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ANNUAL REPORT

Welcome to the first ACMS Annual Report, available to all ACMS members as well as “friends of Mongolia” who support the ACMS mission of promoting cooperation and expanding opportunities for engagement among academics and researchers in Mongolia and the United States.

Presented in “alphabetical format,” the intent is to provide a “plain English” version of what ACMS does and how it does it, with a special focus on 2017. Hopefully, this report will help expand understanding about ACMS to its members, stakeholders, donors and others.

As always, comments and questions are welcome – please do join in this effort to make ACMS a better organization!

AWARDS

ACMS Fellow Peter Bittner from the University of California-Berkeley received the David Teeuwen Student Journalism Award for his impressive on-line video City of Smoke: Air Pollution in the Land of the Eternal Blue Sky.


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BOOKS

ACMS’s partnership with Asia Foundation’s “Books for Mongolia” program concluded in 2017.

Over the course of the program over 120,000 books were donated to kindergartens, secondary schools, universities, libraries, and government and nongovernmental organizations throughout Mongolia.

In association with that program, ACMS organized activities for children and students to promote reading and worked with the National Library of Mongolia to deliver library trainings in Ulaanbaatar as well as in two provincial capitals, Tsetserleg (Arkanghai province) and Bulgan (Bulgan province).

During 2017 ACMS helped with the purchase of books valued at more than $11,000, significantly strengthening the University of Pennsylvania’s Van Pelt-Dietrich Library holdings on Mongolia. The library now ranks as the fourth largest Mongolian-related collection in the United States.

ACMS also negotiated a remote access agreement with JSTOR, a library resource of academic books and primary resources that can now now be accessed by members through the ACMS website.

With a collection numbering more than 5,000, the ACMS library in Ulaanbaatar continues to maintain what is possibly the largest English-language collection of material on Mongolia located in Mongolia.

BUDGET

Here is a summary of the approved ACMS budget for 2017-2018:

INCOME:
Government Grants*: $290,000
Private Grants**: $112,000
Contracted Services: $22,000
Memberships/Service Donations: $12,000
Fund Raising Campaign: $5,000
TOTAL INCOME: $441,000

*Includes grants from Department of Education (Title VI), Department of State (ECA) and National Endowment for Humanities (NEH)
**Includes funding from the Henry Luce Foundation

EXPENSES
UB Office*: $91,000
US Salaries and Travel Costs**: $82,000
Contracted Services Expenses: $22,000
Luce Program Expenses: $40,000
NEH Summer Seminar Expenses: $140,000
Fellowship Awards: $30,000
Other***: $32,000
Contingency: $4,000
TOTAL EXPENSES: $441,000

*Includes rent, operating costs and Mongolian staff salaries
**Includes salaries of Executive Director, Country Director and Program Director
***Includes accounting, insurance and web maintenance

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CAORC CONNECTIONS

The fact that ACMS is part of a network of more than two dozen similar centers falling under the “umbrella” of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) provides many benefits and ensures that ACMS is part of a much broader network of similar centers located in all parts of the world.

Several years ago ACMS hosted the bi-annual international CAORC conference in Ulaanbaatar, providing opportunities for the directors of other CAORC partners to visit Mongolia. More recently, directors from within the CAORC network, including from a “sister CAORC center” in Cambodia, have visited Ulaanbaatar as part of an independent assessment of ACMS programs in Mongolia.

ACMS continues to coordinate closely with CAORC through its offices at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. In recent weeks ACMS has sought advice from CAORC on a new initiative aimed at informing members of Congress and their staffs on opportunities to strengthen ties between the United States and Mongolia.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Cultural heritage was an important theme across ACMS in 2017, funded in large part by a three-year, $450,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. The initiative focuses on grant writing as well as on developing and implementing research on projects that preserve and promote Mongolia’s valuable cultural resources. It has also worked to respond to growing concerns about the theft and smuggling of Mongolia’s unique cultural heritage artifacts.

