BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Central Asia Program - ECPv6.15.16//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Central Asia Program REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20210314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20211107T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20220313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20221106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20230312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20231105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231207T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231207T103000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20231129T190008Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241014T204847Z UID:842792-1701939600-1701945000@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Kazakhstan’s Bloody January: Protest Motivations\, Public Perceptions and Human Rights DESCRIPTION:Online discussion co-organized by the PaperLab Research Center (Astana\, Kazakhstan) \n\n\n\n\n\nIn the first days of 2022\, Kazakhstan witnessed a series of protests that sent shockwaves through the country. The response from authorities was marked by ambiguity\, resulting in numerous casualties and injuries. To this day\, a clear understanding of the events remains elusive. During this online discussion\, the PaperLab Research Center will share its insights into public sentiment regarding the January 2022 protests. They will delve into people’s perspectives on the actions of the authorities and assess the level of trust in the official investigations. Additionally\, researchers will share their findings from interviews with protesters shedding light on the internal dynamics of the protest mobilization. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFurthermore\, Yevgeniy Zhovtis\, the director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights\, will disclose data collected in collaboration with the Human Rights Alliance for Fundamental Rights before\, during\, and after the events. He will report on labor and social rights violations in the Mangystau region\, where the protests began. Mr. Zhovtis will also report on issues related to the right to life\, freedom from torture\, and the right to a fair trial during the investigations surrounding the “Bloody January.” \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpeakers\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSerik Beissembayev is a sociologist and researcher focusing on public policy issues such as violent extremism\, interethnic relations\, and civil society in Kazakhstan. He is currently a co-founder and director of the PaperLab Research Center\, an independent think tank based in Astana. At PaperLab\, Mr. Beissembayev and his team conduct sociological and public policy research. Since 2020\, PaperLab has completed over 40 research projects in partnership with governmental and international organizations. In 2022\, the PaperLab team organized the first Central Asian Think Tank Forum\, a collaboration and dialogue platform for independent research and analytical centers in the Central Asian region. Mr. Beissembayev is also known for his scientific and analytical publications in both Kazakhstani and international media outlets on issues pertaining to policy issues and public opinion. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\nKamila Kovyazina is a sociology and public policy researcher in Kazakhstan. Kamila has 12 years of experience working in several think tanks to conduct sociology field studies and preparing analytical papers. Since April 2022\, she is a part of PaperLab Research Center. Kamila holds an MA in Area studies from the Eurasian National University and is a doctoral student at the Nazarbayev University. Her research interests include gender issues\, inequality\, and secondary education. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\nAldiyar Auyezbek is a Research Fellow at PaperLab specializing in researching economy and social perceptions in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. In six years of experience in Kazakhstani policy think tanks\, he has contributed to economic policy and human capital development projects. At PaperLab\, he has published articles on Kazakhstani societal perceptions and participated in studies on education\, public safety\, and healthcare. His research interests include the Central Asian region and sustainable development. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\nYevgeniy Zhovtis serves as the director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights\, the oldest and largest civil society organization in Kazakhstan\, which marked its thirtieth anniversary this past summer. Since becoming involved in activism in the late 1980s\, Mr. Zhovtis has devoted his career to defending human rights and opposing government repression. As a human rights expert\, Mr. Zhovtis is a member of the Council of International Bar Association Human Rights Institute and OSCE/ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly and Association. He co-authored the Report on the Bolotnaya Square Events in Moscow\, published in 2012 by the International Expert Commission. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nModerator \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\nKarlygash Kabatova is a Program Associate at the Central Asia Program\, IERES\, The George Washington University. Her areas of research and advocacy are youth sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)\, gender education\, gender-based violence\, and civil activism. Karlygash is the founder of an SRHR project in Kazakhstan UyatEmes.kz. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/kazakhstans-bloody-january-protest-motivations-public-perceptions-and-human-rights/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive,Kazakhstan ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/kantar-image.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231204T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231204T131500 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20231123T205203Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241014T205320Z UID:831706-1701691200-1701695700@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Armenia-Azerbaijan Relations after the Third Karabakh War DESCRIPTION:Virtual Seminar\, image by Arzu Geybulla \n\n\n\n\n\nThe Nagorno-Karabakh conflict reached a dramatic end on September 19\, 2023\, when the Azerbaijani military ended the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic\, and almost its entire Armenian population fled to Armenia. Meanwhile\, Armenia now faces a humanitarian crisis of refugees from Karabakh\, while Azerbaijan demands the opening of the Zangezur corridor to connect with its Nakhichevan exclave to the southwest of Armenia. Russia\, in turn\, distracted by a war in Ukraine\, has lost its leverage over the South Caucasus\, leaving Armenia to seek new partners in the West. The West\, at this moment\, also concerned about Ukraine and the crises in the Middle East\, has shown little interest in the South Caucasus. \n\n\n\nIn this seminar\, six experts will discuss the current situation in this part of the South Caucasus. They will explore the causes and consequences of the Third Karabakh War\, the region’s future\, and the foreign policy goals of Armenia and Azerbaijan. They will also analyze the interests and roles of prominent international actors\, such as Russia\, the USA\, Iran\, Turkey\, the EU\, and France\, who might have their own particular interest in the South Caucasus. \n\n\n\nIntroductory remarks: Sebastien Peyrouse\, Director of The Central Asia Program. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPEAKERS \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nNona Shahnazarian is Associate Researcher at the National Academy of Sciences in Yerevan\, Armenia\, and head of the Center for Independent Social Research Armenia\, also in Yerevan. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Russia\, Armenia\, Georgia\, the USA\, and Nagorno-Karabakh\, and has published on the issues of gender\, war\, migration\, memory\, and diaspora in the Caucasus and Russia. She has run the regional office of the Women in War Think Tank in Yerevan since 2015. She is deeply involved in Armenian-Azerbaijani regional and international peacemaking initiatives.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAhmad Alili is a researcher in international public policy and regional security of the South Caucasus\, the Eastern Partnership countries\, and neighboring regional powers. He is part of several peacebuilding initiatives supported by the EU\, UN\, and Partnership for Peace Consortium. Currently\, he is the director of the Caucasus Policy Analysis Centre (CPAC)\, a Baku-based independent think tank promoting regional integration in the South Caucasus. He is also a lecturer at the Academy of Public Administration on the role of nonstate actors in regional security\, geopolitics\, public management\, and good governance. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nArzu Geybulla is an Azerbaijani columnist and writer with a special focus on digital authoritarianism and its implications on human rights and press freedom. Arzu has written for Al Jazeera\, Eurasianet\, CODA\, Open Democracy\, and Radio Free Europe\, with a byline on CNN International. She is also a regional editor for the South Caucasus and Turkey at Global Voices. In the past\, Arzu has been involved in numerous cross-border confidence-building projects within the scope of the Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation and other projects focusing on peaceful coexistence between Armenia and Azerbaijan.   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAlexander Iskandaryan is a prominent expert on politics\, nationalism\, and the contemporary history of Armenia\, the South Caucasus\, and Eurasia. He is a political scientist and the Director of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan\, Armenia. He has authored numerous works on these topics\, presented papers\, and has talked at numerous conferences.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGerard Toal (Gearóid Ó Tuathail) is a Political Geographer and Professor at Virginia Tech’s campus in the greater Washington DC area. He is the author of Critical Geopolitics (1996) and coauthor of The Geopolitics Reader (1998\, 2006). He has published widely on geopolitics and territorial conflicts after the collapse of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. He coauthored Bosnia Remade: Ethnic Cleansing and Its Reversal (2011)\, wrote Near Abroad: Putin\, the West and the Contest for Ukraine and the Caucasus (2017)\, and has just finished Oceans Rise Empires Fall: Why Geopolitics Hastens Climate Catastrophe (2024)\, all published by Oxford University Press. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMODERATOR \n\n\n\n\nMikail Mamedov holds a PhD in History from Georgetown University\, where he is also a Lecturer in History and the Liberal Studies Program of the School of Continuing Studies. His multiethnic Azeri-Armenian family arrived in the US back in 1996\, in the wake of the outbreak of the Karabakh conflict. He holds an MA from The George Washington University and a Diploma in History from Moscow Lomonosov State University. He has authored numerous articles on the history of the Caucasus\, and on contemporary literature and the Karabakh conflict. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/armenia-azerbaijan-relations-after-the-third-karabakh-war/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/untitled-design-12.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231204T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231204T113000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20231114T154623Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241014T205356Z UID:816597-1701684000-1701689400@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Works in Progress on Central Asia:  DESCRIPTION:Social and Political Processes in Central Asia amid Internal and External Shocks (hybrid event) \n\n\n\n\n\nSocial and political developments in Central Asia received greater attention following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine\, in particular the immediate impacts of new migrant flows\, sanctions\, and Russia’s greater isolation from the West. However\, much of this analysis\, particularly in the media\, has covered the region only insofar as it illustrates reactions to the war in Ukraine\, rather than contextualizing the effects of recent events within a deeper understanding of processes already underway in Central Asia. \n\n\n\nThis panel will showcase new research on grassroots activism\, media use\, and intraregional relations in Central Asia. From Kazakhstan’s quasi-transition of power in 2019 and the rise of the Oyan Kazakhstan movement\, the yearslong impact of the COVID-19 pandemic\, Sadyr Japarov’s dramatic rise to the presidency in Kyrgyzstan in 2020\, unprecedented street violence in several Kazakhstani cities in January 2022 followed by a brief deployment of CSTO forces to the country\, Central Asian societies were already navigating a series of defining events each deserving of their own careful analysis even before February 2022.  \n\n\n\nThis panel will track how these developments and others\, including the war\, have shaped societies and states. Drawing on a range of data sources as well as disciplinary and professional perspectives\, this panel will also combine the insights of researchers from or currently living in Central Asia along with those of researchers with extensive field experience in the region. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPapers and Presenters \n\n\n\n\nCentral Asian Regional Relations in a Changing Geopolitical Context\n\n\n\n\nAizada Nuriddenova is an Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences Department at Suleyman Demirel University in Kazakhstan and currently a Visiting Scholar at IERES. She holds a PhD in International Relations\, specializing in Chinese foreign policy\, from the School of International and Public Affairs at Jilin University in China. Her research interests are centered on Chinese foreign policy and regionalism in Central Asia. \n\n\n\n\nMedia Trends and Geopolitics: Changes in Central Asian Views of Outside Powers\n\n\n\n\nEli Adam Feiman\, US Department of State \n\n\n\n\nAttitudes toward Russia’s War on Ukraine in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan\n\n\n\n\nHannah S. Chapman is the Theodore P. Romanoff Assistant Professor of Russian Studies and an Assistant Professor of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focus is on comparative political behavior with a substantive focus on public opinion and political communication in non-democracies and a regional focus on Russian and Central Asian politics.  \n\n\n\n\nHow Risks for Activists Differ Depending on their Gender: Accounts from Kazakhstan\, Belarus\, Ukraine\, and Russia \n\n\n\n\nKarlygash Kabatova is Program Associate at the Central Asia Program\, IERES\, GWU. Her areas of research and advocacy are sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)\, gender education\, gender-based violence and civil activism. Karlygash founded UyatEmes.kz – an SRHR initiative in Kazakhstan.  \n\n\n\nDiscussants \n\n\n\nMarsha McGraw Olive\, Ph.D.\, is a scholar and practitioner of Russian and Eurasian affairs.  She is currently on the faculty of Johns Hopkins SAIS and serves on the advisory boards of the Caspian Policy Center and the Eurasia Foundation\, and as a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. \n\n\n\nCorby Johnson\, National Endowment for Democracy  \n\n\n\nChair \n\n\n\nSebastien Peyrouse is Director of the Central Asia Program and Research Professor\, IERES\, The George Washington University. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India\, and South Asia. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/works-in-progress-on-central-asia/ LOCATION:Elliott School of International Affairs\, room 505\, 1957 E Street\, NW\, Washington\, District of Columbia\, 20052\, United States CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/screenshot-2023-11-14-at-8.08.50 am.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231031T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231031T110000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230918T143931Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T191228Z UID:748224-1698746400-1698750000@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Central Asian Outlook: The Intersection of Trade and Culture DESCRIPTION:Book talk with author Juneyoung Lee \n\n\n\n\n\nHybrid Event \n\n\n\nIn this event Dr. Juneyoung Lee will explore the intricate dynamics between trade liberalization\, cultural diversity\, and protection in Central Asia. Drawing from her book\, Culture and International Trade Law: From Conflict to Coordination\, and integrating anthropological and ethical perspectives\, she will conceptualize culture and its relevance within the realm of international trade. \n\n\n\nSpeaker \n\n\n\n\nJuneyoung Lee is Legal Affairs Officer\, Trade and Environment Division\, World Trade Organization (WTO)\, and Adjunct Professor at the International Institute in Geneva. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nModerator \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nSebastien Peyrouse is Director of the Central Asia Program and Research Professor\, IERES\, The George Washington University. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India\, and South Asia. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAttend in person \n\n\n\nVoesar Conference Room\, Suite 412\, The Elliott School of International Affairs\, The George Washington University \n\n\n\n1957 E St NW\, Washington\, 20052 United States URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/central-asian-outlook-the-intersection-of-trade-and-culture-2/ CATEGORIES:Cultures and Societies,Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/caravan.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231026T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231026T111500 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20231013T143753Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T191203Z UID:778570-1698314400-1698318900@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Cross-Border Relations between Central Asia and Afghanistan in the Taliban Era DESCRIPTION:Online event co-sponsored by The Kennan Institute \n\n\n\nThe border areas between the Central Asian states and Afghanistan have often been portrayed as regions prone to lawlessness\, violence\, and instability since the commencement of the “war on terror” initiated by US President George W. Bush’s administration in October 2001. The ascent to power of the Taliban in the summer of 2021 has further heightened concerns regarding the security situation in these areas. However\, among the six borders Afghanistan shares\, those with Uzbekistan\, Tajikistan\, and Turkmenistan have experienced fewer conflicts. This seminar will delve into the intricate cross-border dynamics between Central Asia and Afghanistan\, encompassing their political\, economic\, and social dimensions and the multifaceted challenges and opportunities inherent in the region. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n speakers\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMélanie Sadozaï is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at IERES (2022–2023). Her research and publications are based on ethnographic methods and extensive fieldwork since 2014\, with a focus on cross-border relations in remote areas of Afghanistan and Tajikistan in the Pamir Mountains. Her research interests include everyday life along the border\, remoteness and connectivity in high mountain regions\, relations between the Taliban and other Central Asian governments\, and the geographical history of the border and the Pamirs. Dr. Sadozaï has published academic articles in the Journal of Borderlands Studies\, Problems of Post-Communism\, and the Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNader Nadery is a seasoned leader with 22 years’ experience and is currently a senior fellow at the Wilson Center and a fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. He is also an associate fellow with Asser Institute Center for International & European Law. His background spans civil society\, the private sector\, institution-building\, government\, and research. He is an internationally known advocate for human rights and justice\, and has firsthand experience in peacemaking\, having participated in UN peace talks for Afghanistan in 2001\, track 1.5 peace processes for a number of years\, and the 2020–’21 peace talks between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban. Nadery has served as a commissioner of the Independent Human Rights Commission\, as Chairman of the Civil Service Commission\, and as senior advisor to the Afghan president on strategic affairs and human rights. Nadery’s views and writings regularly appear in major media outlets including the New York Times\, Wall Street Journal\, Washington Post\, BBC\, CNN\, PBS\, and others.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBarmak Pazhwak is a senior program officer working on Afghanistan and Central Asia for the United States Institute of Peace. Previously\, Pazhwak worked at the United Nations Development Program\, where he was the senior international adviser to the minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development of the government of Afghanistan. Before that\, he was director of program development and faculty with Southwestern University and Global College in Tucson\, Arizona\, where he developed the international development curriculum and taught courses. Pazhwak has over 30 years of experience in the design and management of peacebuilding\, humanitarian relief\, and socio-economic development programs with government\, nongovernmental organizations\, and the United Nations system in Afghanistan\, Central and South Asia\, and the Great Lakes region of Africa. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n moderator\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSebastien Peyrouse is Director of the Central Asia Program and research Professor\, IERES\, George Washington University. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India\, and South Asia. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/cross-border-relations-between-central-asia-and-afghanistan-in-the-taliban-era/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/f7082212-414f-4882-96a5-21220216cf42-e1697139404199.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231024T093000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231024T113000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230918T175256Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T191141Z UID:748249-1698139800-1698147000@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Central Asian Migrants in Russia and Turkey: Migrant Legal Adaptation in Non-Democratic Contexts DESCRIPTION:Book talk with authors Rustam Urinboyev and Sherzod Eraliev \n\n\n\n\n\nHybrid Event \n\n\n\nRustam Urinboyev and Sherzod Eraliev comparatively analyze the migration regimes of Russia and Turkey through the everyday experiences of Central Asian migrant workers. The authors contribute new theoretical and comparative insights on migrant agency\, undocumentedness and informality in non-Western\, non-democratic migration regimes. In their books\, they take the case study of Central Asian migrants in Russia and Turkey—two archetypal non-Western\, nondemocratic regimes and key migration hotspots—and investigate how migration governance outcomes are shaped by the informal power geometries and extralegal processes in physical and digital landscapes in which migrant workers\, employers\, middlemen\, landlords\, street world actors and street-level bureaucrats negotiate the contemporary migration system. This lively ethnography presents new empirical material\, a comparative perspective and methodological tools for studying migrants’ experiences and migration governance processes in non-Western migration regimes. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpeakers \n\n\n\n\nRustam Urinboyev is an Associate Professor in the Sociology of Law Department\, Lund University\, Sweden. He is an interdisciplinary socio-legal scholar and works at the intersection of socio-legal studies\, migration studies\, legal pluralism\, informality and governance scholarships. Rustam has extensively published on migration\, corruption\, governance and penal institutions in the context of Central Asia\, Russia and Turkey. Rustam is the principal investigator of several projects (corruption\, legal pluralism\, legal culture\, administrative law reforms and many others) funded by the European Commission and Swedish Research Council. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSherzod Eraliev is a Senior Researcher at the Sociology of Law Department\, Lund University\, Sweden. He has been an Academy of Finland researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute\, University of Helsinki and has worked with international organisations in the development\, migration and humanitarian spheres. Sherzod’s research interests include migration\, informality\, civil society\, governance\, etc. \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nModerator \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nKarlygash Kabatova is a Program Associate at the Central Asia Program\, IERES\, The George Washington University. Her areas of research and advocacy are youth sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) education\, gender education\, gender based violence and civil activism. Karlygash is the founder of SRHR project in Kazakhstan UyatEmes.kz. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAttend in person \n\n\n\nVoesar Conference Room\, Suite 412\, The Elliott School of International Affairs\, The George Washington University \n\n\n\n1957 E St NW\, Washington\, 20052 United States URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/central-asian-migrants-in-russia-and-turkey/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/migrants-in-ru-e1695059265318.