Elise Boyle Espinosa has an interdisciplinary background which includes international studies and global development, and prior to her time at the University of Aberdeen, she studied and researched at the Universities of Sydney, Cape Town, and Copenhagen.

Her research has primarily concerned education and politics in conflict-affected areas, and she has an interest in sustainable development, political community, rebel governance and education more generally. As part of CISRUL’s POLITICO project, in early 2025 Elise successfully defended her PhD thesis, ‘Diversity of Destinies’: The Impact of Islamic State on Higher Education in Eastern Syria. The research was funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under a Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement, and supervised by Dr Rachel Shanks, Professor Pamela Abbott, and Dr Hanifi Bariş. This built on experience and knowledge gained from previous long-term research and fieldwork on the education system established as part of the ‘Rojava Revolution’ in North and East Syria, and the implications this has had for governance of the region. She is a member of the Education, Peace and Politics in the Middle East network.

During her time at CISRUL, she has co-convened numerous events including the four-day ‘Conceptualising Community’ conference and workshop (2022), related ‘Talking Community’ interview series with keynote speakers and reading group series. She is currently providing media and communications support to CISRUL, and has previously been employed as a Teaching Fellow (2024/2025) in the School of Education, .

Parallel to her research, she is involved in activism and media work related to minority and refugee rights, and environmental and social justice. She also has experience working with various Non-Governmental Organisations, including the Amy Foundation (South Africa) and the Danish Refugee Council.  

Academic Publications and media

  • ‘In defence of Rojava: A revolutionary political experiment and bulwark against Islamic State’ (Green Left, 2025)
  • ‘Rojava’s “war of education”: The role of education in building a revolutionary political community in North and East Syria’ (special issue in Third World Quarterly, 2023)
  • ‘Breaking the international silence on Turkey’s aggression’ (ROAR magazine, 2021)
  • ‘Celebrating the Rojava Revolution: A Reading List’ (ROAR magazine, 2021
  • ‘Los mecanismos de invasión y conquista turca del Kurdistán’ (Interviewed by Oriente Medio News, 2021. Republished in English by Peace in Kurdistan, 2021: ‘The Mechanisms of the Turkish Invasion and Conquest of Kurdistan – An Interview with Elise Boyle Espinosa’)
  • ‘New education system was central to the Kurds’ Rojava Revolution in northern Syria – now it’s under attack’ (The Conversation, 2019)
  • ‘Fighting with pens in Rojava’s “war of education”’ (ROAR magazine, 2019. Republished by Truthout, 2019: ‘Rojava’s revolution begins in the classroom’)

Events

  • Presented on a panel ‘From Lebanon and the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria: A Community Gathering, with Hope’ alongside Senator David Shoebridge at Marrickville Pavilion (2025)
  • Invited and funded to attend a grant writing workshop held by the ‘Education, Peace and Politics’ network in Devon, UK (2025)
  • Funded to present at the International Paris Conference for Education at Sorbonne University, France (2025)
  • Invited and funded to present at ‘Education, Peace and Equity’ at Koya University, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (2025)
  • Invited and funded to present at ‘The Kurds and The Others’ conference at the University of Salento, Italy (2023)
  • Invited and funded to attend the ‘Education, Peace and Politics’ network conference and associated workshop on research ethics hosted by Ulster University, Northern Ireland, and Koya University, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (2022, 2023)
  • Presented at ‘Contemporary Childhood Conference: Borders and Boundaries’ held by the University of Strathclyde, UK (2021)
  • Invited to present at the Democratic Kurdish Community Centre Sydney, held jointly by the Australian Kurdish Federation and Rojava Solidarity Sydney (2021)
  • Invited to present by the Department of Education at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2021)
  • Participated in symposiums on ‘Children on the Move: Unsettling narratives of care, childhood, and the migration “crisis”, facilitated by University College London, UK (2020)
  • Presented at ‘Faces of War International Conference’ at the London Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, UK (2020)

Teaching

  • ‘Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities’ (2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2024/2025)
  • ‘Body, Mind and Nature’ (2024/2025)
  • Support to courses in the Master of Education and the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (Primary) (2024/2025)

Contact

elise.boyleespinosa@abdn.ac.uk

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 754326.