The Cinema of Soviet Kazakhstan 1925–1991: An Uneasy Legacy. An interview with Peter Rollberg
In this interview, Peter Rollberg, one of the rare foreign specialists on Soviet Kazakh cinema, speaks about the first Kazakh filmmakers, their main themes and relations with the audience, and…
“Red Sands”: Reportage and Recipes through Central Asia from Hinterland to Heartland. An Interview with the Author
Caroline Eden, a travel and food writer, concludes her new book, Red Sands: Reportage and Recipes through Central Asia, from Hinterland to Heartland, with the words “You can learn a…
Nomads and Soviet Rule: Central Asia under Lenin and Stalin. An Interview with an Author
In his book, Nomads and Soviet Rule: Central Asia under Lenin and Stalin (I.B. Tauris, 2018), Alun Thomas examines the experiences of Kazakh and Kyrgyz nomads in the NEP (New…
Translating Central Asian Literature: An Interview with Shelley Fairweather-Vega
Shelley Fairweather-Vega is a translator from Russian and Uzbek. She collaborates with authors, academics, and activists around the world and has worked on projects as varied as Russian poetry, Uzbek…
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The Hungry Steppe: Famine, Violence, and the Making of Soviet Kazakhstan with author Sarah Cameron (video and transcript)
The Hungry Steppe: Famine, Violence, and the Making of Soviet Kazakhstan examines one of the most heinous crimes of the Stalinist regime, the Kazakh famine of 1 930–33. More than…
Best Books on Central Asia in 2018
New publications on Central Asia have appeared in genres ranging from history—The Rise and Fall of Khokand, 1709-1876 by Scott Levy, and Laboratory of Socialist Development by Artemy Kalinovsky—to security…
Kyrgyzstan from Belonging to Belief: An Interview with Julie McBrien
Julie McBrien’s book From Belonging to Belief: Modern Secularisms and the Construction of Religion in Kyrgyzstan is a detailed ethnographic study of Islam and secularism in post-Soviet Central Asia. Julie…
Transforming Post-Soviet Tajikistan: An Interview with Hélène Thibault
Hélène Thibault’s new book on Tajikistan, Transforming Tajikistan: State-Building and Islam in Post-Soviet Central Asia, takes readers on a journey through the transformation of Tajikistan’s state structures and national ideology since the…
Victoria Clement on Learning to Become Turkmen
Author Victoria Clement Victoria Clement is Eurasia Regional Analyst with Professional Solutions at the Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning, Marine Corps University in Quantico, VA. Her research focuses on…
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Bazaars: Power and Trade in Central Asia
Bazaars are hubs of entrepreneurial power in Central Asia, and that power is expressed both formally and informally. By immersing herself in the bazaars of Kyrgyzstan, Regine Spector learned that…
Joanna Lillis on the Secret World of Kazakhstan
Joanna Lillis is a well-known journalist who has been one of the main reporters on Central Asia over the past 13 years. Her book Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World…
Central Asia in the Era of Sovereignty The Return of Tamerlane? Book launch
On June 7, 2018, Central Asia Program hosted the book launch for Central Asia in the Era of Sovereignty: The Return of Tamerlane? The event featured some of the book’s…