One major project completed in 2017 involved introducing inventory technology and barcodes to improve inventory maintenance in Mongolia’s museums through a $21,900 grant from the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation managed by the United Sates Embassy in Ulaanbaatar.

While efforts focused on the National Museum of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar, outreach has included other parts of the country, including in Omnogobi, Bulgan and Bayan Ulgii. It also supported the Mongolian Museums Conference, which took place in Selenge in September 2017, with ACMS Cultural Heritage Coordinator Dr. Julia Clark playing a key role in guiding, shaping and implementing each of these events.

The main publication resulting from this program is titled Some Guidelines for Improving Inventory Methodology, published in both English and Mongolian and produced by ACMS Cultural Heritage Fellow Sandra Vanderwarf as well as D. Munkhtogoo and L. Boldbayar from the National Museum of Mongolia. An English and Mongolian language video was also created during 2017 to instruct museum staff on how to make the tags used to barcode inventory.

The ACMS Cultural Heritage Program also sponsored Mummies of Mongolia: A Special VIP Interpreted Event in partnership with the National Museum of Mongolia, providing a forum for experts on Mongolian archaeology to discuss recent mummy finds. During this event, invited VIP guests toured the special exhibit containing two important 1,000+ year old mummies and were able to ask questions directly from the experts.

Related Cultural Heritage programs undertaken in 2017 include a consultation in Khovd on sustainable tourism; attendance at multiple international conferences involving project staff; organization of a humanities reading and discussion group in Ulaanbaatar largely involving Mongolian scholars and students; and establishment of a Mongolian Researcher Registry.

COMMUNICATIONS

The ACMS newsletter This Month in Mongolian Studies was revived after a hiatus of several months, beginning with the September 2017 issue. Each issue features relevant news and announcements specifically related to ACMS, including notes on meetings, lectures and fellowships. Others sections provide information on job opportunities, fellowships sponsored by other organizations, and new books related to Mongolia.

Occasional issue-specific notices are distributed to ACMS members electronically. Members also sometimes reach out directly to ACMS staff in Mongolia or the United States – this is very much welcomed and we appreciate hearing from the membership on any issue at any time:

Jonathan Addleton, Executive Director: jaddleton@mongoliacenter.org
Tricia Turbold, Country Director: tricia@mongoliacenter.org
David Dettmann, Program Manager: ddettmann@mongoliacenter.org

COMPUTERS

ACMS donated several used computers to an Ulaanbaatar secondary school located in the Chingeltai ger district (Secondary School Number 17 headed by principal Mrs. B. Chimgee), a contribution that received favorable comment on the ACMS facebook page.


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DONATIONS

Thanks to the generosity of several ACMS members – as well as “friends of ACMS” – the December 2017 ACMS funding appeal raised more than $4,000, strengthening the ability of ACMS to support its lecture series, fellowships and a strong on-ground presence in Ulaanbaatar.


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EXCHANGES

ACMS regularly facilitates and supports a variety of student exchanges, providing opportunities for US students unfamiliar with Mongolia to make their first visit.

Such programs during 2017 included a summer visit by 33 ROTC cadets from various American universities and spring travel involving 25 students and faculty from the University of Pennsylvania.

Also, the ACMS office in Ulaanbaatar provided logistic and other support to six Fulbright English language teaching assistants and numerous other researchers throughout the year.

During 2017 the ACMS office in Ulaanbaatar received approximately 200 e-mail requests from academics for information and assistance and attempted to be responsive to all of them. These range from requests for cultural or research information to queries on potential institutional affiliations as well as visa, travel and housing arrangements.

EXECUTIVE BOARD

The ACMS Executive Board is vital in shaping the strategic management and future direction of the organization.

During 2017, Bill Fitzhugh from the Smithsonian Institute continued to serve as Board President. Other Executive Board members include Paula DePriest (Vice President) and Meredith Giordano (Treasurer).

In late 2017/early 2018 the Executive Board registered two changes: Julian Dierkes from the University of British Columbia stepped down as Vice President and Elizabeth Endicott from Middlebury College stepped down as Secretary.

