Current Projects
Dissertation
From September 2014 to September 2017 Iranian Kurdistan (known by its residents as Rojhelat, meaning eastern Kurdistan) witnessed two major waves of demonstrations. The first wave took place in late 2014 in solidarity with the Rojava resistance in Kobani, Syria against the Islamic State’s (IS) onslaught. The second wave of demonstrations occurred in September 2017 to support the Iraqi Kurds’ independence referendum. Grounding these demonstrations in the geopolitical context of Iran and the larger region, I explore the territorial underpinnings and expressions of the Kurdish movement in Iran.
More to come …
Kolberi Project
I am the lead author in a collaborative project about the kolbers. The kolbers are laborers who carry loads on their backs across Iran’s border with Iraq and Turkey. Kolberi (as the labor is known) literally means ‘carrying loads on one’s back.’ The kolbers often carry 20-to-70-kilogram loads for 5 to 15 kilometers over a highly rugged terrain. Almost all kolbers live in border towns and villages of Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat), where decades of government neglect, systematic discrimination, and disinvestment has caused widespread unemployment and impoverishment.
The kolbers are regularly shot and killed or injured by Iranian border guards for the purported crime of „violating the border.“ Other dangers that threaten the kolbers‘ lives include landmines, cold and frostbite, drowning, and falling off the cliffs.
The violence that the kolbers experience is largely unknown to the rest of the world. Thus, my colleagues and I hope that our project can highlight the struggles of these laborers who are economically marginalized and politically oppressed. We also hope to contribute to geographic knowledge through conceptual and methodological innovation.
More to come …Current Projects
Dissertation
From September 2014 to September 2017 Iranian Kurdistan (known by its residents as Rojhelat, meaning eastern Kurdistan) witnessed two major waves of demonstrations. The first wave took place in late 2014 in solidarity with the Rojava resistance in Kobani, Syria against the Islamic State’s (IS) onslaught. The second wave of demonstrations occurred in September 2017 to support the Iraqi Kurds’ independence referendum. Grounding these demonstrations in the geopolitical context of Iran and the larger region, I explore the territorial underpinnings and expressions of the Kurdish movement in Iran.
More to come …
Kolberi Project
I am the lead author in a collaborative project about the kolbers. The kolbers are laborers who carry loads on their backs across Iran’s border with Iraq and Turkey. Kolberi (as the labor is known) literally means ‘carrying loads on one’s back.’ The kolbers often carry 20-to-70-kilogram loads for 5 to 15 kilometers over a highly rugged terrain. Almost all kolbers live in border towns and villages of Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat), where decades of government neglect, systematic discrimination, and disinvestment has caused widespread unemployment and impoverishment.
The kolbers are regularly shot and killed or injured by Iranian border guards for the purported crime of „violating the border.“ Other dangers that threaten the kolbers‘ lives include landmines, cold and frostbite, drowning, and falling off the cliffs.
The violence that the kolbers experience is largely unknown to the rest of the world. Thus, my colleagues and I hope that our project can highlight the struggles of these laborers who are economically marginalized and politically oppressed. We also hope to contribute to geographic knowledge through conceptual and methodological innovation.
More to come …