University of Kurdistan Continuing Education

niversity of Kurdistan Hewlêr as one of the most prestigious academic centres Uin Kurdistan Regions of Iraq offers bespoke and off-the-peg workshops and seminars for a variety of audiences and purposes by drawing upon a wealth of its academic specializations and expertise and its unique position within the regional political and the strategic establishments. Continuing Education programmes are destined to a variety of audience including government entities, NGOs, international companies, military organizations and any other public or private entities requiring expertise in the fields of Politics, International Relations, Sociology, Constitution, Security, Risk Analysis, Immigration and Human Rights.

1 Type of Courses

niversity of Kurdistan offers hourly or one/two-day classes on specific topics Uaimed at brings you the comprehensive and up-to-date training on selected subjects by lecturers who are authoritative experts in their fields of study. Some courses are also offered in collaboration with other external experts and organizations in order to provide a rich academic environment experience that are meant to cover all intellectual aspects of the topic. Day-long seminars and workshops take place both on-campus or occasionally on site on weekdays from 9:45 to 16:00. If on-campus education is selected, tea and coffee are also provided together with access to the university canteen for lunch. Courses are structured as below:

1. Hourly or single-day seminars and workshops on selected topics both on UKH campus or on client site. 2. Extended training and development projects with multiple sessions both on the UKH campus or on client site 3. Online audio-visual and textual training material

2 Training Programs

Subject Instructor I. Nationalism, Ethnic Conflicts II. Shi’a Islam Dr. Vahid Nick Pay III. Political Islam IV. Media Ethics I. Federalism, Nationalism and Self- Determination Ms. Sara Salahaddin Mustafa II. Constitutional Law, Iraqi Constitution III. Gender Politics I. Human Rights II. International Security Dr. Adam Mayer III. Social Movements I. Democratization II. Institution Building Dr. Mohammed Ali Bapir III. Political Parties

I. Politics of Social Media II. Ethics and Politics of Big Data Dr. Giovanni Mascaretti III. Public Policy I. International Security II. Transnational Threats and border security Dr. Andrés De Castro Garcia III. National Security and the role of Intelligence

3 Courses

Nationalism & Ethnic Conflicts This course aims at enabling participants to develop a good understanding of the concepts of ethnic group and nation, and their performative correlates, ethnicity and nationalism; to acquire an understanding of a range of models for analysing ethnic, national and religious conflicts and to apply these analytical models to a specific case study of Kurdistan Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Vahid Nick Pay

Shi’a Islam Shi’a scholars have played a prominent role in promoting the pertinence of the concept of Islamic state in modern era in particular following the successful establishment of the world’s first Shi’a political system through the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran. This course aims to enable participants to develop a good understanding of the principles of the Shi’a political thought throughout the history and its modern-day expansion and development with an in- depth analysis of its concrete regional and global implications Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Vahid Nick Pay

Political Islam This course aims at analysing historical and contemporary development of Islamic discourse regarding state and political power. A comparative framework is used to better frame the Islamic political discourse with relation to other monotheistic religions and also western and regional political discourses. Both politicized narratives and religious secular ideologies are scrutinized in order to provide a better understanding of the ideological underpinnings of numerous contemporary interpretations of the divine and temporal justifications of power and authority within the conceptual boundaries of the Islamic faith Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Vahid Nick Pay

4 Federalism

This course is about issues extremely topical for the Iraqi federal relationship and the Kurdistan federal region’s aspirations to have a sovereign state. The region-specific discussion is informed by theories of nationalism, self-determination and federalism. Federalism introduces a mechanism to deal with divided societies, to appease ethno- sectarian violence and preserve the territorial integrity of the country. Federalism is also viewed as a technical ‘technological’ solution to deep-rooted problems caused by nationalism through the introduction of a federal system by which the feuding parties are separated, yet the territorial integrity of the country is kept intact. According to federalism studies, self-determination is viewed as a moral-philosophical principle and has no concrete legal meaning. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Ms. Sara Salahaddin Mustafa

