Harvard University began offering its first Kurdish language course in its history this fall, after a student with a Kurdish-speaking background championed the creation.
This course focuses not only on the Kurdish language, but also on topics in Kurdish culture, history, and politics.
Harvard University invited social anthropologist and Bentley University professor Ahmad Mohammadpour to teach the course. Mohammadpour, from Iranian eastern Kurdistan, pointed to the millions of people who speak the language.
“How can we talk about the concept of the Middle East without talking about the Kurdish language and without teaching it?” he said. “I’m glad to finally get there and have at least a basic course in Kurdish.”
At the suggestion of students, the College of Arts and Sciences began offering this course.
Janan Iranbomy, president of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Iranian Student Association and chair of Student Advocacy and Engagement on the Harvard Graduate Council, is a student in the Kurdish language course.
Ms Iranbomy said she was “surprised” that the university did not offer a Kurdish language course and said she had contacted the Faculty of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations to “make the case for why the course is so important”.
“What you experience in our current classes is that it’s not just about learning a language,” she said. “This is very different from other language courses I have taken because it is culturally immersive and very research-based.”
Another student in the class, Dalal M. Hassan ’26, also advocated for its creation.
“I wanted to learn Kurdish in a classroom and academic setting,” said Hassan, the Crimson editorial editor.
She contacted the NELC department early last year to express her wishes.
“They were very supportive and really enthusiastic about the course,” Hasan said.
Hasan said she worked with the department to find a professor for the course.
“Personally, I felt a sense of crisis because I didn’t want to keep putting language learning on the back burner,” she said. “I think for people who don’t have a Kurdish background or don’t realize the magnitude of the problem, it doesn’t feel like that much of a priority.”
Hassan said he hopes the NELC division will eventually provide a citation regarding the Kurds.
“I would like to see Harvard University take more initiative in preserving the Kurdish language and uplifting Kurdish culture and history, because there are a lot of people who don’t know about the Kurdish language, and that needs to change. I think so,” she said.
Mohammadpour said he hopes Harvard will continue to offer this course next semester, along with more advanced language options. To encourage more students to study Kurdish, he also hopes to make Kurdish a prerequisite for students pursuing Middle Eastern studies at Harvard.
Regardless of the program’s future, Mohammadpour called the course’s creation “historic.”
“Harvard University has brought smiles to the lips of millions of Kurds by offering the Kurdish language for the first time,” he said.
—Staff writer Elise D. Hawkins can be reached at elise.hawkins@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Christina M. Strachn can be reached at christina.strachn@thecrimson.com.