Centre for Gender and Development Studies, American University of Iraq Sulaimani

The Center for Gender and Development Studies (CGDS) at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani ( AUIS ) integrates education, research, and community development. The centre’s outreach initiatives aim to provide the basis for normative change and development by ‘problematising’ common sense ideas and involving  women and men in the process. CGDS takes an intersectional approach to social justice and supports women, people with disabilities, and other marginalised groups in their struggle to regain the voice and agency that belong to them. In order to achieve these goals, the CGDS has established links with internal and external institutions such as government bodies, gender programs in other universities, and local and international NGOs. In 2017, the centre launched the first interdisciplinary gender studies minor in Iraq.

CGDS is a partner on the Masculinities and Sexualities research theme. The projects under the Masculinities and Sexualities research theme interrogate the contribution of diverse forms of masculinity and sexuality to conflict dynamics, the new forms of gendered vulnerability around masculinity and sexuality produced in conflict, and the transformation of masculine and sexual identities by conflict. While many development programmes continue to operate according to a simple male/female binary, there is an increased awareness that gendered subjects occupy varied and sometimes contradictory positions in relation to social power, and that humanitarian policy has not been sufficiently alert to this complexity. There is an equally pressing need to investigate the experiences.

Website: www.auis.edu.krd
Twitter: @CGDStudies

Hub projects(s):
Transitional Masculinity, Violence and Prevention

Hub member(s)
Dr Twana Abdwlrahman, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Masculinities and Sexualities
Miran Fatah, Research Project Manager
Dr Choman Hardi, Co-Director, Masculinities and Sexualities
Rasti Ranj, Hub Regional Manager/Administrator