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Oral histories constitute a large part of what we know concerning the past two millennia in the region now called Kurdistan, Northern Iraq. The manner in which such histories are conveyed and reconfigured also has profound implications for the present. One particular focal point of oral traditions concerns a graveyard, known as the Sahaba Cemetery, and an adjacent cave on the outskirts of the town of Shaqlawa. Purportedly a burial ground for soldiers of the Islamic armies that originally conquered the area in the seventh century C.E., this memorial space is the subject of local legends that portray it as both a target for well deserved defilement and a hallowed ground with its own uniquely supernatural properties. This talk presents and analyzes a range of lore which the authors recently collected from elderly residents of Shaqlawa. These oral histories are no mere relics of an all-but-forgotten past; they also provide perspectives on how the local people, particularly Kurds, see themselves in relation to the Arab ethnic groups of the south and west of Iraq. Were those who are now buried in the Sahaba Cemetery liberators or intruders? Were they bearers of divine truth or imperial militants, akin to those who now menace the region in the ranks of the self-declared Islamic State?Dr. Tyler Fisher (left) became the University of Central Florida’s first Rhodes Scholar in 2003. The scholarship supported his graduate studies at Oxford, where he did his doctorate in Medieval and Modern Languages. He teaches Hispanic and international literatures at University College London and the University of Oxford, and serves as Coordinator of Strategic International Partnerships for Soran University, Iraqi Kurdistan. He has a particular interest in Kurdish oral history and folklore, and has presented research papers by invitation at the universities of Cambridge, Coimbra, Glasgow, and Ulster.Dr. Nahro Zagros (right) was born in Kurdistan in 1974, and did his doctorate in ethnomusicology at York University (UK). He is Vice President of Scientific Affairs at Soran University, Iraqi Kurdistan, and writes for local newspapers on Kurdistan’s socio-political affairs within the wider Middle-Eastern context. His research interests include politics, music and conflict, cultural musicology, and music in social rituals. DR. TYLER FISHERCOORD, STRATEGIC INT'L PARTNERSHIPSSORAN U, IRAQI KURDISTANDR. NAHRO ZAGROSVP, SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRSSORAN U, IRAQI KURDISTAN MENAS Colloquium SeriesTuesday, February 3, 20153.30pm in Marshall 490 Click to return to main Colloquium page Video of the talk