Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus

Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

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Over the decade of its existence, the Program has hosted a large number of Visiting Scholars in Central Asian studies.  In some cases, the Program has funded these visits, while in others, the scholar's visits are made possible by outside funding sources.  These scholars are typically engaged in collaborative research with Harvard colleagues, and their visits are integral to their collaborative work.  The Visiting Scholars enrich the Harvard environment by giving talks, by advising Harvard students and scholars on developing research projects, and by offering different perspectives to scholarly discourse at Harvard. Click here for past visitors.

Current Visitors

Nozima Kamalova

Darya Lobina

Bulat Rakhimzyanov

Emil Souleimanov

Venerahan Torobekova

Nozima Kamalova
Legal Aid Society of Uzbekistan
Radcliffe Institute Fellow, 2006-2007
International Human Rights Law in Uzbekistan

Darya Lobina
Tashkent State Pedagogical University
Open Society Institute - Central Asian Research and Training Initiative (CARTI), Spring 2007
Correlation of Cognitive and Emotional Components in Ethnic Identity

Bulat Rakhimzyanov
Kazan State University, Russia
Fulbright Scholar, Davis Center, September 2006-March 2007
Eastern Policy of Muscovy of XV-XVI cc. in Western Historical Thought

Emil Souleimanov
Charles University, Prague
Fulbright Scholar, Davis Center, 2006-2007
The Shaping of Islamist Terrorism in Post-Soviet Eurasia: Assessing Present and Prospective Security Threats
http://www.emilsouleimanov.eu/

Venerahan Torobekova
Ataturk-Alatoo University (Bishkek)
Open Society Institute - Faculty Development Program (FDP), Spring 2007
Tribalism in Kyrgyzstan and Its Influence in Politics: History and Current Situation

Aida A. Alymbaeva
(Fall 2004, Spring 2006)

Aida Alymbaeva came to the Program in fall 2004 and spring 2006 through the Central Asian Research Initiative of the Open Society Institute.  She is currently an instructor in the Dept. of Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology at the American University-Central Asia (Bishkek), as well as a part-time researcher at the Aigine Cultural Research Center (Bishkek).  Her research has focused on changing kinship relations and the cultural and social consequences of increased migration, especially between the south and north of Kyrgyzstan. [Back to top.]

Yury V. Bosin
(Spring 2001)

Yury Bosin was a visiting scholar at the Program (through the Center for Middle Eastern Studies) with support from the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) in spring of 2001.  He has taught at Moscow State University's Department of Near and Middle Eastern Countries (1999-2005) and is currently pursuing a PhD in political science at the University of New Mexico.  His research has focused on internal and cross-border nationality problems in Afghanistan and Central Asia, multilateralism and integration in Central Eurasia, among other topics. [Back to top.]

Vera Exnerova 
(September 2005-January 2006)

Vera Exnerova is a PhD candidate in the Institute of Near Eastern and African Studies at Charles University in Prague. Her research project is entitled "Islam in Soviet Central Asia: The Impact of Soviet Atheistic Policies on Local Muslim Communities." The project addresses the state of Muslim society in the 1970s and 1980s, primarily in the Ferghana Valley. She will be at the Davis Center for five months, September 2005 through January 2006, under the auspices of the Fulbright program. [Back to top.]

Alisher Ilkhamov
(Spring 1997)

Alisher Ilkhamov was a Visiting Scholar with the Program in spring 1997 through support from the Ford Foundation.  His research has focused on materials from Uzbekistan and Central Asia more widely and has address issues of national identity, the social impacts of economic policies, Islamic movements, and non-democratic regimes, among many others.  He is currently a Research Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (Univ. of London) as well as a consultant with the Open Society Foundation. [Back to top.]

Maria Louw
(Spring 2001)

Maria Louw is an anthropologist currently based at the Department of Anthropology and Ethnography, University of Aarhus.  She has done extensive fieldwork in Central Asia, focusing in particular on everyday religion, morality and politics in the context of post-Soviet social change.  She was a visiting PhD candidate at the Program in spring 2001, while she was working on the dissertation which will appear later as a book on everyday Islam in Bukhara. [Back to top.]

Nazgul Mingisheva
(Spring 2003)

Nazgul Mingisheva was a visiting scholar with the program in spring 2003 through the Central Asia Research Initiative of the Open Society Institute.  Her research focuses on the political sociology and social anthropology of ethnicity in Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region.  Most recently, she conducted a project on "Regional Development Problems in Kazakhstan" as a visiting scholar at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University.  At home, she teaches at Karaganda State University in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. [Back to top.]

Victor A. Shnirelman
(1999-2000)

Victor Shnirelman was a visiting scholar at the Davis Center in 1999-2000. He is a leading researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow). Following his training and early work in history and archaeology, for the past two decades, his work has applied an anthropological approach to issues ethnicity and nationalism, politics of the past, social memory, racism, and xenophobia. Among his rich record of publication, the following are prominent book publications: "Byt' alanami: intellektualy i politika na Severnom Kavkaze v XX veke [Being Alans: Intellectuals and politics in the Northern Caucasus]," Moscow, 2006; "Voiny pamiati: mify, identichnost' i politika v Zakavkazie [The wars of memory: Myths, identity and politics in Transcaucasia]," Moscow, 2003; "The Myth of the Khazars: Intellectual Antisemitism in Russia, 1970s-1990s," Jerusalem, 2002; "The Value of the Past: Myths, Identity and Politics in Transcaucasia," Osaka, 2001; "Who gets the past? Competition for Ancestors among Non-Russian Intellectuals in Russia," Washington, DC/London, 1996. [Back to top.]

Mukaram Toktogulova
(Fall 2004, Spring 2006)

Mukaram Toktogulova came to the Program in fall 2004 and spring 2006 through the Central Asian Research Initiative of the Open Society Institute.  She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology of the American University-Central Asia (Bishkek).  Her research has focused on the traditional culture of the Kyrgyz and the various currents in the development of Islam and related religious practices in Kyrgyzstan following independence.  Her current research is on the relationship between changing national identity and use of language in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. [Back to top.]