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230907T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230907T193000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230828T173509Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T191112Z UID:728110-1694109600-1694115000@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Uzbekistan's Independence Day Concert DESCRIPTION:SAFO Ensemble and Sabina Mustaeva \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn celebration of the Independence Day of the Republic of Uzbekistan\, the Central Asia Program and the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the United States are thrilled to invite you to a concert by Uzbek performers: a prize-winning singer and songwriter Sabina Mustaeva and a national ensemble SAFO.  \n\n\n\nSabina has been singing since early childhood as her grandfather\, Bulat Mustaev\, a professional jazz saxophonist\, was among the first to bring this musical genre to Uzbekistan. Sabina is certainly a worthy heir to his legacy. \n\n\n\nThe inception of the SAFO ensemble dates back to the year 2008 marking the genesis of a remarkable artistic journey. Its founder is an accomplished artist Toir Asqar – an esteemed figure within Uzbekistan’s artistic realm who holds the title Honored Artist of Uzbekistan. \n\n\n\nThe concert will end with a discussion between the musicians and the audience.   URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/uzbekistans-independence-day-concert/ LOCATION:Elliott School of International Affairs\, room 113\, 1957 E St. NW\, Washington\, DC\, District of Columbia\, 20052\, United States CATEGORIES:Events Archive,Uzbekistan ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/img_2581-.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230905T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230905T103000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230822T220811Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T191049Z UID:721154-1693904400-1693909800@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Nuclear and Biological Nonproliferation: Lessons from Kazakhstan and Central Asiakaza DESCRIPTION:Stronger than Death memorial\, Semei\, Kazakhstan. Image Source: astanatimes.com \n\n\n\nIn a world increasingly defined by bellicose rhetoric\, nuclear nonproliferation is no longer taken for granted. In a post-Covid world\, pandemics threaten public health the world over. Kazakhstan dismantled the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal and is a leader in global nonproliferation. Kazakhstan now seeks to create a global biological nonproliferation regime. How can these past successes enable the new initiatives and what can they teach us about the next stages of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction? \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nSpeakers \n\n\n\n\nAlimzhan Akhmetov\, Director\, Center for International Security and Policy\n\n\n\nAriel Cohen\, PhD\, Managing Director\, Energy\, Growth\, and Security Program\, International Tax and Investment Center\n\n\n\nEric Gomez\, Senior Fellow\, Cato Institute\n\n\n\nLyazzat Yeraliyeva\, Vice-President\, National Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan\n\n\n\nRichard Weitz\, PhD\, Senior Fellow and Director\, Center for Political-Military Analysis\, Hudson Institute\, security expert at Wikistrat\, and author of The New China-Russia Alignment: Critical Challenges to U.S. Security\n\n\n\n\nModerator \n\n\n\nSebastien Peyrouse\, Director of the Central Asia Program and research Professor\, IERES\, George Washington University. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India\, and South Asia. \n\n\n\nThe event is organized in partnership with The International Tax and Investment Center. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/nuclear-and-biological-nonproliferation-lessons-from-kazakhstan-and-central-asia/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive,Kazakhstan ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/xxl.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230823T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230823T110000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230808T203849Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T191029Z UID:705203-1692784800-1692788400@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Central Asia: A Loophole for Russia’s Sanctions? DESCRIPTION:Online event \n\n\n\n\n\nRussia is facing unprecedented economic and political sanctions from the United States and its allies over its invasion of Ukraine. However\, Moscow has found ways to circumvent these by exploiting its ties with the countries of Central Asia. In 2022\, the US government issued an alert that listed Kazakhstan\, Kyrgyzstan\, Tajikistan\, and Uzbekistan among a group of 18 countries possibly serving as “transshipment points through which restricted or controlled exports have been known to pass before reaching destinations in Russia or Belarus.” The US Treasury Department has sanctioned individuals and companies in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for facilitating the re-export to Russia of goods subject to sanctions. In this online event\, three expert speakers will shed light on the role played by Central Asian governments in facilitating Russian maneuvers to get around Western sanctions. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPEAKERS  \n\n\n\n\nLeila Nazgul Seiitbek\, is an exiled lawyer and anti-corruption and human rights advocate from the Kyrgyz Republic who was granted asylum in Austria in 2021. She is Chairwoman of Freedom for Eurasia\, which documents and reports on human rights and corruption abuses in the former Soviet Republics of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThomas Mayne is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and a former Visiting Fellow at Chatham House\, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. He is a former Senior Campaigner at the anti-corruption NGO Global Witness\, where he was responsible for the group’s reports on Central Asia and Eurasia. He has authored a variety of reports on corruption and kleptocracy\, and on the UK’s anti-money-laundering regulations. His most recent work analyzed the UK’s Unexplained Wealth Order legislation and the corrupt property purchases of Uzbekistan’s Gulnara Karimova. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNurul Rakhimbek is a political activist and researcher from Kazakhstan living in exile\, in Ukraine since 2015 and in the US since 2022. Nurul has worked with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI) on programs for promoting democracy in Central Asia and Ukraine\, and has done pioneering work in establishing the first election observation institution in his country. Since 2004\, he has worked as a freelance author of many publications on democracy in Kazakhstani and Ukrainian media. He currently represents the Kazakh Civil Society Coalition in the United States and his recent work and research is focused on asset recovery and sanctions evasion.  \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMODERATOR \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nSebastien Peyrouse\, Director of the Central Asia Program and research Professor\, IERES\, George Washington University. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India\, and South Asia. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/central-asia-a-loophole-for-russias-sanctions/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sqxip1wpvga6hji8n9d1x2xlipo9w0ju8vmmruey-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230727T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230727T160000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230718T202122Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T191007Z UID:679816-1690448400-1690473600@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Bolashak Fellows Summer Conference July 2023 DESCRIPTION:Hybrid Event \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFrom March to August 2023\, the Central Asia Program hosted 18 Bolashak Visiting Fellows from Kazakhstan on a tailor-made training program focusing on teaching science\, technology\, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to school children. Over the period of their program the fellows gained new skills through and visited outstanding STEM schools in the DMV region observing and exchanging the best practices. With their time at the George Washington University (GWU) coming to an end\, please join us for a full day hybrid conference to meet the fellows\, learn about their experiences in the United States\, and hear their key findings. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nCONFERENCE PROGRAM \n\n\n\nJuly 27\, 2023 \n\n\n\n9:00 a.m. –  4 p.m. \n\n\n\n9:00–9:30 a.m. Welcome Coffee \n\n\n\n9:30–9:45 a.m. Welcome Remarks: Marlene Laruelle\, Director of IERES; Ruslan Sakeyev\, Representative of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan\, Gulzat Salikova\, Managing Director of Social Development Fund\, Nazarbayev University \n\n\n\n9:45–10:50 a.m. Panel I. Utilizing Project Zero Tools for Effective STEM Education \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nKarlygash Jarbulova\, Sandugash Kazybekova\, Dana Kassymbayeva Group project: Integration of Project Zero strategies and visual thinking routines for promoting the development of metacognitive practices in IB classrooms.\n\n\n\nAinagul Yermekova\, A study of effective practices and approaches of the Project Zero for developing digital literacy in Kazakhstan schools.\n\n\n\nAlima Kurbangaliyeva\, Developing students’ skills to analyze the results of an experiment through STEM-based learning with Project Zero strategies in the International Baccalaureate program. \n\n\n\nRyszhan Zhairbayeva\, Using the Project Zero opportunities to study the author’s program on STEM learning. \n\n\n\n\n10:50–11:10 a.m. Break \n\n\n\n11:10–12:00 p.m. Panel II. Maximizing the Potential of Innovative Approaches in STEM Education \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nMeruyert Shagimoldina\, Which type of American STEM-focused schools (selective\, inclusive\, CTE\, adapted STEM schools) is the most effective in the future success of students?\n\n\n\nNursultan Yembergenov\, Teaching alphabet to kids using augmented reality.\n\n\n\nAlibi Skakov\, Statistics in school curriculum. The experience of US high school teachers (teacher support material).\n\n\n\nTemirlan Otepov\, Finalizing students scores with machine learning tools.\n\n\n\n\n12:00–1:00 p.m. Lunch \n\n\n\n1:00–1:50 p.m. Panel III. Nurturing the 21st Century Skills: Integrating New Concepts into the Curriculum \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nBakhadir Rismetov\, The benefits and challenges of integrating AI into STEM education in Kazakhstani secondary schools.\n\n\n\nAizhan Yerzhanova\, Development of an elective course “STEM in Action” based on learning objectives of the NIS programme middle school curriculum.\n\n\n\nYerassyl Tleudin\, Developing a project-based STEM curriculum: integrating 3D printing and robotics as elective courses in middle school.\n\n\n\nMakpal Mukanova\, Development of an elective course on STEM projects for students in grades 7-9.\n\n\n\n\n1:45–2:05 p.m. Break \n\n\n\n2:05–2:55 p.m. Panel IV. Fostering Student Engagement: Effective Strategies for Active Learning in STEM Education \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nMarzhan Mergenbayeva\, Improving soft skills among Kazakh students based on American schools experiences.\n\n\n\nArailym Tuktybayeva\, Using flipped classroom models in mathematics class.\n\n\n\nMoldir Akhmetbekova\, The positive effects of the Early College Program on US high school student experiences.\n\n\n\nNurzhigit Botabekov\, The impact of project-based learning on student engagement and achievement in STEM subjects.\n\n\n\n\n2:55–3:10 p.m. Break \n\n\n\n3:10–4:00 p.m. Certificates Awarding Ceremony and a Photo Session URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/bolashak-fellows-summer-conference-july-2023/ LOCATION:Lindner Family Commons\, 6th floor GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs\, 1957 E St NW\, Washington\, 20052 CATEGORIES:Conferences,Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/bolashak-cohort-4.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230524T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230524T120000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230503T170814Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T190942Z UID:624065-1684926000-1684929600@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Intermarriage and Ethnic Mixing in Soviet Central Asia DESCRIPTION:Book talk with author Adrienne Edgar\, discussant Dmitry Gorenburg\, and moderator Mélanie Sadozaï (virtual event) \n\n\n\nJoin us for a presentation of Adrienne Edgar’s book Intermarriage and the Friendship of Peoples: Ethnic Mixing in Soviet Central Asia (Cornell University Press\, 2022). The work examines the racialization of identities and its impact on mixed couples and families in Soviet Central Asia. In marked contrast to its Cold War rivals\, the Soviet Union celebrated mixed marriages among its diverse ethnic groups as a sign of the unbreakable friendship of peoples and the imminent emergence of a single “Soviet people.” Yet the official Soviet view of ethnic nationality became increasingly primordial and even racialized in the USSR’s final decades.  \n\n\n\nIn this context\, Adrienne Edgar argues\, mixed families and individuals found it impossible to transcend ethnicity\, fully embrace their complex identities\, and become simply “Soviet.” Looking back on their lives in the Soviet Union\, ethnically mixed people often reported that the “official” nationality in their identity documents did not match their subjective feelings of identity. They were unable to speak “their own” native language. Their ambiguous physical appearance prevented them from claiming the nationality with which they most identified. In these ways and more\, mixed couples and families were acutely and painfully affected by the growth of ethnic primordialism and by the tensions between the Soviet Union’s national and supranational projects. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpeakers \n\n\n\nAdrienne Edgar (Author) is Professor in the Department of History at the University of California\, Santa Barbara. Her area of interest is the history of the Soviet Union\, especially the history of Central Asia in the Soviet period. Her research has focused on nation-making in early Soviet Central Asia and on nationality\, race\, and intermarriage in the post-World War II USSR. Dr. Edgar is the author of Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan (Princeton University Press\, 2004)\, Intermarriage and the Friendship of Peoples. Ethnic Mixing in Soviet Central Asia (Cornell University Press\, 2022)\, and co-editor with Benjamin Frommer of Intermarriage from Central Europe to Central Asia: Mixed Families in the Age of Extremes (University of Nebraska Press\, 2020). She has contributed to many edited books and has been published in numerous journals such as Central Asian Survey\, Slavic Review\, and Ab Imperio.   \n\n\n\nDmitry Gorenburg (Discussant) is Senior Research Scientist in the Russia Studies Program at CNA\, a nonprofit research and analysis organization\, since 2000. He is also an Associate at Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. Previously\, he served as Executive Director of the American Association of the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS). His research interests include security issues in the former Soviet Union\, Russian military reform\, Russian foreign policy\, and ethnic politics and identity. Dr. Gorenburg is the author of Nationalism for the Masses: Minority Ethnic Mobilization in the Russian Federation (Cambridge University Press\, 2003) and has been published in journals such as World Politics and Post-Soviet Affairs. He currently serves as editor of Problems of Post-Communism and was the editor of Russian Politics and Law from 2009 to 2016. Dr. Gorenburg attended Princeton University and received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University. \n\n\n\nMélanie Sadozaï (Moderator) is Post-doctoral Fellow at IERES (2022–2023). Her research and publications have been based on ethnographic methods and extensive fieldwork since 2014\, with a focus on cross-border relations in remote areas of Afghanistan and Tajikistan in the Pamir Mountains. Her research interests include everyday life along the border\, remoteness and connectivity in high mountain regions\, relations between the Taliban and other Central Asian governments\, and the geographical history of the border and the Pamirs. Dr. Sadozaï has published academic articles in the Journal of Borderlands Studies\, Problems of Post-Communism\, and the Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/intermarriage-and-ethnic-mixing-in-soviet-central-asia/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/unnamed.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230502T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230502T194500 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230425T150747Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T190917Z UID:623205-1683050400-1683056700@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Jaslyk Forever: Film Screening & Discussion with Producer DESCRIPTION:The Central Asia Program and Freedom Now are inviting you to a film screening and discussion with the film producer (in person event) \n\n\n\n\n\nElliott School of International Affairs\, Room 113 \n\n\n\n1957 E St NW\, Washington\, DC 20052 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJaslyk Forever (70 mins) is a documentary film about political prisoners in Uzbekistan and the challenges they endure even after their release. In 2017\, Uzbekistan’s newly elected president\, Shavkat Mirziyoev\, released numerous political prisoners sentenced to up to 23 years in jail under his dictatorial predecessor\, Islam Karimov.  \n\n\n\nJaslyk Forever reveals the harrowing stories of several former inmates who were imprisoned for their journalism\, human rights work\, political views\, and religious beliefs. Yet\, despite the release of these political prisoners\, many still live in fear and are ostracized by society. Many have little hope for rehabilitation for the torture and abuse they endured. Through the stories and experiences of former political prisoners\, Jaslyk Forever reveals how the human rights situation in Uzbekistan remains dire. \n\n\n\nTimur Karpov is a human rights defender\, photographer\, filmmaker\, and journalist in Uzbekistan\, where he runs the “139 Documentary Center\,” an innovative gallery and community space. The “139 Documentary Center” raises awareness about what life in Uzbekistan is actually like\, cutting through government rhetoric and facades to document untold stories. Mr. Karpov is the son of Umida Akhmedova\, an artist sentenced to three years in prison in 2010 for “slandering the Uzbek nation” under Article 139 of the country’s criminal code. His mother’s experience inspired Mr. Karpov to establish the “139 Documentary Center.” URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/jaslyk-forever-film-screening-discussion-with-producer/ LOCATION:Elliott School of International Affairs\, room 113\, 1957 E St. NW\, Washington\, DC\, District of Columbia\, 20052\, United States CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/whatsapp-image-2023-04-21-at-4.56.32-pm-2.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230426T121500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230427T150000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230417T200817Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241014T190834Z UID:622847-1682511300-1682607600@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Bolashak Visiting Fellows Conference — Spring 2023 DESCRIPTION:From May 2022 to May 2023\, the Central Asia Program hosted 23 Bolashak Visiting Fellows from Kazakhstan on a tailor-made training program focusing on 1) Leadership in Higher Education Management and 2) Economics and Crisis Management. With their time at the George Washington University (GWU) coming to an end\, please join us for a two-day conference to meet the Fellows\, learn about their experiences in the United States\, and hear their key findings regarding educational challenges in their home regions and Central Asia. \n\n\n\nCoffee and light refreshments will be provided. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nRSVP\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nConference Program \n\n\n\nDay 1: April 26\, 2023 \n\n\n\n12:15 p.m. –  4 p.m. \n\n\n\n12:15–12:30 a.m. Welcome Remarks: Marlene Laruelle\, Director of IERES; Ruslan Sakeyev\, Representative of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan \n\n\n\n12:30–1:15 p.m. Panel I: The Internationalization of Kazakhstani Universities \n\n\n\nChair: Sebastien Peyrouse\, Director\, Central Asia Program\, GWU \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nElmira Assan\, Head of the Division of International Treaties and Legislation of the Ministry’s International Cooperation Department\n\n\n\nAbaibek Zhunissov\, Associate Professor at Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University\n\n\n\nMirey Kabasheva\, Associate Professor of Economics Department at the Kazakh Auto Road Institute\n\n\n\n\n1:25–2:25 p.m. Panel II: Inclusion and Sustainability Issues in Higher Education \n\n\n\nChair: Aisalkyn Botoeva\, Search for Common Ground \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nGaini Mukhanova\, Associate Professor and Vice Rector for Science and International Relationships at the Kazakh Academy of Labor and Social Relations\n\n\n\nBotagoz Kerimbayeva\, Associate Professor of Foreign Philology and Translation Studies at Zhubanov University\n\n\n\nGulashar Doskeyeva\, Professor of Economics at Narxoz University\n\n\n\nArdak Montayev\, Associate Professor of the Department of Political Science at Auezov University\n\n\n\n\n2:45–3:45 p.m. Panel III: Enhancing Quality Assurance and Educational Efficiency in Kazakhstani Higher Education \n\n\n\nChair: Hugh Agnew\, Professor of History and International Affairs\, Interim Director\, M.A. International Affairs Program\, GWU \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nGulden Manarbek\, Head of the Department for Accreditation and Licensing of Educational Programs at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University\n\n\n\nAigul Amrenova\, Deputy Director of the Institute of Heat Power Engineering and Control Systems at Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications\n\n\n\nGalym Teleuyev\, Dean of the Law faculty of the International Educational Corporation\n\n\n\nAigul Yessentemirova\, Deputy Director of the Agency for Recognition and Quality Assurance.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDay 2: April 27\, 2023 \n\n\n\n10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. \n\n\n\n10:00–11:00 A.M. Panel I: Driving Sustainable Growth for Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises in Kazakhstan \n\n\n\nChair: Kacey Reeves West\, PhD Fellow\, George Mason University \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nArman Nurmaganbetov\, Head of Internal Administration for the Department of State Fund of Social Insurance\n\n\n\nAssem Tanzharikova\, Associate Professor\, Scientific and Educational Department of Accounting and Audit at Narxoz University\n\n\n\nUgur Choban\, Assistant Professor and Research Coordinator of the Suleyman Demirel University Business School\n\n\n\nBauyrzhan Kobadilov\, Lecturer in finance at Suleyman Demirel College in Kazakhstan\n\n\n\n\n11:10 a.m.–12:10 p.m. Panel II: Navigating Macroeconomic Challenges & Opportunities for Economic Growth in Central Asia \n\n\n\nChair: Paola Marcela Ballon Fernandez\, Senior Economist at the World Bank \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nBibigul Aidarkhanova\, Professor at the Kazakh University of Economics\n\n\n\nOrynbassar Tumenbayeva\, Assistant Professor\, Department of Economics and Business\, Business School of Suleyman Demirel University\n\n\n\nZhanna Yessinbayeva\, Head of the Department of Formation of the State Educational Order of the Department of Higher and Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Education and Science\n\n\n\nOlzhas Kenzhaliyev\, Head of Science and Innovation at Kazakh-British Technical University\n\n\n\n\n1:00–2:00 p.m. Panel III: Overcoming Social & Economic Challenges in Kazakhstan \n\n\n\nChair: Dan Whitman\, Professorial Lecturer\, GWU \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n\nLesbek Taizhanov\, Associate Professor at the International Kazakh-Turkish University\n\n\n\nAltynay Omirzakova\, Senior Lecturer in Marketing and international relations coordinator of the Suleyman Demirel University Business School\n\n\n\nDina Bakranova\, Deputy Head of the Center of Alternative Energy and Nanotechnologies at Kazakh-British Technical University\n\n\n\nMaral Alisheva\, Associate Professor at Law Enforcement Academy under the General Prosecutor’s Office URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/bolashak-visiting-fellows-conference-spring-2023/ LOCATION:Lindner Family Commons\, 6th floor GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs\, 1957 E St NW\, Washington\, 20052 CATEGORIES:Conferences,Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4d256396-7388-42f9-a7f6-a92ff961592d.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230424T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230424T113000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230410T210536Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T190849Z UID:622527-1682330400-1682335800@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Strengthening Relations Between Central Asian and U.S. Scholars on Education and Research DESCRIPTION:The United States and the countries of Central Asia have developed partnerships to enhance educational exchange and cooperation programs\, fundraising and research\, as well as to bring American expertise in science and education to the Central Asian region. In this seminar\, initiated by the Bolashak Visiting Fellows\, five specialists from Central Asia and the United States involved in the education sector will discuss perspectives\, successes and challenges to strengthening Central Asian and U.S. cooperation in this sector. \n\n\n\nThis is an online event. A simultaneous English/Russian and Russian/English translation will be provided during the event.