On August 3, 2014, forces of the newly proclaimed Islamic State invaded Shingal, Iraq, targeting the district’s little-known and long-persecuted Yazidi religious minority for extermination and sexual enslavement. The Yazidi Genocide would accelerate the minority’s post-2003 exodus from Iraq to Europe, Australia, and North America.
Drawing on over eight years of interviews and close contact with the community in Iraq and the United States, ethnographer and OSU graduate Bradley Brincka’s talk will explore how the Yazidi-American diaspora of Lincoln, Nebraska preserves and transmits its culture and identity outside its traditional homeland. The talk will examine community strategies for promoting heritage language retention, religious ritual, civil society formation, artistic expression, and trauma processing in the face of strong assimilationist pressures.
Register here if you plan on attending.
