l’auteur a également ajouté un épilogue (xātima) constitué par des annales ottomanes et safavides. Il existe, à ce jour, une quarantaine de manuscrits du Šarafnāma encore existants. Notre première tâche a été d’identifier ces manuscrits et de les consulter, sous forme physique ou numérique, afin de les comparer et de produire un stemma codicum des copies de l’ouvrage. Une fois ceci fait, notre recherche a plus particulièrement porté sur les manuscrits produits du vivant de l’auteur, dans les années 1005-1007/1596-1599, ainsi que sur les copies effectuées au XIe/XVIIe siècle, soit le siècle suivant la composition de l’ouvrage. Après une première partie consistant en une étude générale sur le travail historiographique de Šaraf Xān, nous avons, dans une deuxième partie, étudié spécifiquement les trois manuscrits transcrits de sa main ou sous sa supervision, afin de mettre en lumière le caractère réfléchi et collaboratif du processus de composition de l’ouvrage. Dans la troisième partie, nous nous sommes intéressés à la dizaine de manuscrits produits au XIe/XVIIe siècle à Bidlīs, Kilīs, Alep et dans la région d’Ardalān, et aux processus de réappropriation et de réinterpréation de l’oeuvre originale visible dans ces copies. / The Šarafnāma is a book written in Persian by Šaraf Xān Bidlīsī (949-1009/1543-1600), Kurdish governor of the principality of Bidlīs, in about 1005/1596-1597. It is a chronicle of Kurdish dynasties and tribes, starting with the Marwānid dynasty, at the end of the 4th/10th century, and concluding with the events of the year 1005/1596-1597 and the story of the Diyādīnids of Bidlīs, the author’s own household. The chronicle is composed of an introduction (muqaddima) and four ṣaḥīfas (books). The author has also added an epilogue (xātima), which is an annalistic history of the Ottomans and the Safavids. There are around forty extant manuscripts of the Šarafnāma. Our first task has been to identify and physically or digitally consult these manuscripts, in order to compare them and produce a stemma codicum of the book’s copies. Once this was done, we have focused our research on the manuscripts copied during the author’s lifetime, in the years 1005-1007/1596-1599, as well as on the copies made in the 11th/17th century, immediately following the book’s composition. The first part of our work is a general study of Šaraf Xān’s historiographical outlook. In the second part, we have studied the three manuscripts transcribed by the author or under his supervision, in order to highlight the thought out and collaborative nature of the book’s composition. In the third part, we have focused on the dozen manuscripts produced in the 11th/17th century in Bidlīs, Kilīs, Aleppo and the Ardalān region, and on the processes of reappropriation and reinterpration of the original work manifest in these copies.