Outgoing Executive Director Charles Krusekopf was appointed to replace Julian Dierkes as Vice President, while a new Secretary needs to be appointed in 2018.

ACMS very much appreciates the services of Julian Dierkes and Elizabeth Endicott to the Executive Board – both have indicated their continued interest and support for ACMS, albeit in a different role.


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FELLOWS -- FROM MONGOLIA

Thanks to the generosity of the Henry Luce Foundation, ACMS awarded two fellowships, providing Mongolian citizens with the opportunity to study in the United States. The first went to J. Bayarsaikhan representing the National Museum of Mongolia, the second to Oyundelger Batchuluun from Dornod.

Both Fellows worked out of the Smithsonian Institute, providing an important opportunity to learn about SIDora, a cutting edge data management system focused on cultural preservation through digital database creation and management.

FELLOWS – TO MONGOLIA

ACMS Fellowships play a vital role in funding young scholars to undertake research in Mongolia. The list of ACMS Fellows from 2017 includes:

Ryan Burner (Louisiana State University), Climate Change and Grazing Regimes: Ecosystem Effects in Hustai National Park

Thomas Conte (Rutgers University), Exploring Winter Zhud’s Effect on Cooperation Among Dahad Nomadic Herders

Charlotte D’Evelyn (Loyola Marymount University), Regional Fiddles and Folksongs in Mongolia

Matthew Fuka (Purdue University), Gender and Activity Patterns in Early Iron Age Mongolia: An Analysis of Entheseal Remodeling and Osteoarthritis among the Xiongnu

Abigal Golden (Rutgers University), Can We Sustainably Fish for Endangered Species? A Case Study of the Mongolian Fishery for Taimen, the Largest Salmon in the World

Kip Hutchins (University of Wisconsin), Shadows in the Valley: Urban and Rural Music Education in Contemporary Mongolia

Kathleen Kuo (Indiana University), Mongolia’s Musical Landscapes: The Relation Between Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Representations of Mongolia

Jessica Madison (University of California-Santa Cruz), Golden Mountain, Iron Heap: Landscape, Empire and the Poetics of Extraction in Eastern Mongolia

Susan Powell (University of California-Berkeley), Creating Historic (20th Century) Mongolian GIS Data and Cartobibliography

Sandra Vanderwarf (National Museum of Mongolia), Implementing Inventory Systems at the National Museum of Mongolia


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INTERNS

ACMS supported several Cultural Heritage interns in 2017 including Alexandra Weiler (April-June), Amanda Muir (June-July) and Seth Clark (July-August).


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LANGUAGE TRAINING

Mongolian language programs continue to be part of the ACMS summer schedule in Ulaanbaatar and on-line instruction is also offered. The summer 2017 ACMS Intensive Mongolian language program involved six students.

Also, ACMS Mongolian Language Program Manager Tsermaa Tomorbaatar developed a curriculum for teaching Modern Mongolian in classical script, in turn supporting an intensive language program at the University of Pennsylvania involving 13 students.


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MAJOR DONORS

Core funding for ACMS comes from the US Department of Education (under its Title VI program) and the US Department of State (under its ECA program). It would be very hard for ACMS to sustain a significant on-ground presence in Ulaanbaatar without these grants.

Support from at least one additional significant donor is needed to sustain this presence. For 2017, that donor was the Henry Luce Foundation, emphasizing as it does preserving and protecting Mongolia’s Cultural Heritage.

Other donors providing important support during 2017 include the Asia Foundation (via its “Books for Asia” program) and the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar (via the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation).

Support from the ACMS memberships is also essential, especially because it comes without a specific “earmark” and can be used to help support the ACMS management platform which makes everything else possible.

Thank you for your continued support -- from the perspective of ACMS, every donation, no matter how small, is viewed as a major one and is very much appreciated!

