Access and Control of University Education in Central Asia Since 2000

withDr. Alan DeYoung
Professor Emeritus at the University of Kentucky

What does it mean to be a “student” and “to study” in contemporary Central Asia? During the Soviet era teachers and university faculty were highly regarded and rewarded, however this has changed. As a comparative education scholar, Dr. Alan DeYoung’s research questions focus on issues of teacher, faculty, and student life during times of transition in higher education systems in Central Asian. Dr. DeYoung began his teaching and research in Kazakhstan at Arabaev Pedagogical University in 1996 as a Fulbright Scholar; and most recently his regional teaching and research activities occurred as a Fulbright Scholar in 2016 at the International University for Humanities and Development in Turkmenistan.

Alan DeYoung is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, and the Department of Sociology at the University of Kentucky. He directed a U.S. Department of State exchange program between three Kyrgyz state universities and the University of Kentucky. He also worked in seven other universities in Central Asia. His published work focuses on educational dynamics in post-Soviet Central Asia, including Surviving the Transition?: Case Studies of Schools and School Reform in the Kyrgyz Republic since Independence (2006), and Lost in Transition: Redefining Students and Universities in the Contemporary Kyrgyz Republic (2011). DeYoung’s recent regional research focused on higher education issues and reforms in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. He holds a Ph.D. in Anthropological and Sociological Studies in Education from Stanford University.