Oral History after Genocide

Oral History after Genocide

In 2014, Daesh (ISIL / The Islamic State) attacked the Ezidi (Yezidi / Yazidi) community based around Mount Sinjar, Iraq. Daesh killed men, kidnapped women and young children, and displaced 400,000 people. The survivors fled to the Kurdistan region of Iraq and found shelter in hastily build IDP camps. It is in these camps that Dr. Richard Latham Lechowick lived and worked, originally as a teacher in women’s centres and later as a researcher. Over four years, Lechowick carried out ethnographic interviews with survivors, discussing personal, familial, social narratives. Until recently, Ezidi religion and culture has historically been ‘anti-literate’, so histories have been passed down orally for centuries. Dr. Lechowick will explore the advantages and disadvantages of the oral history and ethnographic methodologies used in his research. He will also discuss the final results of the research which culminated in the book ‘‘I Won’t Let Them Be Like Me’: Women’s Agency and Identity after the Sinjar Genocide’.

From CRASSH:

Dr R Latham Lechowick is a Research Associate within the Global History Lab at CRASSH. Rick’s academic background is multi-disciplinary, with interests spanning Ethnography and Oral History to International Relations and Conflict Resolution to Postcolonial Feminist Theory and Ethno-Political Studies. His most recent work, ‘I Won’t Let Them Be Like Me’, is a study of, and with, Ezidi (Yezidi) women in Northern Iraq who survived the 2014 Sinjar Genocide. Utilising the women’s words and stories, the ethnographic work portrays their daily lives, experiences, memories, and hopes for themselves, their children, their families, and Ezidi society as a whole. The work examines self-professed changes in agency and identity and how these are affected by the genocide and the resulting forced migration.

An aid-worker as well as an academic, Rick has specialised in working in conflict and post-conflict zones, including Iraq, the West Bank, and Aceh, Indonesia. Within this role, he has taught refugees and IDPs (Internally-Displaced Persons), leading classes in English, as well as Drama, Improv, and Video Production.

Host or Publisher Selwyn College History Society