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPEAKERS \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nNargis Kassenova\, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies\, Harvard University\n\n\n\n\nProgram on Central Asia at the Davis Center: Bridging Scholarly Communities \n\n\n\n\nAisalkyn Botoeva\, Search for Common Ground\n\n\n\n\nWhat is Good Research? Promoting Best Practices for Social Science Research among Central Asian Scholars \n\n\n\n\nMirjakhon Turdiev\, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs\, Syracuse University \n\n\n\n\nAcademic and Administrative Determinants of Effective Inclusive Higher Education in the Case of Syracuse University \n\n\n\n\nElizabeth Bifuh-Ambe\, University of Massachusetts Lowell\n\n\n\n\nCurriculum Development for English as a Second Language Teaching and Learning \n\n\n\n\nMarzhana Omarova\, Nazarbayev University\n\n\n\n\nWrite Your Way to a STEM Career \n\n\n\n\nBakhyt Alipova\, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering\, University of Kentucky\n\n\n\n\nFulbright Visiting Scholar Program: Participation and Dissemination of Results \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nMODERATOR \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nSebastien Peyrouse\, Director of Central Asia Program\, George Washington University  URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/strengthening-relations-between-central-asian-and-u-s-scholars-on-education-and-research/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/p1050221-copy.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230419T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230419T114500 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230407T031600Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T190816Z UID:622103-1681894800-1681904700@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Policies on Ethnic Minorities in Kazakhstan DESCRIPTION:Where Are We Now? \n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nKazakhstan is home to more than 100 ethnic minorities comprising about 30% of the population\, reflecting an imperial and Soviet past that sent colonists\, dissidents\, and minority groups to the region. Both presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev have portrayed Kazakhstan as a stronghold of interethnic peace and conducted national identity-building policies based on the concept of creating a common civic identity for different ethnic groups. While these policies have been mostly successful\, the country has faced some sporadic ethnic unrest in recent years as well as a new influx of Russians following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that may challenge the current status quo. This workshop will discuss the successes\, issues\, and challenges that Kazakhstan and minority groups face\, and how the government is addressing them. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAGENDA \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n9:00 – 9:10 a.m.   Introductory remarks  \n\n\n\nMarat Azilkhanov (Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan) \n\n\n\nAmbassador Yerzhan Ashikbayev (the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United States) \n\n\n\nSebastien Peyrouse (George Washington University) \n\n\n\n9:10 – 10:10 a.m.   Panel I \n\n\n\nModerator: Sebastien Peyrouse \n\n\n\nAigul Sadvokassova\, Syracuse University\, The Management of Ethnic Diversity: Experience and New Challenges of Kazakhstan \n\n\n\nYevgenii Bolgert\, Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan\, Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan in the Context of Political Reforms \n\n\n\nEric Schluessel\, George Washington University\, A Brief History of the Uyghur Community in Kazakhstan \n\n\n\n10:10 – 10:30 a.m.   Coffee break \n\n\n\n10:30 – 11:45 a.m.   Panel II \n\n\n\nModerator: Aigul Kosherbayeva \n\n\n\nGerman Kim\, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University\, Ethnic Diversity of Kazakhstan in Historical Retrospective and Modern Trends \n\n\n\nBeate Eschment\, Center for East European and International Studies\, Unity in Diversity—Slogan and Reality? \n\n\n\nCaress Schenk\, Nazarbayev University\, Deconstructing Dual Citizenship: Exploring Citizenship Attitudes and Practices in Kazakhstan \n\n\n\nSean Roberts\, George Washington University\, The Xinjiang Crisis and Its Impact on Inclusive Development in Kazakhstan URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/policies-on-ethnic-minorities-in-kazakhstan/ LOCATION:Lindner Family Commons\, 6th floor GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs\, 1957 E St NW\, Washington\, 20052 CATEGORIES:Events Archive,Kazakhstan ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/whatsapp-image-2023-04-06-at-7.51.51-pm.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230325T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230325T150000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230314T205554Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T190745Z UID:617970-1679742000-1679756400@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Nowruz Bazaar 2023 DESCRIPTION:in-person event \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nYou are invited to the Nowruz Bazaar 2023 to celebrate the New Year\, which for many communities symbolically begins with the spring equinox. We envision this to be an informal and joyous celebration of new beginnings and unity. To help you experience the true spirit of Nowruz\, we offer you: \n\n\n\n\nauthentic snacks and treats\n\n\n\nUyghur traditional music played live by a band\n\n\n\nTurkish\, Uzbek\, and Kazakh folk dancing\n\n\n\na fashion show by Uzbek\, Kazakh\, and Uyghur designers—with garments for sale\n\n\n\nan exhibit of traditional decorations representing Central Asian cultures\, accompanied by mini-lectures\n\n\n\n\nFeel free to dress up in your favorite traditional outfits! \n\n\n\nThe image is a design by а Kazakh artist Zhangazy Seidakhmet \n\n\n\nThis is event is organized by: \n\n\n\n\nThe Central Asia Program at The Institute for European\, Russian\, and Eurasian Studies of The George Washington University\n\n\n\nThe American Turkish Association of Washington DC\n\n\n\nThe American Uzbekistan Association\n\n\n\nThe Uyghur American Association\n\n\n\n\n  URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/nowruz-bazaar-2023/ LOCATION:Elliott School of International Affairs\, 2nd floor\, 1957 E St. NW\, Washington D.C.\, District of Columbia\, 20052\, United States CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/screen-shot-2023-03-14-at-3.35.44-pm.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230324T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230324T200000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230315T142649Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T190712Z UID:618294-1679680800-1679688000@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Concert by a Kazakhstani ethno-folk ensemble TURAN DESCRIPTION:In celebration of Nowruz\, the Central Asia Program\, the Abai Center\, and the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the United States are thrilled to invite you to a concert program of the Kazakhstani ethno-folk ensemble TURAN.  \n\n\n\nFounded in 2008 by then-students of the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory\, the Turan ensemble recreates the sounds of ancient musical instruments such as sybyzgy\, shankobyz\, sazsyrnay\, sherter\, zhetigen\, shinkildek\, dombyra\, kyl-kobyz\, and the art of traditional throat singing in modern performance. \n\n\n\nThe concert will start with greetings from the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States\, His Excellency Mr. Yerzhan Ashikbayev\, and end with a discussion between the musicians and the audience.   URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/concert-by-a-kazakhstani-ethno-folk-ensemble-turan/ LOCATION:Elliott School of International Affairs\, Room 213\, 1957 E St NW\, Washington\, 20052 CATEGORIES:Events Archive,Kazakhstan ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/screen-shot-2023-03-13-at-11.43.28-am-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230323T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230323T170000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230307T201018Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T190628Z UID:616887-1679562000-1679590800@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Annual Security Workshop: Central Asia in a Transformed Geopolitical Environment DESCRIPTION:Photo from Ulysmedia.kz\n\n\n\n\n\nThis full-day hybrid event will address a range of issues\, including the perceptions and impact of the war in Ukraine on Central Asia\, the impact of the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan on the region\, Central Asian countries’ domestic challenges\, and how the US could be better engaged in the region. \n\n\n\nWatch the recordings of the Central Asia Annual Security Workshop 2023 on the Central Asia Program Youtube channel following these links: \n\n\n\n\nKeynote speech by Alexander Cooley and Panel 1. The War in Ukraine: Perceptions from and Impact on Central Asia.\n\n\n\nPanel 2. The Taliban’s Afghanistan 2.0: What Impact on Central Asia?\n\n\n\nPanel 3. Central Asia’s Domestic Trajectories.\n\n\n\nPanel 4. What Role for the US in Central Asia?\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAGENDA URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/annual-security-workshop-central-asia-in-a-transformed-geopolitical-environmentannual-security-workshop/ LOCATION:Lindner Family Commons\, 6th floor GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs\, 1957 E St NW\, Washington\, 20052 CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/unnamed-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230316T103000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230316T114500 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230303T205445Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T190559Z UID:616526-1678962600-1678967100@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Evaluating Turkmenistan One Year after Dynastic Succession: What Has Happened under President Serdar Berdimuhamedov?  DESCRIPTION:In March 2022\, Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s succession to the presidency of Turkmenistan following his father Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s retirement raised questions about whether this could open the door to even limited political\, economic\, and social reforms\, as well as whether the international community\, including the United States and the European Union\, could seize the moment to strengthen their engagement with Turkmenistan. \n\n\n\nThree specialists on Turkmenistan\, Prof. Luca Anceschi\, Ms. Aynabat Yaylymova\, and Mr. Ruslan Tuhbatullin\, will assess Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s first year in power. At a time when Turkmenistan continues to experience significant economic and social challenges\, the speakers will discuss how daily life has been impacted by Serdar’s policies. They will also discuss domestic politics and social issues\, including the labor market\, education\, health\, food security\, and the environment\, as well as how the people of Turkmenistan see their rights and responsibilities and assess the role and the engagement of the international community in Turkmenistan. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPEAKERS \n\n\n\n\nLuca Anceschi teaches Central Asian Studies at the University of Glasgow\, where he also co-edits Europe-Asia Studies\, the world’s most established academic journal for Russian\, East European\, and Eurasian Studies. Educated in Napoli and Melbourne\, Dr. Anceschi is the author of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy – Positive Neutrality and the Consolidation of the Turkmen regime [Routledge\, 2009] and is currently completing a research monograph on the role of Eurasianism in the making of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy. His articles have been published on Europe-Asia Studies\, Demokratizatsiya\, Nationalities Papers and Central Asian Survey. Before joining the University of Glasgow\, Dr. Anceschi lectured in International Relations at LaTrobe University in Melbourne\, where\, between 2012 and 2013\, he held a Discovery Early Career Fellowship awarded by the Australian Research Council. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\nAynabat Yaylymova is Founder and Executive Director of Saglyk.org and Progres Foundation. Progres Foundation works to support various progressive initiatives that enhance the public’s access to information in Turkmenistan. Over the past 12 years\, Saglyk.org\, an initiative of Progres Foundation\, has been working to improve public health literacy in Turkmenistan. Progres.online is an online analytical journal that promotes nuanced understanding of societal trends in Turkmenistan by providing quality research and policy analysis. Before that\, Aynabat worked as Program Manager of the Europe and Central Asia Program at the Bank Information Center (BIC)\, a World Bank watchdog in Washington\, DC. In Turkmenistan\, she co-founded and led the Alliance for Responsible Community Action (ARCA)\, an organization dedicated to promoting civic education. She is an alumna of the first Central Eurasia Leadership Academy\, and from 2006 to 2008 was the manager of that program. CELA is a leading network of mid-career professionals and leaders from Central Asia\, the Caucasus\, and Afghanistan. