Joseph Kotinsly

Joe Kotinsly is a PhD student in the department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His work focuses on the changing meaning of sectarian identity throughout modern Iraqi history. His dissertation explores the changing nature of Shi'i social and political activism in Iraq from the early 20th century and into the post-2003 era. Within, he argues that the rise of sect-centric political activism can be attributed to the unprecedented political currency afforded to human-rights discourses in the immediate post-Cold War era.