Event:  Kurdish Human Rights Conference and Film Festival

Date:  September 4 and 5, 2004

 

Host & Location:     Social Cultural Anthropology Program

                             California Institute of Integral Studies

                             1453 Mission Street

                             San Francisco, CA  94103

 

Title:  KURDISH HUMAN RIGHTS: Statelessness, Resistance, and Survival

 

Purpose of the Conference:

 

The Kurds and their allies have been engaged in diverse struggles for survival and cultural rights.  The conference will bring together prominent scholar-activists to discuss the politics of Kurdish nationalisms, ethnic identities, and human rights.  Nation-building and statelessness, ethnicity and race, gender and class, Empire and neocolonialism, as well as strategies for cooperation between stakeholders in the Middle East and the Kurdish diaspora, will be discussed.

 

The two-day conference also features a cultural celebration with Kurdish food, music, dance, and a film festival.  Individuals and organizations committed to social change and human rights are cordially invited.

 

Presenters include:

 

Tara Aziz                               Robert Olson

Angana Chatterji                  Mitchell Plitnick

Fredrick Cloyd                     Soraya Serajeddini

Ali Ezzatyar                          Richard Shapiro

Michael Gunter                    Joe Subbiondo

Rashid Karadaghi                Kerim Yildiz

Brucek Khailany                  Nicole Watts

Diane King                            Kani Xulam

Soraya Mofty                        Stephen Zunes

Mustafa Mirzeler

 

Saturday Conference:

9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.     Opening Remarks and Sessions including Lunch 

Topics include:

            Nation-building and the Kurds

            Current Landscape of the Kurds

            Alliances and Strategies

6:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.   Traditional Kurdish Dinner and Kurdish cultural celebration

 

Sunday Film Festival:

            10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

 

            Films include:

            InNowhereLand (Nirgendwo)

            Jiyan

            Saddam’s Mass Graves

            A Song For Beko (Klamek Ji Bo Beko)

            Time for Drunken Horses (Dema Hespên Serxwes,)

 

 

Registration is required,  Sliding Scale Prices

No one turned away for lack of funds

 

Translators and interpreters will be made available to serve the diverse Kurdish community.

 

Supporters of the conference include:

American Kurdish Information Network

Bocce Cafe

Cheryl Hatch

Ed Kashi

Mustafa Kart

Koma Govend Kurdish Folk Dance Group

Kurdish-American Youth Organization

Kurdish Human Rights Watch

Kurdish National Congress

Susan Meiselas/Magnum Photos

Middle East Children's Alliance

Evini Films

Vanguard Public Foundation

Washington Kurdish Institute

 

 

For more information:

      WEBSITE :  www.kurdishrightsconference.org

      PHONE:    415-575-6100 ext. 456