Shilan Fuad Hussain is an interdisciplinary Kurdish academic, researcher, and analyst specializing in socio-cultural studies and gender studies. Her work focuses on the intersection of sociology and cultural analysis, with a specific emphasis on women's rights, the Kurdish diaspora, and Middle Eastern society.

Shilan Fuad Hussain
Born
Education
OccupationsSociologist, Cultural Analyst, Gender Studies Researcher
Employer(s)Brill, Routledge
Known forResearch on Kurdish diaspora, gender-based violence, and Middle Eastern cultural studies
Websiteshilanfuadhussain.com

Early life and education

Hussain grew up in Baghdad, Iraq. As a child, her parents forbid her from telling people she was Kurdish or speaking Kurdish in public; she began learning Arabic at age six, when she began school. She lived through multiple periods of conflict, including the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War, leaving Baghdad for northern Iraq in the hours after the Gulf War began.[1][non-primary source needed] She later moved to Europe as part of the Kurdish diaspora, an experience that shaped her academic focus on cultural and political debates.[2][non-primary source needed]

Hussain holds a master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Bologna and a PhD in Cultural Analysis from the University of Urbino in Italy.[2][non-primary source needed]

She is a polyglot, speaking Kurdish and Italian at a bilingual level, alongside proficiency in Arabic, English, Persian, and French.[2][non-primary source needed]

Career

Hussain's academic career includes several fellowships. She was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in Gender Studies and Cultural Analysis (UKRI) and has served as a visiting fellow at the Washington Kurdish Institute and a Doctoral Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.[2][non-primary source needed]

As an editor, she serves as an associate editor for Brill and Routledge. She is also an associate fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In addition to her academic roles, she has spent over eleven years working with international NGOs, collaborating with policymakers and civil society to address issues affecting vulnerable populations.[2][non-primary source needed]

Research

Hussain's research is multi-sited and employs various methods to explore topics related to cultural representation and production, gender-based violence and women's rights, female genital mutilation and forced marriages, the social impacts of masculinity, and multi-identity within the diaspora.[which?] She has published 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, four book chapters, and a co-edited book, with several additional volumes scheduled for publication in 2025. Furthermore, she has been an invited speaker at approximately 50 international conferences across Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.[2][non-primary source needed]

Publications

References

  1. Fuad Hussain, Shilan (2021-07-31). "My Kurdish childhood in Saddam's Baghdad". Kurdistan24. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Home". Dr. Shilan Fuad Hussain. Retrieved 2026-05-30.
  3. Arslan, Rojda Idil (2025-11-17). "Essays on modern Kurdish literature: edited by Alireza Korangy and Mahlagha Mortezaee, Berlin/Boston, De Gruyter Brill, 2023, 216 pp., $148.99 (hardcover), ISBN 9783110630039". Middle Eastern Literatures: 1–3. doi:10.1080/1475262X.2025.2588765. ISSN 1475-262X.