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nRuslan Tuhbatullin is editor-in-chief at Chronicles of Turkmenistan (www.hronikatm.com) – one of the few independent news outlet\, covering human rights\, socio-political\, economic situation and other topics in Turkmenistan. He is the author of many analytical articles on the political situation in Turkmenistan. Since 2012 he has been a fulltime member of human rights organization Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights which is based in Vienna\, Austria. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nMODERATOR \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nSebastien Peyrouse \n\n\n\nDirector of the Central Asia Program\, and research Professor\, IERES\, George Washington University. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India and South Asia. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/evaluating-turkmenistan-one-year-after-dynastic-succession/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/28-02pr-2-2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230301T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230301T111500 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230217T202537Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241014T204110Z UID:615457-1677664800-1677669300@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Addressing Food Security in Central Asia: The cases of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan DESCRIPTION:Food security is a concern in some parts of Central Asia. In Turkmenistan\, food rationing and shortages have been reported regularly since at least 2017. In Tajikistan\, 1/3 of the total population is currently estimated to be food-insecure\, and the majority of the population spends between 70% and 80% of its income on food. \n\n\n\nFocusing on these two case studies of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan\, renowned specialists Ms. Jocelyn Brown Hall\, Dr. Suresh Babu\, and Amb. Allan Mustard will discuss the challenges to food security posed by the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic\, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine\, and climate change. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpeakers\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJocelyn Brown Hall\, Director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Liaison Office for North America based in Washington\, D.C. \n\n\n\nMs. Brown Hall comes from her previous position as Deputy Regional Representative for the FAO’s Regional Office for Africa based in Accra\, Ghana\, where she served from 2019 to 2021. In this capacity\, she oversaw 47 FAO country offices in Africa and guided their strategy and communications around food security\, agriculture\, climate change\, agri-food trade\, and animal and plant health\, among other matters. Prior to joining the FAO\, Ms. Brown Hall was with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) where she was appointed Deputy Administrator in the Foreign Agricultural Service\, and led the USDA’s $2 billion food and technical assistance programs in low- and middle-income countries.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Suresh Babu\, Head of Capacity Strengthening\, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)\, and Extraordinary Professor\, University of Pretoria\, South Africa. \n\n\n\nDr. Babu is the Capacity Strengthening Lead\, Asia for the USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy. He is guiding IFPRI’s regional and country programs in their institutional and human capacity-development activities. In this leadership position\, and as a collaborating researcher of the CGIAR’s research program on Climate Change\, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)\, Dr. Babu has conducted many national dialogs leading to the development of national food security and climate change policies of several developing countries in Africa and Asia including India\, Bangladesh\, Nepal\, Sri Lanka\, Tajikistan\, and Bhutan. Dr. Babu has trained several senior policy researchers and policymakers in South and Central Asian countries who are currently in leading policymaking positions\, directly influencing and shaping food and agricultural policies.   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAllan Mustard\, US ambassador to Turkmenistan from January 2015 to June 2019. A career Foreign Service Officer with the Foreign Agricultural Service\, Ambassador Mustard previously served as chief of the agriculture section at the US embassies in New Delhi\, Mexico City\, Moscow\, and Vienna; at the US Consulate General in Istanbul; and as Assistant Agricultural Attaché in Moscow\, USSR. Ambassador Mustard is a graduate of Grays Harbor College and the University of Washington\, holds an MS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign\, and a certificate in Russian from Leningrad State University. He speaks Russian\, German\, and basic Spanish. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nModerator \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSebastien Peyrouse\, Director of the Central Asia Program and research Professor\, IERES\, George Washington University. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India\, and South Asia. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/addressing-food-insecurity-in-central-asia-the-cases-of-tajikistan-and-turkmenistan/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/whatsapp-image-2023-06-16-at-4.17.43-pm.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230227T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230227T160000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230208T155303Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T185420Z UID:614103-1677510000-1677513600@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Narrating Decolonial Framing of Central Asian International Relations  DESCRIPTION:A virtual event where Dr. Marlene Laruelle and Dr. Timur Dadabaev will discuss the coloniality of knowledge on Central Asia and regional IR. \n\n\n\nIn the seminar Dr. Timur Dadabaev will reflect on his recent book Decolonizing Central Asian International Relations: Beyond Empires (Routledge\, 2021). The author will address the importance of understanding the coloniality of knowledge in the Central Asian region\, the features of regional international relations (IR)\, and the reconciliation of the Western\, Russian and regional approaches to narrating regional IR. Dr. Dadabaev calls for a greater input of regional Central Asian knowledge produced by scholars both within the region and the diverse international community who are culturally fluent enough to acknowledge the local specificity in understanding regional events. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPEAKER \n\n\n\nTimur Dadabaev\, PhD\, is a Professor of International Relations and the Director of the Special Program for Japanese and Eurasian Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities\, University of Tsukuba\, Japan. He published extensively His latest monographic books are Decolonizing Central Asian International Relations: Beyond Empires (Oxon: Routledge\, 2021)\, Transcontinental Silk Road Strategies: Comparing China\, Japan and Korea in Uzbekistan (Oxon: Routledge\, 2019)\, Chinese\, Japanese and Korean In-roads into Central Asia (Policy Studies Series\, Honolulu: East-West Center 2019)\, Japan in Central Asia: Strategies\, Initiatives\, and Neighboring Powers (NY: Palgrave Macmillan 2016) and Identity and Memory in Post-Soviet Central Asia (Oxon: Routledge\, 2015). \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMODERATOR \n\n\n\nMarlene Laruelle\, PhD\, is Director of the Institute for European\, Russian\, and Eurasian Studies; Director of the Russia Program; Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program; Co-Director of PONARS Eurasia; and Research Professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University. She works on political\, social\, and cultural changes in the post-Soviet space. Marlene’s research explores the transformations of nationalist and conservative ideologies in Russia\, nationhood construction in Central Asia\, as well as the development of Russia’s Arctic regions. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/narrating-decolonial-framing-of-central-asian-international-relations/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/screen-shot-2023-01-25-at-1.42.03-pm-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230125T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230125T190000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230118T030005Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T185452Z UID:613244-1674666000-1674673200@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Film Screening: Islomkhodja DESCRIPTION:The Central Asia Program and the American Uzbekistan Association are inviting you for a film screening of Islamkhodja \n\n\n\nAt the beginning of the 20th century there lived an enlightened\, innovative\, humanist figure—the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) of Khiva khanate\, Islamkhodja. At the age of 17\, Islamkhodja ruled the city of Hazorasp\, which was considered a strategically important commercial center of the khanate\, and at 26 he was appointed Prime Minister of the khanate. He visited the capital of the Russian Empire\, Saint Petersburg\, several times and held audiences with Russian Emperor Nicholas II. The great reformer Islamkhodja was mysteriously killed in 1913 and his assassination was never properly investigated. For over a century\, this case has remained unsolved. Today\, a young historian bases his investigation on the available facts and documents to make an impartial conclusion and identify the real culprits of Islomkhodja’s assassination. \n\n\n\nThe film will be followed by a Q&A session with the director. \n\n\n\nJahongir Ahmedov is a film director and screenwriter. He has directed 16 films and contributed to more than 30 films as a screenwriter. His work has been honored by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan. \n\n\n\nJahongir Ibragimov is a film operator. He began his first work with director Jahongir Akhmedov. From 2016 to 2020 he made the films Majnun\, Islomkhodja\, and Ilhak. In 2020\, he was a videographer of the Iternational Islamic Art Exhibition. \n\n\n\nZafar Yuldashev is a film producer\, and the founder and head of Ezgu Film and Kinomaniya Production Studios. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/film-screening-islomkhodja/ LOCATION:Elliott School of International Affairs\, Room 213\, 1957 E St NW\, Washington\, 20052 CATEGORIES:Cinema Club,Events Archive,Uzbekistan ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/a-2-islomxoja-eng-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230125T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230125T100000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230118T033252Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T185511Z UID:613253-1674637200-1674640800@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Infrastructure and Connectivity in the Pamir Mountains DESCRIPTION:Infrastructure in the Pamir Mountains often fuels the narrative of greater connectivity brought about by regional megaprojects such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). While roads promise to link the remote regions of the Pamirs to globalized dynamics\, a local-scale perspective shows more nuanced aspects of connectivity\, mobility\, and everyday understandings of these concepts. What do the BRI and CPEC mean for local inhabitants of the Pamirs in Tajikistan and Afghanistan? Who benefits from road construction? Is connectivity infrastructure opening up remote mountain regions? This panel will discuss their recent publications on the matter and present their long-term fieldwork observations and experiences in Afghanistan and Tajikistan’s Pamirs. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nSPEAKERS \n\n\n\nSuzy Blondin received her PhD in geography from the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) in 2021. Her doctoral dissertation examined issues of mobility to\, from\, and within Tajikistan’s Bartang Valley and the way urban-rural mobility helps the Bartangis to preserve intimate bonds with their valley despite pressing environmental risks and economic vulnerabilities. Her work brings forward the issue of involuntary immobility caused by low accessibility and low motility\, which threaten food security and access to healthcare and to socioeconomic opportunities. Her recent work has been published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies\, Mobilities\, and Geoforum. \n\n\n\nTobias Marschall (PhD\, Geneva Graduate Institute) is a researcher and photographer. His dissertation is titled “The Image of Remoteness: Alterity and Mobility in Eastern Afghanistan.” His thesis considers how an image of remoteness is refracted along migration pathways in eastern Afghanistan. Between 2015 and 2019\, he grounded his visual ethnography in walking the rugged terrain of the Afghan Pamirs\, attending to migrants’ Central Asian nodes of movement and participating in their online extension. \n\n\n\nTill Mostowlansky is a research professor in anthropology and sociology at the Geneva Graduate Institute. He is the author of Azan on the Moon: Entangling Modernity along Tajikistan’s Pamir Highway (University of Pittsburgh Press\, 2017)\, co-editor of Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia (University of Hawaii Press\, 2022) and the principal investigator of the Swiss National Science Foundation-funded project “Quiet Aid: Service and Salvation in the Balkans-to-Bengal Complex” (2022–2027). \n\n\n\nModerator\, Mélanie Sadozaï \n\n\n\nPost-doctoral fellow at IERES (2022–2023). Her work\, based on ethnographic methods and extensive fieldwork since 2014\, focuses on cross-border relations in remote areas of Afghanistan and Tajikistan in the Pamir Mountains. Her research interests include everyday life along the border\, remoteness and connectivity in high mountain regions\, relations between the Taliban and other Central Asian governments\, and geographical history of the border and the Pamirs. She has published academic pieces in the Journal of Borderlands Studies\, Problems of Post-Communism and the Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/infrastructure-and-connectivity-in-the-pamir-mountains/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/dsc_0608.