The Center for Gender and Development Studies (CGDS) at American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) started of a five-year, £896,000 research project with the London School of Economics (LSE). The project is part of the UK Research and Innovation’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) to support interdisciplinary research hubs around the world working towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
CGDS’s Dr. Choman Hardi, a professor at AUIS, is a Co-Director of the Masculinities and Sexualities strand, one of six strands under LSE’s Gender, Justice, and Security Hub that will examine gender-related injustice and insecurity in communities around the world. As Co-Director, Dr. Hardi will coordinate research projects at six universities and other not-for-profit organizations. Dr. Hardi’s own research at AUIS, titled “Masculinity, Sexuality, and Violence,” will investigate transitional masculinity and violence prevention in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.