Join us on May 21–22, 2026, for Refusal(s) and Kurdish Literature, a virtual conference bringing together scholars and artists to explore how acts of refusal shape Kurdish literary, cultural, and political expression.

https://events.uconn.edu/event/1540229-conference-refusals-and-kurdish-literature

About This Event

Following the 2025 conference “Kî ne em? Kurdish Literature and Its Studies: An Interdisciplinary Conference” at Stanford University, this second edition, Refusal(s) and Kurdish Literature, will take place virtually on May 21–22, 2026, hosted by the University of Connecticut.

This interdisciplinary gathering will explore how aesthetic, literary, ethical, and political acts of refusal animate Kurdish literature and its studies. Participants will consider the intersections of literature, resistance, and human rights, and how Kurdish cultural expression engages with or departs from frameworks of empathy, representation, and legibility.

 

Conference Program

The full conference program is available here.

Please note that the conference begins at 10am EDT (or 7am PDT / 4pm CEST / 5pm Diyarbakir) both days.

 

Registration

The conference will be held online via Zoom.
Free and open to the public.
The conference runs across two virtual rooms. Please register separately for each room via Zoom to ensure access to all sessions you wish to attend.

• Register for Virtual Room 1
• Register for Virtual Room 2

 

Keynote Speakers and Creative Roundtable

We are thrilled to announce that the conference will feature keynote presentations by Joanna Bocheńska and Aynur Ünal, as well as two creative roundtables with Selîm Temo, Choman Hardi, and Zêdan Xelef and with Jason Rodriguez Vivrette and Ali Yağız Şen.

 

Event Sponsors

• UConn Humanities Institute (UCHI)
• UConn Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute (HRI)
• UConn Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages
• PATH+ Focal Group, Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, Stanford University
• Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Global Studies, Stanford University