Spotlight: Ihsan Gunduz, S-CAR MS Student
The words, “In cases of protracted conflict, an act of violence always has unanticipated consequences. Its effects far exceed the objectives of strategists and perpetrators” were what first drew Ihsan Gundiz to the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. As he said “I felt a very deep connection in reading the book titled Identity, Morality, and Threat authored by Daniel Rothbart and Karina Korostelina [both professors at S-CAR], as it explained a lot about the conflict that I was born into.”
Ihsan grew up in a conflict zone as an internally displaced person in Turkey because of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. The conflict, as he indicated, had its origins in the Turkish nation-state building after World War I and the exclusion of the minorities such as Kurds from this monolithic creation of the nation state. Ihsan’s views on the conflict has been more about finding ways to have both Kurds and Turks learn to live together peacefully and find a way to reconstruct the national identity of Turkey to include all minorities because “the violence has done nothing but to put a social boundary between both Turkish and Kurdish communities, which is hurting both our national identities and with it cultural, social, political, and economic development.”
Ihsan’s work thus far has been on teaching history in Turkish high schools, working for a non-profit organization called the American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN), and working as a language analyst and a consultant for various organizations. “These experiences, coupled with my current pursuit of a Masters degree at S-CAR, are positioning me to be better equipped to try to find creative ways for which the Turkish-Kurdish conflict will be a thing of the past.”
Ihsan is focusing his studies on revision of history textbooks, peacebuilding, and identity, but after school, one of the projects he aims to undertake is to write a manual for history teachers on how to promote peace and teach more inclusive history of all the people of Turkey. “Perhaps this may be the first course for reconciliation for both Kurds and Turks if they can read about one another.”