Our Sociology master’s student Evin Bulut successfully defended her master’s thesis titled “Identity, Sense of Belonging and Agency: Being Woman in the Yezidi Community in Russia” conducted under the supervision of Prof. Ramazan Aras on June 11, 2026.
Her thesis, titled “Identity, Sense of Belonging and Agency: Being Woman in the Yezidi Community in Russia”, is an ethnographic study that examines the personal identity formations, sense of belonging, and agency of women in the Yezidi community in Russia.
The Yezidi community is an ethno-religious group that strives to preserve its unique identity, history, and memory despite historical cultural and religious oppression and genocides.
Bulut’s research explores how Yezidi women’s identities are shaped and transformed through everyday life practices, gender-related social roles, cultural structures, ethno-religious traditions, and emotional experiences. The study was conducted through a short-term (two-month) ethnographic fieldwork using oral history methodology, ensuring that the voices of Yezidi women are documented and disseminated. During the fieldwork in Yezidi-populated areas in southern Russia, 26 life stories were collected.
The thesis also investigates the changes and transformations Yezidi women experience in their identity construction processes, as well as the diverse forms of resistance they develop against certain social changes within the community. The study provides significant insights into issues of diaspora, identity, belonging, and women’s experiences.