MEDIA REFERENCES

ACMS was mentioned in several media outlets during 2017. Most notably the UK-based Guardian published an article on October 26, 2017 entitled, “Beyond Genghis Khan: How Looting Threatens to Erase Mongolia’s History”. The article included quotes from ACMS Cultural Heritage Coordinator Julia Clark and ACMS Cultural Heritage Fellow Sandra Vanderwarf.

US-based IT magazine Wired contacted ACMS as part of its fact-checking for an article published on October 21, 2017 titled “What Mongolian Nomads Teach Us About the Digital Future”.

Country Resident Director Tricia Turbold was interviewed by Bloomberg Television in Ulaanbaatar in December 2017, providing opportunities to talk about ACMS to interested viewers in Mongolia and beyond. The following month she was interviewed by Voice of Mongolia, again helping to introduce ACMS to a wider audience.

Previously, outgoing Country Resident Director Marc Tasse engaged in similar outreach, including a lengthy interview published in the Mongol Messenger on March 31, 2017 that was circulated still further by the Mongolian press agency Montsame.

The appointment of Jonathan Addleton (an Adjunct at Mercer University in Macon, GA) as the new US-based ACMS Executive Director became the catalyst for several local news articles about ACMS including in the Macon Telegraph, the Mercer student newspaper The Cluster, and the university magazine The Mercerian.

An article entitled “Glacier Recession in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia in 1990-2016” was posted on the on-line journal Geografiska Annalar: Series A (Physical Geography) on December 5, 2017. Co-author Caleb Pan credited his ACMS Summer Research Fellowship for supporting his research in Mongolia.

ACMS Fellow Ryan Burner was featured in Louisiana State University’s Museum of Natural Science Newsletter in October 2017.

ACMS was also referenced in several media sources for its contributions to researching the origins of the domesticated horse, including in Science Daily (“Precision Chronology Sheds New Light on the Origin of Mongolia’s Nomadic Culture”) on April 11, 2017 and Transitions on Line (“Radiocarbon Dating Suggests Mongolia was ‘Epicenter of Early Horse Culture’”) on April 12, 2017.


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OUTREACH

The ACMS office in Ulaanbaatar maintains regular contact with the United States Embassy, especially the Public Affairs section which is responsible for Embassy-supported cultural, academic and related programs in Mongolia. Also, ACMS maintains links with other Embassies in Ulaanbaatar as well as with various schools, libraries, museums and other institutions in Ulaanbaatar and beyond.

During late 2017, ACMS joined in a meeting in Ulaanbaatar involving the Provost and Dean of Library from Western Washington University with the Mongolian State University of Education.

In March 2017, former ACMS Country Resident Director Marc Tasse attended the ACMS Annual General Meeting in Toronto. During this trip he visited several ACMS stakeholders and funding partners in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. While in Pennsylvania, he joined with David Dettmann in meeting with faculty and staff at the Community College of Philadelphia, explaining to them research and other opportunities related to Mongolia.

During fall 2017 outgoing ACMS Executive Director Charles Krusekopf conducted outreach visits to Macalister College and the Luce Foundation. In addition, he visited Mercer University in Macon, GA where incoming Executive Director Jonathan Addleton serves as an Adjunct, taking the opportunity to talk to interested Mercer students about Mongolia.

In his new role as Executive Director, Jonathan Addleton met at the State Department in Washington, DC with newly appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (and former United States Ambassador to Mongolia) Jennifer Galt in December 2017, providing a useful opportunity to discuss ACMS programs aimed at promoting partnerships and people-to-people relationships.

During the same trip, he met with Mongolian language students at the Foreign Service Institute, scheduled to take up their new positions at the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar during 2018. One officer, keenly interested in Mongolia, will head the Public Affairs section, responsible for programs focused on culture and education.

Other outreach activities included conversations with the Mongolian Embassy including the Mongolian charge in Washington, DC; meetings at the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institute, also in Washington, DC; discussions in Boston with the current and formers heads of CAORC “sister institutions” focused on Iran and Afghanistan; and a meeting with ACMS institutional board member Tim May at the University of North Georgia.


