Annual Uyghur Studies Conferences
First International Conference on Uyghur Studies: History, Culture, and Society
Central Asia Program
Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies
Elliott School of International Affairs
The George Washington University
Washington, D.C.
September 25-27, 2014
The Uyghurs are one of the ten most populous stateless nations in the world. While they have a long history of cultural accomplishments and political influence, they have remained marginal in international scholarship given their ambiguous position both in regional studies and in geopolitics. Nonetheless, given their contribution to global and regional, historical and cultural processes, there has developed a transnational community of scholars whose research is focused on the Uyghur people’s history, culture, and society. This conference is the first attempt to bring together a broad spectrum of this international community of scholars, drawing from the academic communities of the Americas, Russia, Turkey, and elsewhere in Europe and Asia. Hopefully, it will serve as a basis for future transnational collaboration on the history, culture, and society of Uyghurs throughout the world.
