CGDS announced that Dr. Muhammad Usman, who prefers to be called Shakir, joined CGDS for the spring 2021 semester as our first Jan Warner Visiting Scholar. Mr. Shakir, who is a poet, scriptwriter, educationist, and peaceworker, completed his interdisciplinary PhD at the University of Innsbruck-Austria, where he also earned his Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies. The topic of his PhD dissertation was "Shia, Sunni and Yazidi Conflict: A Political, Social or Religious Conflict and its Impact on the Peace Process in the Middle East," with special focus on Kurdistan. Dr. Shakir’s article, "Islam & Pakistan: A Critical Analysis" is published, and another article, "Yazidis: A Tale of Lost, Found and Misunderstood Legacy in the Light of Mimetic Theory" was about to be published by Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture, edited by William A. Johnsen, Michigan State University when he joined CGDS. At the time of his joining us, he was working on two articles which address sexual and gender-based violence in socio-religious settings. One is titled "The Idea of Female Muezzins & Imams: A Challenge for Patriarchs and Necessary for a Peaceful Society"; the other is "Female Yazidi Imams and Jewish Rabbis: Challenging Patriarchal Prejudices of Sinjar & Jerusalem and their importance in Peacebuilding.”
As part of his visiting scholarship, Mr. Shakir taught “Gender and Islam,” a history course in the gender studies minor, through the Department of Social Sciences. The Jan Warner Visiting Scholarship exists to support CGDS’ gender minor, which was the first, and remains the only, in Iraq. We thank our patron and champion Ms. Jan Warner for making this possible, and we thank Dr. Jill Derby for her generosity in helping us with transportation costs.
Before beginning the Jan Warner Visiting Scholarship in February, Mr. Shakir was a guest of CGDS and AUIS, working on his projects and publications. He looked forward to engaging and interacting with scholars who specialize in Middle Eastern Studies, Social Science, Political Science, Cultural Studies, Middle Eastern/Regional Studies, Kurdish History, and Islamic History/Studies.
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