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RESEARCH LAB

Thanks to former ACMS Fellows Dr. William Taylor, ACMS established the Bruce W. Morrison Research Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar. Named to honor his late uncle who inspired his career in archaeology, the lab rents equipment to scholars working in Mongolia. Available items include a 3D scanner, 3D printer and microscope, and more.

RESEARCH NOTES

Introduced in March 2016, the ACMS Research Mongolia Field Notes series helps highlight ACMS-associated research underway in Mongolia. Research Mongolia Field Notes published since that time include:

Blake Epstein (Ranney High School): Ikh Nart: An Archaeological Treasure Trove (January 2018)

Phillip Marzluf (Kansas State University): Linguistic Landscape Research: Ulaanbaatar (December 2017)

Ryan C. Burner (Louisiana State University): Amur Falcon Nesting Ecology: A Case Study in Land-Use Practices, Climate Change and Protected Areas of Central Mongolia (September 2017)

Pawel Szcap (University of Warsaw): Ulaanbaatar Studies and the Pursuit of Knowledge in the City Streets (August 2017)

Peter Bittner (University of California-Berkeley): Herder Vision: Bringing Audiences Closer to the Mongolian Experience Using 360 Video (February 2017)

Dimitri Staszewsk (Documentary photographer and filmmaker): Mongol Music Archive: Capturing Everyday Use of Traditional Music in the Daily Lives of Mongolian Herders (December 2016)

Marissa J. Smith (Princeton University): Language and Learning: What, and How, to Learn from One Another Through International Research Collaboration in Mongolia (November 2016)

Scott Parker (University of Utah): Gaming Addiction and Homeless Youth in Ulaanbaatar (October 2016)

William Taylor (Max Planck Institute): Investigating Mongolia’s Nomadic Origins Through the Study of Ancient Horse Remains (September 2016)

Aubrey Menard (Oxford University): Breastfeeding Across the World: Celebrating Mother’s Milk in Mongolia (August 2016)

Caleb Pan (University of Montana): From the Pleistocene to the Present: Climate-Induced Water Poverty in the Altai Mountains (June 2016)

Byoern Reichhardt (Humboldt University): Material Culture of the Kashaa: Fence Exigency in Ulaanbaatar’s Ger Districts (May 2016)


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SPEAKER SERIES

One of the most visible ways that ACMS interacts with both Mongolian and expatriate communities in Ulaanbaatar is through its regular lecture series, held at the Natsagdorj Public Library in downtown Ulaanbaatar. The Speaker Series is sponsored by ACMS as well as the Embassy-supported “American Corner”. Lectures delivered as part of this program during 2017 include:

Kip Hutchins (University of Wisconsin): On Wooden Horses: Musical Interactions Between Humans, Animals and others in Post Socialist Mongolia (December 2017)

Ariell Ahern (Oxford University): Disentegrations? Mega Projects and Narratives of State Legitimacy in the Gobi Desert (December 2017)

Jessica Madison (University of California-Santa-Cruz): Golden Mountain, Iron Heap: Poetic Ethnography of Extraction in Eastern Mongolia (November 2017)

Mari Valdur (University of Helsinki), One for Every Trouble: Establishing and Navigating Private Clinics in Ulaanbaatar (November 2017

Sainbileg Byambadorj (National Library of Mongolia): Changkya Qutuytu Rol-pa’i-rdo-rde: The Source of Lexical Sage and Its Influence to Mongolian Scriptura Translation (October 2017)

Kathleen Kuo (Indiana University): Mongolian Musical Memories and Moving Momentos: Audiovisual Archival Recordings as Cultural Heritage (October 2017)

Paul Mills (University of New England): Who Wins from Mining in Mongolia? (September 2017)

Pawel Szczap (University of Warsaw): Ulaanbaatar – The Ugly Duckling of Mongolia Studies (September 2017)

Reuven Amitai (Hebrew University): More than Meets the Eye: The Impact of the Mongols on the Arab Middle East (August 2017)

Jaime Bue (Indiana University): Mongolia’s International Investment Arbitration Experience in the Case of Khan Resources (August 2017)

Johanni Curtet (Routes Nomades) and Nominderi Shagdarsuren (Intangible Cultural Heritage Specialist): Anthology of Mongolian Khuumi: A Tool for the Transmission of Khoomi Heritage (July 2017)

Laura Goodman (Harvard University): Pediatric Surgical Need in Mongolia: Characterizing the Resources and Burden (May 2017)

Burmaa Dashbal and Sumjidmaa Sainnemekh (New Mexico State University): Rangeland Management in Mongolia (May 2017)

Bruno Grunau (Chief Program Officer and Research Engineer for the Cold Climate Housing Research Center [CCHRC] in Fairbanks, Alaska): Cold Climate Housing Research Center: Solutions for the Circumpolar North (March 2017)

Sandra Vanderwarf (Senior Cultural Heritage Preservation Research Fellow): National Museum of Mongolia Barcoding the Memory of Humankind: An Effort to Improve Security of Mongolia’s Cultural Heritage Collections (March 2017)

Enkhtungalag Chuluunbaatar (Co-founder of Ger Community Mapping Center): Better decision-making through community mapping in Mongolia (February 2017)

Attendance at Speaker Series events averages around 30-40 people and is sometimes much higher. AMCS recently started broadcasting the Speaker Series on Facebook live, expanding the reach of these events, both Mongolian and expatriate.

Recently ACMS recently acquired better high quality audio-visual equipment, which should improve the quality of the broadcast and recordings and expand listenership still further via internet.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The ACMS facebook page now has approximately 3,500 followers. This Month in Mongolian Studies has an electronic distribution list approaching 2,500 and is also accessible via facebook.

SUMMER PROGRAMS

ACMS programs during summer 2017 include a two-day Young Researcher Forum (August 2017) in partnership with the National University of Education and a week-long workshop on Wilderness Medicine Training (July 2017) in partnership with Aerie Backcountry Medicine.

Working with the Mongolian University of Education and Western Washington University, ACMS also helped organize a library workshop in Ulaanbaatar.

The Intensive Mongolian language programs continues as an essential part of the ACMS summer schedule in Ulaanbaatar.

SURVEYS

More than 40 ACMS members responded to a fall 2017 ACMS “satisfaction” survey. Overwhelmingly, responses indicated that ACMS stakeholders and constituents were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with ACMS services.


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TESTIMONIALS

"The spirit of the ACMS team makes it a home away from home, a vibrant workspace, a well curated library, a language school and a place to connect with Mongolians and others from around the world" (Sandra Vanderwarf)

"I have been a member of ACMS for approximately six years. ACMS staff and fellows, and the resources that they and ACMS as whole provide (including extensive networking advice and opportunities, the library, translations services, visa assistance, language training and logistics) have been indispensable to my research and life in Mongolia. They have opened opportunities for research and projects that I would not otherwise have, including funding and otherwise assisting several interns of mine to conduct in-country research in Mongolia. Aside from professional aspects, ACMS also has provided social events, wonderful friends and a strong sense of family" (Sabri Bromage)

"ACMS has been very helpful to me in undertaking my PhD at the University of New England. First, ACMS has very knowledgeable staff, well able to assist a visiting scholar, for example on visa issues. Second, Mongolia is a difficult environment if you don’t speak Mongolian, especially when you speak to government officials . . . ACMS has very good training capacity in the Mongolian language. Third, I love the library. It is a very good library in its own right, and there are few English language libraries in Mongolia where you an browse to your heart’s content. The Center has many old books you won’t find on the net! I also find the Center’s speaker series stimulating and the speakers frequently open my mind to different disciplines and ideas. The center’s location in the heart of the city is really great with lots of shops and good cheap restaurants within easy walking distance. It is also a cozy central place to work away when winter is doing its worst!" (Paul Mills)

TRANSITIONS

Fall 2017 was a time of transition, including the arrival of a new Country Resident Director in Mongolia and the appointment of a new Executive Director in the United States.

