Educational Grants and Scholarships

Currently, only a few American universities offer courses that directly cover Kurdish issues, very few scholarships are available to facilitate American educational interaction with the region, and Kurdish issues receive almost no recognition at international conferences. The dearth in understanding created by this lack of opportunities for Americans to interact in a scholarly setting with Kurds will be problematic to providing future American government and private sector officials with a workable knowledge of the region.

Thus, the Institute strives to promote Kurdish studies as an important topic for regional studies and then to provide educational materials to aid universities and centers across the United States that are seeking to integrate Kurdish studies into Middle Eastern Affairs programs. As part of its efforts to do so and to increase general academic understanding of the Kurds, the Institute also participates in conferences that are applicable to the Kurdish situation and encourages through direct funding or research support, academics who attempt to publish, write, or study the Kurds. Several of these reports are available digitally or you can contact the Institute’s staff directly with specific inquiries: