Weather

It has now been raining almost nonstop for nearly two weeks here now. This is after after having absolutely no snow at all down here in the city this winter. The rain isn't that hard which is good because my umbrella committed suicide and I haven't been motivated enough to purchase a new one.

Another Week

The work week is finally over. In addition to lectures and endless marking of quizzes I have been discussing a conference proposal with a colleague in the US. It looks like I'll finally get back the US later this year. The last time I was there was January 2011.

Kurds in the USSR

My article Kurds in the USSR, 1917-1956 is now up on my academia.edu page. You can access it here. 

Thank God it is Finally Thursday

I am very glad that the work week will finally becoming to an end today. I have classes from 8:00 am to 11:30 am and then Kurdish class at 4:30-5:30. But, I do not have to go to Baghdad this weekend so I at least have a short break to rest.

This Morning

It is now 8:30 am and I have been at work for one hour and twenty minutes. During that time I have accomplished three things. Two of them are routine matters relating to teaching. The third thing was revising a syllabus for a proposed course on the history of the USSR. This is proving to take a lot longer and a lot more revision than I initially anticipated. Fortunately, I haven't had to take anything out yet. I have just had to add stuff. Everybody else so far seems to want me to put more emphasis on international relations and geopolitics. I suspect this is because history itself as a discipline is extremely devalued in the region compared to IR.

New Publication on Germans from Kazakhstan and Central Asia

My article, "Forced Labor in a Socialist State: Ethnic Germans from Kazakhstan and Central Asia in the Labor Army, 1941-1957" will be appearing in The Journal of International Crimes and History next month.

Iraqi Visa Obtained

I got back from Baghdad with an Iraqi visa. The trip is exhausting due mainly to the huge number of security checks in both Sulaimani and Baghdad. It is easy to get into Sulaimani, but hard to get out. Likewise with Baghdad.

Random accomplishments of the week

This week I finished revising another journal article that will hopefully be published soon. I also submitted another journal article to a big name journal. I have no idea how that one will fare. I just hope it gets sent out to peer review.

Saturday, I have to go to Baghdad to pick up my Iraqi visa. Sunday I give my first test as opposed to quiz of the semester. I gave my first quiz on Tuesday. I haven't graded it yet.

A German academic currently working in the UK contacted me about Russian-Germans in Kazakhstan this week.