Kurdish Political
Studies Program
Special Presentation
October 29, 2015, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Cape Florida Ballroom, Student Union
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL, U.S.A.
Kurdish Political
Studies Program
Special Presentation
Welcome Remarks
Dr. Kerstin Hamann
Pegasus Professor and Chair, Political Science Department, UCF
Inauguration of the Jalal Talabany Kurdish
Political Studies Endowed Chair
Dr. Michael D. Johnson
Dean, College of Sciences, UCF
Announcement of Student Essay Award Recipients
Dr. Güneş Murat Tezcür
Jalal Talabany Chair of Kurdish Political Studies, UCF
Panel Discussion: Perspectives on Kurdish Politics
Moderator: Mr. John C. Bersia
Special Assistant to the President for Global Perspectives, UCF
Dr. Najmaldin Karim
Governor, Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq
Dr. Gazi B. Zibari
Director, John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center, and
Director, WK Advanced Surgery Center, Shreveport, LA
Dr. Güneş Murat Tezcür
Jalal Talabany Chair of Kurdish Political Studies, UCF
John C. Bersia, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2000, is a global educator and
commentator. He serves as Special Assistant to the President for Global
Perspectives, as Director of the Global Perspectives Office and as a University Professor at UCF. There, he chairs or co-chairs multiple programs
related to global studies and is the Executive Producer and host of the
“Global Perspectives Show” on WUCF TV/PBS. In addition, he chairs
the Global Connections Foundation. Bersia previously served as a Foreign-Affairs Columnist for McClatchy-Tribune Information Services and
the Orlando Sentinel, as well as on the latter’s Editorial Board. Earlier,
he worked in the global political-risk analysis and publishing businesses, as well as for the U.S. government. Bersia pursued undergraduate
studies in Political Science/International Relations and French at Clark
University and UCF. He earned graduate degrees in Government from
Georgetown University’s Graduate School, Public Information Administration from The American University’s College of Business Administration
and International Relations from the London School of Economics and
Political Science, University of London.
Kerstin Hamann is a Pegasus Professor and Chair of the Political Science
Department. She served as Vice President of the American Political Science Association and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Political
Science Education. Her research interests focus on Western European
politics, especially the role of labor unions in politics, and Spanish politics.
She also has research interests in the area of Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning, with a focus on the online environment. Her current research
analyzes the causes and consequences of union inclusion in reforming
policies in Western Europe, looking at inclusion of unions through social
pacts as well as union protest through general strikes. Hamann is a recipient of the UCF Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award and has
also been honored with an Excellence in Professional Service Award.
She received her Ph.D. in political science from Washington University.
Michael D. Johnson was named dean for the College of Sciences in August, 2011. Formerly an associate dean in the College of Sciences and
a professor of physics, he is responsible for research, graduate studies,
faculty and staff relations, planning and assessment in the college. His
research is in theoretical condensed matter physics. He has investigated
integrable one-dimensional quantum systems, nonlinear optical properties of solids, fractional statistics and pattern formation in complex fluids.
His recent work focuses on electronic properties in highly correlated and
nanoscale systems, including quantum dots in the fractional quantum
Hall regime and high-current non-equilibrium electron transport. Johnson received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Virginia, and came
to UCF in 1990 following post doctoral studies at the University of Kentucky and Indiana University.
Najmaldin Karim is the current governor of Kirkuk, Iraq. He was the first
Kurd to be welcomed by the U.S. State Department and testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1990 on Saddam
Hussein’s actions in Kurdistan. He helped found and served as President
of the Kurdish National Congress of North America. Karim was born in
Kirkuk and studied medicine at the Mosul Medical College. He moved
to the U.S. in 1976 where he completed his residency with a specialization in neuroscience and was an associate clinical professor at George
Washington University. He was elected to the General Assembly of the
Iraqi National Congress in 1992 and was elected as representative of
Kirkuk province in the Iraqi Parliament in 2010. Karim has both Iraqi and
American citizenship, and prior to his return to Iraq lived in Silver Spring,
Maryland with his wife and family, where he ran his medical practice.
Güneş Murat Tezcür, the Jalal Talabany Chair of Kurdish Political Studies,
is a social scientist studying political violence, identity and movements.
He teaches a wide range of courses on political violence and nonviolence, the Middle East, democratization, social movements, and politics of energy. He conducts his research in Kurdish, Persian and Turkish.
His articles have appeared in many different scholarly journals such as
American Political Science Review, Foreign Policy Analysis, International
Studies Perspectives, Journal of Peace Research, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Law and Society Review, Nationalities Papers, Party
Politics, Politics & Gender and Political Research Quarterly. He is also the
author of Muslim Reformers in Iran and Turkey: The Paradox of Moderation (University of Texas Press, 2010). He received his Ph.D. in political
science from the University of Michigan in 2005.
Gazi B. Zibari is the Director of theJohn C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center and of the Advanced Surgery Center at WK Health System.
He served at LSU as Professor of Surgery, Director of Pediatric and Pancreatic Transplantation, Chief of the Division of Transplantation, and Director of Willis-Knighton/LSUHSC Regional Transplant Program. He is the
Malcom Feist Chair in Transplantation Surgery and is Vice Chairman in
the Department of Surgery for Academic Affairs at LSUHSC-S. Zibari has
received several awards including AOA, Verstanding Award, the 1991
State Department “Best Refugee Award,” and the Ellis Island Medal of
Honor. Since the early 1990s, he has returned to Kurdistan almost annually to carry out medical mission work. Zibari came to the United States
from Iraq as a Kurdish refugee and attended the David Lipscomb College in Nashville and the UTHSC College of Medicine in Memphis, TN.
He completed his residency at the LSU Health Sciences Center and a
transplantation fellowship at Johns Hopkins University.
Notes
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
About the Chair
The Jalal Talabany Kurdish Political Studies Endowed Chair was
established at UCF in 2015. The Chair was initiated by a $1 million donation led by Dr. Najmaldin Karim, a neurosurgeon who
currently serves as the Governor of Kirkuk in Iraq. The mission
of the Chair includes teaching, research and scholarly pursuits
centering on Kurdish Political Studies, and further developing
recognized excellence in that field. It also facilitates fellowships, distinguished visitors, public forums, courses, workshops
and other offerings that objectively present and discuss policies and conditions affecting the security, peace and democratic governance of the Kurdish people, including episodes
of mass violence such as the Anfal genocide.
About the Program
The Kurdish Political Studies Program was established as an
initiative in 2008 and formalized as a program in 2014. The
program sponsors or co-sponsors public discussions involving
high-profile speakers, conferences and other meetings; supports scholarship and research; and works with partners internationally to broaden knowledge and understanding about
the Kurds and Kurdistan. The program is jointly administered
by the UCF Political Science Department and the UCF Global
Perspectives Office. More information can be found at www.
ucfglobalperspectives.org.