In the rugged mountains of Kurdistan, the Kurdish language and culture stand as pillars of identity. Now, thanks to Professor Haidar Khezri, this heritage is finding a new home in the United States. Kurdish culture has long captivated Americans – from 19th-century theological missions to the philological work of 20th-century scholars – but the academician’s groundbreaking work is reshaping the landscape of Kurdish studies and giving voice to a culture long marginalized in U.S. education.
Born in Mahabad in Eastern Kurdistan (northeastern Iran), Khezri’s educational path has taken him from Iran to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkiye, Morocco, Germany, Scotland, and the United States. Today, he is a professor at the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.
Despite being spoken by over 45 million people across the Middle East and beyond, Kurdish had never been taught continuously in U.S. universities – until Khezri. Merging his life experience, academic expertise, and deep cultural pride, he moved to the United States in 2014, following an invitation from Indiana University Bloomington (IU). There, he pioneered the nation’s first Central Kurdish curriculum, offering programs from K-12 through to graduate-level studies, all funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI Grant and supported by IU’s Center for the Study of the Middle East.
Indiana, Tennessee, and Florida
Over four years at IU, Khezri developed syllabi, curricula, and teaching materials for elementary, intermediate, and advanced Kurdish courses – resources that have now been used at several major U.S. universities.
Beyond academia, he also worked with Kurdish communities in Nashville to bring Kurdish to public schools. Through a partnership with local Kurdish groups and Metro Nashville Public Schools, he led the effort for the inclusion of Kurdish language courses in the city’s high schools. In 2019, after years of advocacy, the Nashville School Board unanimously approved Kurdish language classes, marking the first time a U.S. K-12 school system has offered Kurdish. This historic achievement has allowed Kurdish immigrants to remain connected to their roots while also introducing American students to a broader global perspective.
Khezri’s academic contributions continued at IU, where he taught Kurdish as part of the Intensive Summer Language Workshop across all proficiency levels through the university’s Department of Central Eurasian Studies until 2019. After his move to UCF, he continued his pioneering work, making it the second U.S. university to offer regular Kurdish language courses and the only one to offer a certificate in Kurdish Studies.
Profound academic impact
Perhaps his most significant achievement was creating the first culture-based Central Kurdish textbook, Central/Sorani: An Elementary Textbook. Published by IU’s School of Global and International Studies, this 660-page textbook has been hailed as “the most comprehensive resource for teaching and learning Kurdish available anywhere in the world” by Professor Jaffer Sheyholislami of Carleton University in Canada and has been praised by Professor Salih Akin of Universite de Rouen in France as the textbook that “will shape Kurdish teaching and learning in the Anglophone world for decades.” The textbook was adopted by prestigious institutions, including Harvard University in 2023, with a revised and amplified edition forthcoming from Georgetown University Press in winter 2025.
Khezri is also co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Kurdish Language and Linguistics, a comprehensive reference work involving 40 scholars from around the globe that has already secured major international grants, including £39,500 for the book to be open access.
Alongside these projects, Khezri has been actively involved in writing for U.S. audiences, delivering speeches, and translating Kurdish literature into English. To date, he has co-translated more than 40 pieces of Kurdish literature for respected journals such as Barricade: A Journal of Antifascism and Translation, The Brooklyn Rail, and Poet Lore, the longest-running poetry journal in the United States, publishing since 1889. These translations are vital in promoting cultural understanding, preserving Kurdish heritage, and encouraging communication and integration within the multicultural fabric of the United States.
Building bridges through learning
The impact of Khezri’s work is profound. Through his courses at IU and the UCF, an increasing number of students – both Kurdish and non-Kurdish – are learning about Kurdish language, culture, and the geopolitical challenges that have shaped the Kurdish people’s history. What started as a single class has blossomed into a full academic curriculum, providing a rare opportunity for students in the United States to study Kurdish language, culture, and history in a university setting.
By bringing Kurdish to the United States, Khezri has not only transformed academic education, but has also given voice to a community long marginalized in both U.S. academia and public discourse, ensuring this rich language and culture thrives for generations to come.
Goran Shakhawan is a Kurdish-American journalist and author based in the United States. He has covered news for several Kurdish news outlets and was a former senior correspondent for Kurdistan24 in Erbil and Washington D.C. He has published several books in Kurdish.