Constitutional Law & Iraqi Constitution

Constitutional law is the locus where politics and law merge, and as such, is a very important for our understanding of political processes. It has particular relevance to transitional countries, as constitutionalism brings liberal elements into democracy. The properly functioning judiciary is a bulwark against abuse of human and minority rights. While the course significantly draws on the constitutional practices of established democracies, we thoroughly examine constitution-making and the state of constitutionalism in Iraq. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Ms. Sara Salahaddin Mustafa

Gender Politics This course examines the ways in which women shape and are shaped by politics and public policy. We explore the history, approaches, findings and controversy in research about women in politics and political science from a range of theoretical and methodological approaches. Special attention will be paid to politics of Gender as implemented in the KRG region and policies of promoting women’s participation in politics in the Kurdistan Region. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Ms. Sara Salahaddin Mustafa

5 Public Policy The goal of this course is to deepen students’ understanding of the way in which public policy is made, with a particular emphasis on the roles advocacy campaigns and ideas (sometimes shaped by policy analysis) play in that process. We will look at the processes of policy formation at two distinct levels of policymaking and governance: at the national level, in the developing country context, and at the transnational (international, multilateral) level. The emphasis will be on social policy, with some discussions of other issues Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Giovanni Mascaretti

Media Ethics In this course main ethical schools of philosophy such as deontological, teleological, utilitarian etc. will be analysed and their practical implication for contemporary journalism and media are studied. By completing this course, participant will get a sound understanding of the moral dilemmas behind various works of journalism by concrete examples of practices from regional and global media outlets. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Vahid Nick Pay

Human Rights Discusses the history, breadth and functions of Human Rights, including its relevant controversies regarding especially transitional justice. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Adam Mayer

International Security This course focuses on the current analysis of the international scenario. For that purpose, the main international security theories will be explained and analysed applying them to the regional context. Special attention will be given to Realpolitik and its relationship to International Security Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Adam Mayer, Dr. Andres De Castro Garcia

6 Social Movements This course aims at analyzing the social and political processes at the heart of popular effort to change their societies. How people get organized to change the orders they perceive to be unjust or immoral. This course explores the origins, dynamics and consequences of social movements from a political and sociological perspective. Several important aspects of the contemporary social movements are studies including the origin and emergence of movements, recruitment and leadership, interactions of movements with public media, political authorities and the broader public, strategies such as nonviolent direct action or litigations, and the factors contributing to the success and failure of movements Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Adam Mayer, Dr. Giovanni Mascaretti

Democratization this course is based on the conceptualisation of two mutually inclusive terms; the democratisation of politics and the liberalisation of the market. This course aims at clarification of the key concepts and the importance of their implication to real life. It discusses the gradual regime change on two fronts; top down and bottom up - of the government institutions, and of the social bases. With a particular focus on societies that are culturally divided, it explains a threefold task of there presentation of people in the apparatus of rule, the responsiveness of the government to their needs, and the accountability of the political apparatus of the social apparatus. That is democratisation at the recipient end, and therefore not democracy promotion from or democracy assistance by other democratic countries or actors - democracy aimed at improving the efficiency of governance and the quality of life, by local actors and factors, face and forces. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Mohammed Ali Bapir

7 Institution Building This course addresses how to build effective political institutions (governmental institutions) in societies divided along ethnic and religious lines, it is a comparative study of different approaches to the study of institutions - and this includes an analysis of the process of institutionalisation. In other words, institutional arrangement’s effect on the performance of the political system. This course answers, how to arrange political institutions in such societies to make the political system perform better and how to make governance more efficient. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Mohammed Ali Bapir

Political Parties Political Parties have become so central to the structure of modern societies as the medium of both participation and representation that they are less likely to be replaced with means more efficient than them, least not for now. It illustrates the structures of political parties, the functions of political parties, and the dual task of a political party - in linking the people to power and using the social base to inform the decision of the government (both at the executive and legislative power). How the structure of political parties affect politics in general? What is the relationship between political parties and the government and how it should be arranged? To what extent the institutionalisation of political parties is significant and how this would shape the overall process of institutionalisation of the apparatus of the rule? Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Mohammed Ali Bapir

