The Kurdish people compose one of the ancient nations of the Middle East. Kurdistan, the land of the Kurds, is spread among several modern states: northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and small parts of Armenia. There is no exact figure to the Kurdish population because each state has tended to downplay the number of Kurds within its own borders. Nevertheless, according to various estimates, the Kurdish population is estimated to range between 25 to 30 million. This makes the Kurds the fourth largest ethnic people of the Middle East.
In terms of numerical strength, Kurdish ranks fortieth among the world’s five to six thousand languages. The strategic weight of Kurdistan was recognized by the U.S. Government in 1985 when Kurdish was included among its list of 169 “critical languages.” However, American universities still exclude Kurdish studies from their area studies programs in spite of the fact that the Middle Eastern studies programs of the U.S. are among the most extensive of any country in the world. The persistent absence of interest in Kurdish studies among academics may be explained by their longer-standing commitment to Arabic, Turkish and Iranian studies. One shocking result is that there has been only one dissertation on the Kurds produced every decade since 1861 to every ten produced on the states the Kurds inhabit. Another result is the lack of experts on Kurdish affairs despite the growing importance of that area to the international comunity. The number of experts on Middle Eastern studies (taken from a list of those who are members of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, MESA) shows that there are just ten recognized experts on Kurdistan versus 430 on Iran, 364 on Turkey, 257 on Syria, and 129 on Iraq. In fact, MESA’s most recent membership directory indicates that there is just one expert on Kurdish issues versus fifteen on the Palestinians, who are far fewer in number but nonetheless have an international political status similar to that of the Kurds.
To meet the pressing need for experts, Florida State University's Learning Systems Institute (FSU/LSI) has established the first Kurdish Studies Program (KSP) in the United States. KSP is located at LSI’s Center for International Studies (CIS). One of KSP’s aims is to create a concentration of interest on Kurdish studies in North America. FSU has appointed Dr. Salah Aziz, born in Kurdistan-Iraq, to direct the KSP and to lead efforts to establish a higher education program devoted primarily to Kurdish studies.
For more information contact:
Dr.Salah Aziz