Dr. Bareez Majid is an Alfred Landecker Lecturer and researcher at LUCAS, specialized in Memory Studies with the focus on the Kurdistan Region. Her background in Literary Studies and Middle Eastern Studies informs her research. Dr. Majid earned her PhD from Leiden University in 2022 and published her monograph on Kurdistani memory culture in 2023 as part of the Palgrave Macmillan Cultural Heritage and Conflict series. Following a postdoctoral scholar position at Heidelberg University (Centre for Transcultural Studies) from 2021 to 2023, she returned to LUCAS to lead her current project, “Preserving Memory, Bridging Gaps,” funded by the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

More information about Bareez Majid

Fields of interest

• Memory practices and identity in (post-)conflict societies 
• Kurdish contemporary art and literature 
• Trauma and reconciliation 
• Memory museums and its politics 
• Gender and nationalism

Description of my research

I am currently leading the Preserving Memories, Bridging Gaps: The Kurdish War and Memory Archive and its Transcultural Approach to the Postmemory of the Holocaust and Anfal project, funded by the Alfred Landecker Lecturer Program. A key objective is to establish a Kurdish digital archive focusing on the post-memory of the anti-Kurdish genocidal violence, known as the Anfal, and the post-memory of the Holocaust.

Grounded in Critical Archive Studies, the project goes beyond a traditional archive. The Kurdish digital archive will be a dynamic space fostering collaboration and creativity. By employing an arts-based approach, it will actively involve young people from the Kurdistan Region in the curation process.  This will allow us to explore the potential of digital archives in contributing to (post)conflict societies. These insights will be applied to museum practices and reconciliation strategies in such contexts.

The theoretical framework is broad and interdisciplinary, combining fields like Critical Theory and Critical Archive Studies, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

At the heart of the project is a transcultural perspective, emphasizing the importance of intercultural dialogue between different memory cultures—the Anfal and the Holocaust—both marked by trauma and shaped by distinct histories. The goal is to find ways to foster intercultural understanding while acknowledging the unique aspects of historical and social contexts.

Academic degrees

2016-2022

PhD Candidate, LUCAS, Leiden University

2013-2015

ReMA, cum laude, Middle Eastern Studies, Leiden University

2010-2013

BA, Literary Studies, VU University

Teaching activities

• Lecturer, ‘Memory Cultures in the Modern Middle East,’ Heidelberg University, October 2022 – March 2023.
• Lecturer, ‘An Archeology of Resistance: Academic Freedom Under Pressure,’ Leiden University College the Hague, February 2021 – May 2021.
• Guest lecturer minor ‘Global Memory Practices,’ Leiden University, September 2020.
• Guest lecturer minor ‘Global Memory Practices,’ Leiden University, October 2019.
• Guest lecturer Honours program ‘Leiden Leadership Programme,’ Leiden University, May 2016.
• Coordinator/lecturer minor ‘Global Memory Practices,’ Leiden University, February 2016 – August 2016.
• Guest lecturer ‘Cultural Memory of War and Conflict’ Leiden University December 2015.

Grands & awards

Scholarship

• Awarded the ‘Alfred Landecker Lecturer Program’ scholarship by the Alfred Landecker Foundation, October 2023 - October 2028.
• Awarded the EU+ Fellowship, Charles University, Prague, September 2022.
• Awarded the ‘PhDs in the Humanities’ funding program of The Dutch Research Council (NWO), September 2016 – June 2021.

Awards and Nominations

• Shortlisted for LUCAS Dissertation Prize 2022, December 2022.The LUCAS Dissertation Prize is annually awarded to the writer of the most outstanding PhD thesis defended in the previous academic year.
• Winner of the Visions on Peace Thesis Award, December 2015.  This prize is awarded by De Vredeswetenschappen to recognize the best MA thesis in the field of Peace Studies.  
• Winner of the Volkskrant-IISG Thesis Award, December 2015.  Organized by De Volkskrant and IISG (Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis) for the best MA-research thesis within the discipline of Social History.  
• Nominated for the ECHO-Foundation Award, May 2015.  Dutch top talent with a migrant background.  

Grants
Funding was granted by ICOM to conduct archival research in Armenia in October 2024.
Funding to conduct fieldwork in 2014-2015 was granted by:
- Curatorenfonds
- LUF Internationaal Studiefonds
- Fundatie van de Vrijvrouwe van Renswoude
- Het Vreedefonds
- LUSTRA-Scholarship.  

Key publications

Majid B. (2023), Towards an Understanding of Kurdistani Memory Culture: Apostrophic and Phantomic Approaches to a Violent Past, published by Palgrave in its Cultural Heritage and Conflict series.

Majid B. and Peters M.A. (2022), Exploring Hartmut Rosa’s Concept of Resonance, published by Palgrave Pivot.

Activities