Tricia Turbold, formerly the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia, assumed her new position as ACMS Country Resident Director in October 2017, replacing former Country Resident Director Marc Tasse, who moved to a new position with People in Need (PIN), a Czech-based NGO working in Mongolia.

Jonathan Addleton, former United States Ambassador to Mongolia, assumed his new position as ACMS Executive Director at almost the same time, replacing former Executive Director Charles Kruskopf, who now serves on the ACMS Executive Board as Vice President.

David Dettmann, based at the University of Pennsylvania, continues to play a major role in providing essential management support to ACMS while also making major contributions to the upcoming ACMS summer seminar on Mongolia, funded by the National Endowment for Humanities and hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.


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ULAANBAATAR OFFICE

Mongolian staff in Ulaanbaatar working under the direction of Tricia Turbold remain key to ACMS success. We are located in downtown Ulaanbaatar as part of our very positive ongoing partnership with the Natsagdorj Public Library.

Staffing changes in 2017 include the addition of our Cultural Heritage Program Assistant, Tuvshinzaya Tumenbayar, who works closely with Cultural Heritage Advisor Coordinator Dr. Julia Clark in support of various ACMS cultural heritage initiatives. Tuvshinzaya was recently awarded an MA from the National University of Mongolia upon completion of her thesis titled Issues of Cultural Identity in Foreign Affairs.

ACMS members who visit Mongolia will be familiar with the rest of our outstanding Mongolian staff who served ACMS throughout 2017: Office General Manager Baigalmaa Begzsuren; Finance Manager Tsolmon Tumurchudur; Library Clerk and Media Assistant Gantungaa “Ganaa” Tumurchudur; and Mongolian Language Program Manager Instructor Tsermaa Tomorbaatar.

UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATIONS

From its founding in 2002, ACMS has been associated with multiple US-based universities, typically through the affiliation of its Executive Director or Program Director. Over the years, such associations have included the University of Pennsylvania, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Western Washington University and Austin College in Austin, Texas.

Mercer University in Macon, GA now joins that list, following the appointment of Jonathan Addleton (who is an Adjunct at Mercer) as the new US-based ACMS Executive Director. Mercer University’s new association with ACMS was highlighted in a special exhibit on Mongolia arranged by Mercer’s Tarver Library.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS FOR 2018

While the “center of gravity” for ACMS programs is heavily tilted toward Mongolia, ACMS in 2018 is sponsoring a “summer seminar” for K-12 teachers from across the United States at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Funded by the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH), Professor Morris Rossabi and ACMS Program Director Manager David Dettmann are playing a lead role in implementing this initiative, based partly on a similar program developed and implemented two years ago.

David Dettmann joined Professor Christopher Atwood in March 2018 in leading a group of 20 graduate students to Mongolia, this time as part of UPenn’s Wharton Lauder Institute.

For the fourth year in a row, ACMS was charged with developing a program for ROTC cadets in Mongolia in June 2018 to improve their cultural intelligence and appreciation for other countries before graduating as commissioned officers next year.

ACMS is also helping to organize the Mongolia segment of a study tour for California school teachers sponsored by the University of California at Berkeley. Other planned events for summer 2018 included an ACMS-sponsored Cultural Heritage conference in June.

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VISITORS

The ACMS office in Ulaanbaatar provided logistic and support services to some 140 foreign students, scholars and other visitors during 2017. For more than a few visitors, ACMS represents a “lifeline,” ensuring that they can more effectively undertake their research and further advance understanding between Mongolia and the United States.

Institutions represented by these visitors during 2017 include Claremont McKenna College, Colorado College, Columbia University, Connecticut College, Duke University, Harvard University, Indiana University, Knox College, Loyola University, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Rutgers University, Salisbury State University, San Diego State University, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Davis, University of California-Santa Cruz, University of Denver, University of Maine-Farmington, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of New Mexico, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Pittsburgh, University of Scranton, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wesleyan College.