YDN Feature: Yale launches Central Asia Initiative
The Central Asia Initiative was recently featured in the Yale Daily News.
By Baala Shakya, Yale Daily News, 9:56 PM, Oct. 14, 2024
This semester, the Yale MacMillan Center launched its multiyear Central Asia Initiative.
The initiative was introduced to the public at a panel discussion during Yale @ Climate Week. It is a collaborative effort between the European Studies Council, the Council on Middle East Studies, the Council on East Asian Studies and the Program in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies — all housed at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale.
The initiative seeks to cultivate a new generation of scholars and policymakers who are equipped to address Central Asia’s multifaceted history and culture and its connections to the wider world.
“Drawing on the diverse and deep expertise of Yale faculty, the Central Asia Initiative aims to bring the region’s importance into focus for outsiders who might not otherwise recognize it,” said Molly Brunson, an associate professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures. “It also aims to foster increased interdisciplinary dialogue between scholars and students of Central Asia from within the region and outside of it.”
The region of Central Asia encompasses parts of western China and the former Soviet Union as well as modern-day Afghanistan and some areas in Iran and the Caucasus.
While connected to many world regions, Brunson noted that Central Asia often falls at the margins of many fields of study in the Western academy.
“From its early role as the forging ground of Eurasian political culture and non-Western philosophy to its contemporary significance as a crucial link in global networks of trade and resource exchange, Central Asia has played a critical yet often unrecognized role in the making of the world as we know it,” said Brunson.
Brunson noted that the Central Asia Initiative is a response to broader changes at Yale and in the field of Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, or REEES.
For the past two decades, Brunson has observed increased interest in Central Asian studies. Especially in recent years with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, scholars have focused their research on the spaces beyond those occupied by the Russian Empire and the former Soviet Union.
Claire Roosien, an assistant professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, stressed that while Central Asia should not be conflated with Russia, the history of Russian colonization in the region means that Russian history “cannot be understood without also understanding Central Asia.”
Roosien teaches a history seminar called “Introduction to Modern Central Asia” — one of the few courses offered by Yale about the region. Roosien, along with professors Samuel Hodgkin and Nari Shelekpayev, is among the three junior faculty members hired by Yale in recent years to strengthen the University’s scholarship of Central Asian language, culture and history.
Uniting faculty from multiple departments, disciplines and historical periods whose research is relevant to Central Asia, Roosien sees the Central Asia Initiative as an opportunity to foster serious, coordinated dialogue among faculty members and students. She envisions Yale becoming “a real hub for Central Asian studies.”
Beyond promoting scholarship in the field, the Central Asia Initiative also promises to provide a home for the Central Asian community at Yale and those who are interested in the region more broadly.
Asian Crossroads at Yale, or ACY, which has collaborated with REEES and various departments on Central Asian topics, sees the new initiative as a win.
“We’d love to see more resources devoted to Central Asia, to the study of the region, and then also to student organizations like ourselves devoted to the region,” said Jed Devillers ’26, a co-founder of ACY. “The University has made great strides in terms of putting forth the Macmillan Center and supporting the Central Asia Initiative.”
Umid Usmanov ’26, another co-founder of ACY, told the News that he is happy to see the University sharing ACY’s goal of cultivating interest in Central Asia and enabling students to better understand the region’s cultural richness.
Usmanov hopes that an increased demand for Central Asian studies will prompt the University to offer more classes and allow students to eventually earn a certificate in Central Asian studies.
This year, the initiative aims to build an on-campus network of Central Asian scholars through co-sponsored events, workshops and further collaborations with student organizations like Asian Crossroads at Yale.
The first Central Asia Initiative event of the semester is scheduled for Nov. 20, featuring writer and journalist Shahzoda Nazarova Samarqandi.
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2024/10/14/yale-launches-central-asia-initiative/