Nükhet Kardam

Author, Poet, Professor Emerita

"Dr. Kilisli Rifat'in Izinde Osmanli'dan Türk'e ve Ötesi"

Published 2016
1960 ve 1970'lerde Istanbul'daki laik ortamda orta sinif bir aile icinde buyuyen, 1978'de Turkiye'den ayrilarak siyasi bilimler alaninda egitim almak icin Kanada'ya giden ve uzun yillardir yurt disinda yasayan Prof. Nukhet Kardam, buyukbabasi Dr. Kilisli Rifat'in hayatini arastirmak uzere gizemli bir yolculuga cikar. Fakat bu yolculuk zaman icinde tahmininden cok farkli sonuclara ulasir. Bir acidan bu kitap, Osmanli Devleti cokup yerini Turkiye Cumhuriyeti'ne biraktiginda yasanan buyuk degisiklere tanik olan Dr. Rifat ve ailesinin yasam oykusudur. Ayni zamanda degisen veya degistirilen kimliklerin seruveni. Bunun yaninda yazar, kendi icsel yolculugunu ve kimligi uzerine dusuncelerini de hatiralarina yansitmistir(Tanitim Bulteninden)Sayfa 248Baski 2016 DBY Yayinlari

Tracing Dr. Kilisli Rifat: From Ottoman to Turk and Beyond

Published 2016
Nükhet Kardam grew up in Istanbul in the 1960s and 1970s and left Turkey to study international relations in Canada. As she continued to live and work abroad, her ties to Turkey grew stronger rather than weaker over the years. Thus, she embarked on a mysterious journey to explore her grandfather Dr. Kilisli Rıfat’s life.Her grandparents, Dr. Kilisli Rıfat, a well-known medical doctor, author, bureaucrat and professor, and his wife Nazire, the daughter of an Ottoman pasha, were subjects of the multicultural Ottoman Empire. Then they became Turks, 'citizens' of the Republic of Turkey. How did they adapt to becoming citizens of a unitary nation-state with a reconstructed history, national myths and identity? How did they survive the destruction of a vast empire, the wars, and the devastation? Kardam found out that we are links in a chain of generations, unconsciously affected by their suffering or unfinished business, until we acknowledge the past. And her search resulted in surprising discoveries that led to questioning her own identity.

Ottoman to Turk and Beyond: Shimmering Threads of Identity

Published 2016 Kindle Edition, with Co-Author Sarah Springer
Driven to face who I am as a Turkish-American woman, this journey began as an exploration of my paternal grandfather, Dr. Kilisli Rifat. I never met him but he gave me my name. As a successful, renowned doctor when the Ottoman Empire disappeared and the Republic of Turkey was born, Dr. Rifat and his family were caught in momentous changes. By following his complex story of redefined identities, adopted voluntarily or by force, I was led to reexamine the history of modern Turkey and definition of being a Turk. I uncovered that my family was not the Turkish family I thought it was, and my grandfather was harboring secrets I could not have imagined. Through writing I found myself on a parallel journey, encountering multiple identities of the culture and landscape I called home, and ultimately leading to a redefinition of who I am.

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Turkey's Engagement with Global Women's Human Rights

Published 2017 1st Kindle Edition
Examining the rise of global women's human rights and their interpretation and application to Turkey, Nüket Kardam provides an in-depth study that applies global norms - including women's empowerment, overcoming violence against women, and gender and good governance - to a specific locale in order to examine events post application. The volume examines whether a gender equality regime exists and looks into the Turkish attempt at compliance. Moreover, it analyzes the tension between abstract universalism, Western enlightenment values, and local values and identities, including the role of Islam regarding women's rights. This groundbreaking study also includes research on the women's movement in Turkey, its discourses and its relationship with the state from the 1980s onwards, during which time multilateral and bilateral donors, and the European Union came to exert more influence, and new civil society partnerships were formed with the state.

Bringing Women In: Women's Issues in International Development Programs

Published 1991
This book was a trailblazer, as one of the first publications in the new academic field called ‘Women and Development’, later renamed ‘Gender and Development’.

"In the Footsteps of Ibn Arabi, Reflections Through Spain"

"Inside and Outside"
a poem inspired by a mosaic by Clem McDonnell
Beshara Magazine, February 2025

"The Five Senses: A video project with Amir Etemadzadeh"
In the July 2023,
Sufi Journal of Mystical Philosophy and Practice, No. 105
This digital journal is only accessible to subscribers.

Women in Sufism by Camille Helminski, 2003
Chapter Translation: "A Rose Garden of Love’”

‘The Big Bang’ with Richard Twinch

"What Do I Know About Love?"

Nükhet Kardam is passionate about working, living and exploring the multidimensionality of cultures and identities, about the essential nature of self and of identity.In her TEDxMonterey talk, Nükhet shares stories and insights from her experience deciphering and interpreting old family photographs collected from recent travels in her home country Turkey. Perhaps we are ready for a new metaphor to frame the way we think about the individual, familial, and nationalistic identities that so often define who we are.

Ibn Arabi’s Creative Imagination: Crossing Borders to Discover the Meaning of Being Human. Collaborative presentation between Language Acts and Worldmaking and the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society. This event, originally an online seminar via Zoom, explores how Ibn Arabi’s creative imagination crosses philosophical, poetic, linguistic and artistic borders, and how his ideas continue to inspire contemporary poetry, film, and artistic expression to this day.

Dr Nükhet Kardam's presentation was delivered on the 12th of March 2021 for the Interdisciplinary Research Hub (IRH) at the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society (MIAS). Dr Kardam delves into the symbolic mysteries of Noah's Voyage from Ibn Arabi's text "The Secrets of Voyaging."

Professor Emerita at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Nükhet is an author, poet and a music enthusiast. Originally from Türkiye, where she was born and raised, she moved to North America for her graduate education in Gender Studies and Human Rights. She has maintained a strong connection to her home country even though she lives in the United States. Nükhet has researched and published three books and many articles on women’s rights and cultural identities. After retiring from teaching, Nükhet continued to pursue her passion for music by studying the piano and the frame drum, as well as curating workshops on living more creatively.She has recently tapped into poetry as a means to communicate her message and her poetry comes to her in a state of silent meditation; it becomes a conversation - a conversation between the poems and herself, inspired by the Great Unknown. After focusing on intellectual pursuits for many years, Nükhet finds joy in living presently from the ‘heart’ and sharing her insights through poetry and music.

The Cubic Wisdom Project

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Learn More About Amir
& His Music School

Amir, a Middle Eastern musician, instructor, and composer from Iran, studied at Tehran Music University, specializing in Persian, Sufi, and Middle Eastern instruments. Since relocating to the U.S. in 2003, he has broadened his repertoire to include global percussion traditions and pursued further studies in Music Composition at the University of California - Santa Cruz.Driven by a passion for teaching and using music for spiritual growth, Amir established the Amir School of Music. His teaching, rooted in Western and Iranian classical theory, is tailored to individual learning styles, fostering a holistic educational environment.Amir's conviction in music's healing and expressive power extends beyond teaching. He conducts workshops on music theory and emotion, inspiring students to create solo pieces and blend music with poetry and dance. He also works with psychotherapists to integrate music therapy into his practice. Through his dedication, Amir cultivates a community of empowered artists.
With a deep interest in Sufi music and instruments, Amir collaborates with renowned artists and spiritual groups in the U.S.