Peace and Conflict Studies The course aimed to offer conceptual and operational definition the key concepts used by scholars and practitioners of conflict management and conflict resolution. It also payed particular attention to the structural and human causes and dynamics of conflict and the means of resolving them. Key “factors” and “actors” – both state and non-state. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Mrs. Sara Salahaddin

8 The Politics of Middle East This course is designed to provide an understanding of the political situation in the Middle East. It considers the main issues that have influenced, are influencing and will continue to influence the actions of actors in the region, both state and individual. It begins with an appreciation of the concept of nationalism, then considered the historical legacies of the imperial occupation of various parts of the Middle East; the issues of Pan-Arabism, Israel, Political Islam and Minorities. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Mrs. Sara Salahaddin

Politics of Social Media The course will explore the major transformations brought about in the landscape of politics by the advent of digital technologies and, especially, social media. By integrating a theoretically informed approach with the empirical analysis of specific case studies, the aim will be to clarify the crucial role of social media in the context of such wide-ranging phenomena as political campaigns, populism 2.0, police surveillance, social movement activism, and revolutionary uprisings against authoritarian and oppressive regimes. Moreover, the course will seek to engage current debates around the potential contribution of social media to the construction of a renewed democratic public sphere. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Giovanni Mascaretti

9 Ethics and Politics of Big Data Due to the ever-increasing digitalization of our daily life, we continuously generate and share large amounts of data about ourselves. Public agencies and private corporations collect, store, mine, analyse, and trade these data trances to gain valuable insights into who we are as well as to shape our behaviours and the world we live in. Should we have any concern? If so, why? The goal of this course is provide an introduction to the processes of datafication marking our contemporary society. More specifically, after providing a brief overview of the pre-history of data, the course will examine case examples (e.g. Facebook “Emotional Contagion” experiment, Google PageRank algorithm, predictive policing, etc.) to enable participants to develop a critical understanding of the major ethical and political questions related to the technology of Big Data. The latter will include: the promises and dangers of data mining and profiling; privacy and surveillance; data justice and discrimination; algorithmic governance and platform economy; data activism; digital democracy. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Giovanni Mascaretti

Transnational Threats and Border Security This course takes a look at the relationship between border security and transnational threats. In that regard, it tries to explain how the State´s security apparatus can be build in order to prevent transnational threats such as terrorism and drug trafficking. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Andres de Castro Garcia

National Security and the Role of Intelligence This course tries to connect national security studies and intelligence studies by providing the basic theoretical tools which include the Intelligence cycle, legal framework, transparency vs. effectiveness and the current debates. Course Duration: 1 day Starting dates: April, October each year Instructor: Dr. Andres de Castro Garcia

10 Instructors

Dr. Vahid Nick Pay is Director of Continuing Education at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr. His areas of research and expertise include: Islam and Politics , Shi’a Islam, Ethnic and Religious Conflicts , Political Journalism, Constitutionalism, Public Policy and Gender Politics.

Dr. Giovanni Maria Mascaretti is Lecturer in Political Theory, Research Methodology, and International Relations at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr. His areas of research and expertise include: Critical Social Theory, French Contemporary Philosophy and Contemporary Political Theory Dr. Andrés de Castro García is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr. His areas of research and expertise include: International Relations, International Security, Transnational Threats, Border Security Dr. Adam Mayer is an Assistant Professor the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr. His areas of research and expertise include: International Security, Political Theory, 20th century International History, African Politics, social movements

Dr. Mohammed Ali Bapir is Lecturer in Political Theory, Research Methodology, and International Relations at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr. His areas of research and expertise include: Political Parties, Institution building, Democratizations, Government and Governance, Iraqi Politics, Islamic Political Thought

Ms. Sara Salahaddin Mustafa is a lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Her area of expertise include International Law, Peace and Conflict Studies, Politics of Middle East, Federalism, Confederalism and Gender Studies

11 Fees

Continuing Education Fees

KRG & Iraqi Government 400 USD

Others 1200 USD

Certificate of Completion 50 USD

12