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230123T093000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230123T160000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230113T222453Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T185532Z UID:613045-1674466200-1674489600@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Bolashak Fellows Conference DESCRIPTION:The Central Asia Program (CAP) has hosted 16 Bolashak Visiting Fellows pursuing a tailor-made training program in Leadership in Higher Education Management. As their time at GW is coming to a close\, please join us to meet them\, to learn from their experience in the US\, to hear about their key findings\, and get to know more about the educational challenges facing Central Asia.\n\n\n\nJoin us for a Bolashak Fellows Conference \n\n\n\nWelcome coffee and light refreshments will be provided during the day \n\n\n\nFull Conference Program \n\n\n\n9:30-10AM Welcome Speech: Marlene Laruelle\, Director IERES; Marat Sapargaliyev\, representative of Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the USA \n\n\n\n10-11AM Panel I: Innovation in Teaching Methods for Kazakhstani Universities \n\n\n\nChair: Assylzat Karabayeva\, PhD in International Relation\, CAP fellow\, IERES \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n1. Nauzhan Didarbekova\, Deputy Director for the National Testing Center of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan \n\n\n\n2. Dinmukhamed Kelesbayev\, Dean of the Faculty Economics of Khoja Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University \n\n\n\n3. Alibek Ydyrys\, Director of the Biomedical Research Centre at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University \n\n\n\n4. Dina Sabirova\, Senior Lecturer at Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n11AM-12PM Panel II: Internationalization of Kazakhstani Universities \n\n\n\nChair: Karlygash Kabatova\, CAP coordinator\, IERES \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n1. Guzyal Zada\, Senior Manager at Satbayev University \n\n\n\n2. Sabina Manapova\, Senior Manager at the Institute of Distance Education and Professional Development\, Satbayev University \n\n\n\n3. Samal Kazybayeva\, Head of the International Cooperation Office at the Toraighyrov University in Pavlodar \n\n\n\n4. Arslan Ivashov\, Assistant professor at the Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications \n\n\n\n12-1PM Lunch Break \n\n\n\n1-2PM Panel III: Ethics and Leadership in Higher Education \n\n\n\nChair: Catherine Donovan\, Program Coordinator\, IERES \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n1. Aigul Sarenova\, Dean of General Education at Satbayev University \n\n\n\n2. Gaini Seitenova\, Chair of the Mechanics and Oil and Gas Department at the Toraighyrov University \n\n\n\n3. Kazyna Bekbenbetova\, Director of the Department of Educational\, Social Work\, and Youth Policy at the Kazakh National Pedagogical University \n\n\n\n4. Sholpan Kalkabayeva\, Methodologist at kindergarten in Astana. \n\n\n\n2-3PM Panel IV: Inclusion and Sustainability Issues in Higher Education \n\n\n\nChair: Sebastien Peyrouse\, Research Professor\, Central Asia Program\, IERES \n\n\n\nSpeakers: \n\n\n\n1. Ainur Seilkhan\, Senior Lecturer at Abay Kazakh National Pedagogical University \n\n\n\n2. Madina Yussubaliyeva\, Senior Research Manager at D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University \n\n\n\n3. Mussa Turdalyuly\, Associate Professor in the Department of Software Engineering at the Kazakh National Research Technical University \n\n\n\n4. Aida Baibotanova\, head of kindergarten in Astana URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/bolashak-fellows-conference/ LOCATION:Lindner Family Commons\, 6th floor GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs\, 1957 E St NW\, Washington\, 20052 CATEGORIES:Conferences,Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image0-edited-1.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230119T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230120T170000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20230110T221823Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241014T191238Z UID:612961-1674122400-1674234000@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Dungans in Central Asia: History\, Culture\, Pedagogy DESCRIPTION:RSVP\n\n\n\n\nAmong the large and small peoples inhabiting Central Asia\, the Hui or Dungan occupy a special place. Dungans are Sunni Muslims who moved to the Semirechye region\, spanning southeastern Kazakhstan and northeastern Kyrgyzstan\, in the 1870s after the defeat of the anti-Qing uprising in China. Today Dungans live mostly in Kyrgyzstan\, Kazakhstan\, Uzbekistan\, and Russia\, and have kept their unique culture alive over the generations. \n\n\n\nThese events will help familiarize the American public with how Dungan culture\, at the crossroads of Central Asian and Chinese cultures\, still preserves its own unique identity. Join us to discover Dungan crafts\, painting\, and history\, and participate in a workshop on the most famous Dungan food\, the lagman! \n\n\n\nFull Program \n\n\n\nThursday\, January 19\, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. \n\n\n\nConference: “Dungans in Central Asia\,” Room #602\, Elliott School of International Affairs \n\n\n\nFriday\, January 20\, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. \n\n\n\nExhibition: “Dungans in Central Asia\,” 2nd floor\, Elliott School of International Affairs \n\n\n\nJanuary 20\, 2:00–5:00 p.m. \n\n\n\nWorkshop: Dungan arts & crafts and food & drink\, 2nd floor\, Elliott School of International Affairs \n\n\n\nThe Conference Speakers: \n\n\n\nAbubakir Vointse – Chairman of the Kazakhstan Dungan Society\, member of the Order of Kurmet\, Member of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan; he has published several academic works on Dungans and organized exhibitions of Kazakh Dungan writers and artists. \n\n\n\nIsmaeva Rakhima – Doctoral candidate in philological sciences\, Director of the Hueizu Public Foundation for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage\, Editor-in-Chief of the Dungan-language online newspaper Hueizu bo. \n\n\n\nSaule Abisheva – Professor of Philology\, Chair of the Department of Russian Language and Literature at the Abai Kazakh National Pedagogy University; she has widely published on 20th-century Russian and Kazakh poetry. \n\n\n\nRimma Massyrova – Professor of pedagogy\, named 2007 College Instructor of the Year by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan; she has published widely on ethnopedagogy. \n\n\n\nDina Sabirova  \n\n\n\nReceived her PhD in 2016 from the Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University and was awarded the jubilee medal commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan. She was the 2017 winner of the state scientific scholarship for young scientists\, and named Best University Teacher in all Kazakhstan in 2021. \n\n\n\nKazyna Bekbenbetova \n\n\n\nDirector of the Department of Educational\, Social Work\, and Youth Policy at Kazakh National Pedagogical University\, and has over 20 years of experience in education. She is the author of four curricular guidelines on social development and youth policies in use at Abai University. \n\n\n\nModerator\, Sebastien Peyrouse \n\n\n\nResearch Professor\, Central Asia Program\, IERES\, George Washington University  and a Senior Fellow with the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China relations. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India and South Asia URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/dungans-in-central-asia-history-culture-pedagogy/ LOCATION:Elliott School of International Affairs\, 6th floor\, 1957 E Street NW\, Washington\, DC\, 20052\, United States CATEGORIES:Cultures and Societies,Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/u-istokov.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20221207T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20221207T110000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20221130T152210Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T185601Z UID:610598-1670407200-1670410800@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Book talk with the author of Social Innovations in Post-Soviet Countries DESCRIPTION:Author Bakhrom Radjabov posits that analyses of developments in Central Asia\, the South Caucasus\, and Eastern Europe often overlook the emergence of new social practices on the micro level. In his new book he evaluates how old\, inefficient systems may be replaced and can also disrupt social\, economic\, entrepreneurial\, and governance systems. As part of this\, he examined Social Innovation Projects (SIPs) supported by various organizations in post-Soviet countries and will present his findings\, including mapping of organizations supporting SIPs\, the evolution of the social innovation concept in the post-Soviet context\, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpeaker\, Bakhrom Radjabov \n\n\n\nAdjunct Professor at Webster University in Tashkent\, Uzbekistan\, where he teaches MA coursework in Education and Innovation. His research interests include social innovations\, political economy\, migration\, and development issues. He has been a participants in the Voices from Uzbekistan Fellowship at the Elliott School of International Affairs of GWU and is currently the Asia Global Fellow at the Asia Global Institute at Hong Kong University. \n\n\n\nModerator\, Sebastien Peyrouse \n\n\n\nResearch Professor\, Central Asia Program\, IERES\, George Washington University and a Senior Fellow with the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China relations. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India and South Asia. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/book-talk-with-the-author-of-social-innovations-in-post-soviet-countries/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/book-cover-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20221206T093000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20221206T224500 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20221201T165935Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T185638Z UID:610647-1670319000-1670366700@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Central Asia: A Source of Energy for the 21st Century DESCRIPTION:Three decades after independence\, Central Asia continues its impressive path of economic development. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves throughout the global energy markets. Today\, the EU faces a grim reality of reliance on Russian energy exports\, particularly natural gas. In the short term\, alternative suppliers of current energy\, including gas\, coal\, and nuclear\, must be found to meet Europe’s demand for affordable power and ample baseload. \n\n\n\nViable alternatives capable of quelling energy shortages exist around the world. The former Soviet Central Asian Republics — Kazakhstan\, Kyrgyzstan\, Turkmenistan\, and Uzbekistan — are rich in hydrocarbons\, hydro energy\, coal\, and other natural resources. Its leaders understand the potential of newfound energy opportunities for the 21st century and are willing to play their role in stabilizing global energy markets. The immediate opportunities for Central Asia won’t last forever and underscore the urgency of this analysis. \n\n\n\nThis report analyzes opportunities for Central Asia to expand its energy-exporting capabilities\, fortifying and assuaging a disrupted international energy supply chain that reels from Russian aggression. The report\, co-authored by Dr. Ariel Cohen\, Wesley A. Hill\, and Daniel Tomares\, provides four axes of analysis: 1) the potential of Central Asia to meet international energy demand\, 2) the infrastructure to realize these initiatives\, 3) the geopolitical challenges for the region\, and 4) whether proximity and ties to Russia and China pose obstacles to the development of partnerships. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nSPEAKERS \n\n\n\nKairat Umarov is a career diplomat for the Republic of Kazakhstan. He is currently serving as the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. Prior to this appointment\, he served as the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United States between January 2017-October 2022. His career spans over two decades during which he has served as Minister-Counselor at Kazakhstan’s Washington\, DC embassy (1998-2003)\, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (2009-2013); Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States (2013-2016) and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Austria (2020-2022). During his long tenure in Washington\, Ambassador Umarov has continued to emphasize cooperation with the U.S. in the areas of economic development and investment. He has met with civil society groups and discussed religious freedom in Kazakhstan and has served on panels in Washington\, D.C. on Kazakhstan’s economic and political influence in the region. \n\n\n\nDr. Ariel Cohen\, Senior Fellow with the International Tax and Investment Center and Director of the Energy\, Growth and Security Program. He also serves as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Dr. Cohen is an internationally renowned expert on energy policy\, Russia/Eurasia\, Eastern and Central Europe\, and the Middle East. He is a recognized authority on political and security risk management; economic development\, investment policy; the rule of law; crime and corruption; market entry strategies; and other aspects of state/business relations. \n\n\n\nWesley Alexander Hill\, Research Analyst and International Program Manager for the Energy\, Growth\, and Security Program at the International Tax and Investment Center. Wesley is an accomplished foreign policy professional and expert on energy policy\, security studies\, grand strategy\, Chinese politics\, Sino-American relations\, Sino-African relations\, and Sino-Eurasian relations. Wesley serves as a contributor and has been published in Forbes\, New Lines\, Voice of America\, and the Nomura Research Group. Mr. Hill has also been a CLFP fellow at The National Bureau of Asian Research (2019-2020). \n\n\n\nDaniel Witt is the President of the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC)\, which he helped found in September 1993. Mr. Witt has been working to promote free markets and helping to lower the barriers to tax\, trade\, and investment in transition economies for over 30 years. Having worked with 85 countries\, he has co-developed a unique neutral table to bring together the public sector\, private sector\, and academics to advance pro-investment economic policy reforms. Prior to assuming the duties as President of ITIC\, Mr. Witt was Executive Director of the Tax Foundation\, the oldest tax and budget research organization in the United States. Prior to joining the Tax Foundation\, Mr. Witt was Vice President and Director of Membership with Citizens for a Sound Economy\, a 250\,000-member Washington-based public interest group. He also served as a consultant to President Reagan’s Commission on Privatization. \n\n\n\nModerator\, Sebastien Peyrouse \n\n\n\nResearch Professor\, Central Asia Program\, IERES\, George Washington University and a Senior Fellow with the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China relations. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India and South Asia. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/central-asia-a-source-of-energy-for-the-21st-century/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/pages-from-central-asia-21-century-energy-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20221103T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20221103T110000 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20221028T153551Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T185702Z UID:600846-1667469600-1667473200@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:China’s Genocide Against Uyghurs DESCRIPTION:Millions of Uyghurs are suffering from unspeakable atrocities at the hands of the Chinese government\, including forced sterilization of young women\, enforced separation of families and placement of children in state orphanages\, and the mass detention of more than one million people since 2017 in detention camps and forced labor camps. Uyghurs are also being transferred to factories in China proper and used as modern-day slaves. Uyghurs in the diaspora are speaking out to be the voice of those voiceless and defenseless Uyghurs back home. Why is China trying to annihilate Uyghurs? What can we do to stop China’s genocide of the Uyghurs? \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPEAKERS \n\n\n\nTursunay Ziyawudun is a former Uyghur detainee from one of the concentration camps in Ghulja\, China. She was taken to there in April of 2017 and was released after a few months due to severe health problems\, but she was detained in March of 2018 for a second time. Due to her Kazakh husband’s and the Kazakhstan government’s help\, she was released from the camp in December 2018 and was allowed to go to Kazakhstan to be reunited with her husband in 2019. She is continuing her fight for justice here in the US. \n\n\n\nKalbinur Gheni is an activist who has been living in the United States since 2019. She uses social media and traditional media to advocate for her sister\, Renagul Gheni\, who is being held in a concentration and labor camp in China. Kalbinur’s sister Renagul had been sentenced to 17 years in prison for observing religious rites after the death of their father and for keeping a copy of the Qur’an in her possession. She continues her fight for justice for her sister and millions of other innocent Uyghurs who are in the camps who are still facing constant transnational repression. \n\n\n\nDilyar Seypedin was born in Ghulja\, East Turkistan. After graduating from university\, he came to the United States in 2014 for the purpose of studying abroad. Since 2017\, Dilyar has dedicated himself to participating in various human rights activities and marches to defend the human rights of Uyghurs. Since 2021\, his father was arrested and sent to a concentration camp\, Dilyar has been working hard to peacefully appeal to the Chinese government to release his detained father and other Uyghurs. He attended the hunger strike in front of the White House from September 19 to 21\, 2022 in order to raise awareness of the Uyghur Genocide.  \n\n\n\nModerator Elfidar Iltebir \n\n\n\nElfidar\, President of the Uyghur American Association (UAA)\, was born in Urumchi\, East Turkistan and grew up in Istanbul\, Turkey until immigrating to the US in 2000. She has a BA in Marketing from George Mason University and over 20 years of marketing and project management experience. As the daughter of a prominent Uyghur writer and journalist\, she is an active member of the Uyghur community and an outspoken human rights activist. She is fluent in English\, Uyghur\, and Turkish. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/chinas-genocide-against-uyghurs/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/uyghur-1.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20221101T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20221101T101500 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20221025T200323Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T185728Z UID:600684-1667293200-1667297700@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:The New Russian Exile: Russian Migration to Central Asia and the South Caucasus DESCRIPTION:Russia’s war on Ukraine has caused massive waves of outmigration of its citizens to the countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus. These migration flows are highly fluid and are having a powerful impact on the receiving states\, both on their governments and societies. The sudden influx of Russian immigrants has stimulated social and political tensions among Russia’s neighbors. What is the future for these new immigrants? Will they stay\, and how are local societies in the receiving states reacting to their presence? The panel will discuss the ongoing developments around Russian migration to Central Asia and the South Caucasus\, compare the situations in Georgia\, Kazakhstan\, and Kyrgyzstan\, and share thoughts on the political\, economic\, and social implications of this new Russian exile. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nSPEAKERS \n\n\n\nAlima Bissenova is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Nazarbayev University. She specializes in urban anthropology\, anthropology of Islam\, postcolonial studies\, and intellectual history. She has published her work in English and Russian in the journals Religion\, State\, and Society; Europe-Asia Studies; AB Imperio; Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie; Sotsiologiya Vlasti. \n\n\n\nShota Kakabadze is a Junior Policy Analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics. He has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Tartu (Estonia)\, where he also obtained his Master’s degree in European Union–Russia Studies. During his doctoral studies he was a Swedish Institute Research Fellow at Uppsala University’s Institute of Russian and Eurasian Studies\, as well as a Junior Researcher in International Relations at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu. \n\n\n\nYan Matusevich is a PhD candidate in cultural anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His doctoral research is on the experiences of Russian exiles who have relocated to Central Asia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He has previously worked on transnational migrant communities linking Central Asia to Russia\, Turkey\, and South Korea. He holds an MSc in Migration Studies from the University of Oxford and completed his undergraduate studies in political science at Bard College. \n\n\n\nMODERATORS \n\n\n\nStephen Jones is Director of the Program on Georgian Studies and Professor of Modern Georgian History at Ilia State University. \n\n\n\nNargis Kassenova is Senior Fellow and Director of the Program on Central Asia at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies (Harvard University). URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/the-new-russian-exile-russian-migration-to-central-asia-and-the-south-caucasus/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/63278815_1005.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20221027T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20221027T111500 DTSTAMP:20260921T105321 CREATED:20221021T201333Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241015T185755Z UID:600207-1666864800-1666869300@centralasiaprogram.org SUMMARY:Book Launch "Uyat and the Culture of Shame in Central Asia" DESCRIPTION:This panel proposes an interdisciplinary look at the culture of shame in Central Asia and evaluates its role in the regulation of social and political interactions in the region. Contributors will discuss how ‘uyat’ relies on patriarchal and hierarchical gender norms that negatively affect women and queer bodies through the taboo of sex education in Kazakhstani schools\, favored heteronormativity\, and the compliance of parents to give their first born to adoption to the husband’s parents. Yet\, some authors will argue that these norms are challenged by young generations. Finally\, the panel will touch upon the role of shame in Kazakhstani politics as a form of accountability in the absence of genuine political competition. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPEAKERS \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKarlygash Kabatova is a Researcher and Advocate for Youth Sexuality Education\, in Astana\, Kazakhstan and Washington D.C.\, USA. \n\n\n\nMoldir Kabylova is a PhD candidate in Social Policy at University of Nottingham. Her research focuses on women’s employment\, welfare state\, culture and gender. She holds masters degree from University of York. \n\n\n\nZhibek Kenzhebaeva is a Primary School and Middle School Counselor at BIS (Bishkek International School). \n\n\n\nElena Kim is a professor of Social Sciences at the American University of Central Asia\, Bishkek Kyrgyzstan. She is currently a visiting psychology professor at Bard college\, New York. Elena’s teaching and research focus is on gender and international development\, gender-based violence\, and gender politics in Central Asia. \n\n\n\nMariya Levitanus is a Lecturer at the School of Health in Social Science\, the University of Edinburgh. She received her Doctorate in Psychotherapy from the University of Edinburgh in 2020. Previous and upcoming publications have focused on the role Soviet discourses in the narratives of queer people in Kazakhstan\, queer emigration and queer activism in Kazakhstan and Russia. \n\n\n\nHélène Thibault is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Nazarbayev University and member of the Political Economy of Education Research (PEER) Network. Her research focuses on the politics of Central Asia as well as gender and religious identities. \n\n\n\nModerator\, Sebastien Peyrouse \n\n\n\nResearch Professor\, Central Asia Program\, IERES\, George Washington University and a Senior Fellow with the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China relations. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia\, economic and social issues\, Islam and religious minorities\, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China\, India and South Asia. URL:https://centralasiaprogram.org/event/book-launch-uyat-and-the-culture-of-shame-in-central-asia/ CATEGORIES:Events Archive ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/978-981-19-4328-7.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR