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This Month in Mongolian Studies is a monthly listing of selected academic activities, resources and other material related to Mongolia. This list is based on information the ACMS has received and is presented as a service to its members. If you would like to submit information to be included in next month's issue please contact the ACMS at info@mongoliacenter.org This publication is supported in part by memberships. Please consider becoming a member of the ACMS, or renewing your membership by visiting our website at mongoliacenter.org/join.
Thank you!
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ACMS Announcements, News and Media References
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MONGOLIA FIELD SCHOOL 2024
In 2024 ACMS will be offering three courses for Mongolia Field School. All applicants who apply by the Priority deadline are given consideration for fellowship awards. Fellowships are available due to the generous support of the Henry Luce Foundation and other donors. Tuition: International participants - $1`750 Mongolian participants - ₮600`000 Tuition: International participants - $3`500 Mongolian participants - ₮1`200`000
The courses offer an educational travel experience blending academic insights and discussions with travel experiences that allow participants to interact with local people and locations off the usual tourist track. The applications for the field courses are open, please learn more about each course in detail or apply on our website, here.
ACMS held the first informational webinar for Mongolia Field School 2024 on December 14, 2023, during which attendees met with the instructors and learned about what the field courses entail directly from the instructors. Click the button below to watch the webinar recording. |
| | | ACMS FELLOWSHIP APPLICATIONS OPEN!
We are pleased to announce that ACMS Fellowships are now taking applications for 2024. As usual for 2024 we are offering 3 fellowship programs: Field Research Fellowship, Intensive Summer Mongolian Language Program Fellowship, and Library Fellowship.
Field Research Fellowship provides support of up to $4,000 to support short-term student, post-doctoral, or faculty field research in Mongolia in the Summer or Fall. The program is funded by the US State Department Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
Application deadline is February 15, 2024.
Intensive Summer Mongolian Language Program provides Intermediate-level students of the Mongolian language with an opportunity to enhance their communicative competence through systematic improvement of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. The program entails 8 weeks (June 5 to August 4, 2024) of intensive study, and will be taught by experienced Mongolian language teachers. Fellowships are available only for U.S. citizens.
Application deadline is March 1, 2024.
Tuitions due on May 1, 2024.
https://www.mongoliacenter.org/fellowships-intensive-summer-mongolian-fellowship
Library Fellowship supports advanced US graduate students, faculty members, or professionals in library and information sciences from colleges and universities to conduct short-term library development projects and/or research in Mongolia for a period of up to 12 weeks. The program is funded by the US State Department Education and Cultural Affairs Bureau through a grant by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
Application deadline is February 15, 2024.
https://www.mongoliacenter.org/fellowships-intensive-summer-mongolian-fellowship |
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| Library Workshop
Dr. Saruul-Erdene Myagmar, Mongolian book expert and Librarian from the Library of Congress, was selected as the recipient of the ACMS Library Fellowship a second time in 2023 (he was selected for this fellowship back in 2020). As part of his library project Dr. Saruul-Erdene proposed a 4-week Marc21 and non-standard book cataloguing workshop, which began on November 18, 2023.
The workshop is a continuation of 2021 Online Library Workshop and 2022 In-Person Library Workshop, which Dr. Saruul-Erdene also undertook (in 2021 he was joined by Dr. Enerel Dambiinyam, another librarian and information expert). While the libraries throughout Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia are increasingly adopting library software used widely across the world, there are too few library professionals in Mongolia, who are familiar with these latest library and information science technologies and software. These series of library workshops aim to train and build capacity of Ulaanbaatar librarians, who are employed in public libraries, universities and schools. Each of the past library workshops included over 30 participants.
This year one of the participants of the 2022 Library Workshop, Tsolmon, who is a librarian of the Mongolian State University of Education, returns as co-instructor for the workshop. She joins Dr. Saruul-Erdene to train 37 Ulaanbaatar librarians, majority of whom are new participants to this workshop. |
| | Final Touches for "Conserving and preserving Mongolia's endangered textile collections and traditions" Project
As we conclude our textile conservation project, the focus shifts to storage solutions. Pictured here we have Project fellow Dr. Angaragsuren crafting custom boxes crafted from non-acidic and non-basic materials. These will ensure that the textiles are not only protected against light, dust, and physical damage, but also against acidic or basic substances contained in regular paper, assuring the longevity of these invaluable textiles for future generations.
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| | This Week's Word
ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠤᠯ /mongɣol/ - (Cyrillic: монгол /mongol/, English: Mongols, Mongolia, Mongolian) - [1] ancient Central Asian ethnic group, [2] a continental Asian country bordering Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China with an are of 1566.6 thousand sq.km, [3] relating to Mongolia (монгол гэр - Mongolian ger, монгол адуу - Mongolian horse).
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| | Becoming a Member
ACMS membership is another way to support and engage with the ACMS. Individuals and institutions can become members of ACMS, both come with corresponding benefits. In November, 2 new people have signed up to become ACMS member(s).
ACMS welcomes new members:
If you are in Ulaanbaatar, you can also visit our office to sign up for membership in-person. Our UB office address is Natsagdorj Library, East Entrance, Seoul St – 7, Sukhbaatar District, Ulaanbaatar 14521
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ACMS Sponsored Programs and Events
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CAORC-ACMS FACULTY DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR
Climate Change and Public Health: What does Climate Change Mean for the People of Mongolia?
Seminar dates: May 31 - June 15, 2024
To support community colleges and minority-serving institutions, CAORC offers fully-funded overseas seminars that help faculty and administrators gain the requisite first-hand experience needed to develop and improve international courses, curricula, and teaching materials.
This seminar, administered by CAORC in collaboration with its member center in Mongolia, the American Center for Mongolian Studies, funds participation in a two-week seminar in Mongolia focused on issues related to Climate Change and Public Health that will include stays in the urban capital Ulaanbaatar, the rural communities at Kharkhorin, the historic capital of the Mongol Empire, Erdene Zuu Monastery, the oldest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, and a visit to Hustai National Park, home to the rare and endangered Przewalski’s horses. Mongolia, with its vast landscapes, shares similarities to rural parts of the United States and other countries, where limited infrastructure and a dispersed population that lives on the land must contend with a lack of access to health resources and a rapidly changing climate. Mongolia’s average temperatures had already risen more than 2°C and rainfall declined by 7% before 2015, leading to challenges for people in both rural and urban areas. This course will focus on how climate change is already impacting public health and life in both urban centers and rural communities in Mongolia.
Community colleges are at the forefront of training for professional careers in the health professions and fields associated with climate change. These topics also impact a wide range of issues in the social sciences and humanities through economic development, government and cultural change. Through site visits and meetings in Mongolia participants will be able to hear from local officials, health specialists, climate scientists and nomadic pastoralists, and gain a first-hand understanding of how climate change (hotter days, more wildfire, increased storms, colder winters, drought) is impacting the environment and threatening human wellbeing. We will explore how socio-economic conditions and access to resources impacts local responses, and how international cooperation can help overcome challenges. You’ll be able to connect the experiences of people in your own region with the climate and health issues facing this remote region and discuss how people around the globe can connect together to develop better understanding and shared solutions.
Participants will experience the wide diversity of Mongolia’s rich history, society, and culture and its relevance for the climate resilience of the United States. Round-trip travel, accommodations, in-country transportation, and meals will be provided for the seminar.
Eligibility:
- The program is open to full-time or part-time faculty and administrators at U.S. community colleges or minority-serving institutions. A directory of MSIs can be found at the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions. The program is open to faculty in all fields, at all academic ranks, and from any academic or administrative department.
- Applicants may apply to only one (1) of the CAORC Overseas Faculty Development Seminar opportunities being offered for 2024. Applications to more than one seminar will be considered ineligible. Applicants who apply to more than one seminar may be removed from consideration for all seminars.
- CAORC and the U.S. Department of State do not require any vaccinations to participate in the Overseas Faculty Development Seminar program, however the host countries, overseas research centers, individual sites, and communities that are part of the FDS program schedule may have their own requirements for vaccination. These requirements may change from the time of application to the time of travel.
- Applicants must be U.S. citizens at the time of application and must hold a valid, current U.S. passport that does not expire within six months of the last date of the program.
Program Expectations:
As an outcome of the Overseas Faculty Development Seminar program, participants are required to develop and implement a project to increase internationalization on their campus. Details and examples of these projects will be shared with awardees during pre-departure orientation. Projects should be implemented within one year of the conclusion of the program, at which time participants will be asked to submit a project report and share curriculum and/or documentation of the project for inclusion on CAORC's Open Educational Resources site.
Participants are also required to contribute a short article for the CAORC blog Field Notes. This article should be submitted within three months of the program.
Important dates:
Opening date for applications: April 19, 2023
Application deadline: January 31, 2024 at 5:00pm ET
Recommendation letter deadline: February 5, 2024 at 5:00pm ET
Notification of award decisions: March 1, 2024
Application instruction can be found here: |
| | Latest Uploads to the ACMS Mongolia YouTube Channel
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| Visit our YouTube channel to see more series of the Virtual Speaker and Virtual Panel Series, as well as our videos on Cultural Heritage Project, interviews with our Field Research Fellows and more.
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| We are working to bring back in-person speaker events, we will be putting these events up as more in-person speaker become available. If you would like to speak in-person for an ACMS Speaker event, please email buyandelger@mongoliacenter.org
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Vacancies, Scholarship, and Fellowships
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CAORC-NEH RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
The CAORC - National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Research Fellowship provides the opportunity for scholars to spend significant time in one country with an Overseas Research Centers as a base. The fellowship supports advanced research in the humanities. Fellowship awards are for four to six consecutive months (i.e. you can hold the fellowship for four, five, or six consecutive months). Selected fellows are awarded $5,000 per month of the award. This program is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) under the Fellowship Programs at Independent Research Institutions (FPIRI).
Important information about the fellowship competition:
- Fields of study include, but are not limited to, history, philosophy, religious studies, linguistics, languages, literature, literary criticism, and visual and performing arts. In addition, research that embraces a humanistic approach and methods will be considered.
- Applicants must propose four to six consecutive months of research in an Overseas Research Center in one of the following countries: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cyprus, Georgia, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan (senior scholars may be permitted to travel to Lahore and Islamabad subject to approval), Senegal, Sri Lanka or Tunisia.
- Travel advisories may fluctuate in some countries, which CAORC continually monitors. CAORC abides by all US Department of State travel restrictions. Please contact CAORC if you have questions.
- Fellows may travel and carry out research for four to six consecutive months between the period of May 2024 to end of December 2025.
- Please list a tentative travel plan and dates in your application.
- Selected fellows must work on their research full-time during the entire tenure of their fellowship.
- Fellowship awards will not exceed $5,000 per month.
- All materials publicizing or resulting from NEH-funded activities must contain an acknowledgment of NEH support as well as CAORC support.
- CAORC-NEH Fellows may hold non-federal fellowships or grants during their fellowship tenure, including sabbaticals and grants from their own institutions. Fellows cannot hold another concurrent NEH or other federally funded grant.
Notification of fellowship status will be made available to each applicant via email in late March 2024. Fellows are advised that it can take up to six months to obtain necessary research clearances and should plan accordingly.
Eligibility:
- All applicants must hold a PhD or terminal degree.
- Applicants who are US citizens are eligible.
- US citizens living outside of the US are eligible.
- Foreign nationals who have resided in the US for at least three years prior to the application deadline are eligible.
- Independent scholars are eligible if they meet the above criteria. It is not a requirement that applicants be affiliated with a US academic institution.
- Funding is not available for research conducted in the US.
- Minority scholars and scholars from Minority-Serving Institutions are especially encouraged to apply.
Link to the Application Form:
Notification of Award Decisions: Late March, 2024
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| | Scholarships at the School of Philosophy, Renmin University
Beijing, China
Students who are interested in applying to the two-year MA program in Chinese Philosophy, Religion and Culture (CPRC) at the School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China in Beijing. There are still scholarships available for students.
All courses in the CPRC program are taught in English. It offers students an excellent opportunity to study Chinese philosophy and religion while living in China.
This intensive program covers a wide range of topics in Chinese philosophy (Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism), Chinese aesthetics, comparative philosophy, Chinese religion (including sociology of religion and folk religions), and culture-related topics (both ancient and modern).
After completing all course requirements, students conduct an independent study with a supervisor to write a master's thesis. Upon graduation, students will receive a Master of Philosophy degree, which is recognized by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China and allows them to pursue a Ph.D. or work in a related field.
The application period runs from November 15, 2023 to April 30, 2024.
Interested students can contact Prof. Jifen Li (lijifen@ruc.edu.cn) or Prof. Dennis Schilling (dennis.schilling@ruc.edu.cn). |
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Grants and Calls for Paper
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| | Call for Papers: Seventh Conference of the Early Medieval China Group
Seattle, Washington, USA
The Early Medieval China Group (EMCG) will hold its Seventh Conference in Seattle on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in conjunction with the Annual Conference of the Association for Asian Studies. Members and friends of the Early Medieval China Group as well as all researchers in the various disciplines of early medieval China studies are cordially invited to attend the conference and to present their research. We are looking forward to contributions from senior and junior scholars alike.
Proposals on all topics pertaining to early medieval China (ca. 2nd–7th c. CE) are welcome, from literature to history, archaeology, art history, religion, linguistics, and beyond. Please send proposals consisting of a title and an abstract of ca. 250 words by January 7, 2024, to antje.richter@colorado.edu. In your email, please include your institutional affiliation and a mailing address. Submissions will be evaluated by the Group’s board members. We will notify successful applicants by January 28 and send the final program in early March.
All graduate students who present papers at the conference are eligible for the Group’s Graduate Student Award, established in 2020 to recognize excellence in the field of Early Medieval China studies. Graduate students who want to apply for the award are asked to submit the script of their talk (no longer than 5,000 words without notes) by February 25, 2024, as a Word document or PDF file. The winner of the award will receive a subvention of travel expenses to attend the conference. Runners-up may be eligible to receive a subvention of travel expenses as well. Winners and runners-up will be announced during the conference and on the EMCG’s website.
The Early Medieval China Group’s annual business meeting will take place on the day of the conference as well. If you have any questions about the conference, please direct them to antje.richter@colorado.edu.
Everyone is welcome to attend the conference, but presenters should be or become members of the Early Medieval China Group. Membership also includes a subscription to our annual journal Early Medieval China. If you would like to become a member, please go to our website at https://www.earlymedievalchinagroup.org/ and follow the link to the membership page. |
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Interesting digital resource we discovered in November, 2023:- "Manchu Self Study Resources" - the Manchu Study Group offers free self-study resources for anyone who wishes to learn to read Manchu on their website. The materials are 21 lessons based on a course taught by David Porter at Harvard in the Fall of 2016, and reference materials prepared by Mark Elliot for his 2013 summer school Manchu class at Harvard.
- "Atlas of Endangered Alphabets" - is an interactive encyclopedia of endangered scripts, launched in 2019, groundbreaking at the time and updated ever since. It includes profiles of each script and its community, photographs of the script in use, and links to learn more about the script, or indeed to learn the script and its associated language. The atlas is run by The Endangered Alphabets Project, which is a federal 501c3 nonprofit based in Vermont. Its mission is to preserve and revitalize endangered cultures by researching, cataloging, and promoting their indigenous writing systems, and using them to create educational materials, games, and artwork.
Podcasts we discovered in November: - Lost History of Mongolia (Монголын гээгдсэн түүх) - Ep. #28 History of the Hazara /Ambassador Yo.Otgonbayar/ YouTube (in Mongolian)
- The Sound Kitchen - Mongolia and France Team Up Nov. 11 /Susan Owensby/ rfi.fr
- CMDA Matters - Making an Impact in Mongolia Nov. 30 /Dr. Sam Alexander/ Google Podcasts
- ADVENTURE RIDER RADIO MOTORCYCLE PODCAST - Riding Some of the Toughest Terrain in the World: Mongolia Nov. 3 /Lester Appel/ Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify
Featured book reviews:
Submit reviews of your works or reviews you wrote to us at info@mongoliacenter.org. Make sure you put Review submission in the Subject field of your email. Member contribution publications:
(If you would like to announce your publication, please reach out to us at info@mongoliacenter.org. Make sure you put Member contribution publication in the Subject field of your email.
Selected scholarly articles published in November, 2023: Featured Documentary: - "The Frozen Tomb of Mongolia" by Cédric Robion. In the frozen steppes of the Altay, a Franco-Mongolian archeological expedition prepares to excavate the tomb of an Eastern Scythian warrior, 2 300 years old. Their ritual practice of deep burial of the dead, in combination with extreme climatic conditions, may mean that these scientists will discover the last frozen tombs on the planet, and will advance our understanding of this unknown branch of Scythian civilization. But time is of the essence. Global warming is threatening to eliminate the last traces of this Europoid pioneer, who came with his clan to conquer new territories in Mongolia. Alongside the excavations, a family of Kazakh nomads have set up their summer camp, attracted by the unusual activity. Striking similarities appear between the lifestyles and practices of these Kazakhs and the Eastern Scythians, two millennia apart in time. Intertwined with the archeological research is thus a fascinating ethno-archeological study, of one of the last peoples still isolated from modernity, and their possible very ancient ancestors. But for the Kazakhs too, the question arises – how long will they survive in their isolation? Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
- "The Last Winter of The Tsaatan" by Pierre Da Silva, Hervé Bouchaud. Deep in the sub-Arctic boreal forest of far Northern Mongolia, straddling the border of Russian Siberia, a unique minority group lives in the sprawling tundra. Practising the same way of life for thousands of years, this indigenous tribe is among the world’s smallest ethnic minorities and last reindeer herding nomads.
But today, the Tsaatan people are facing a threat which may have a great impact on their survival: the government of Ulan Bator wants to force all children to go to school from the age of 6.
For these families, it is a heartbreak. And it is also a questioning of their whole way of life. So what to do?: Renounce their traditions to offer their children a different destiny or disobey? The Tsaatan are undoubtedly facing one of the greatest challenges of their existence.
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| | FEATURE ARTICLES AND EVENTS ON MONGOLIAN STUDIES |
| Fossil unearthed in Mongolia's Gobi Desert suggests some dinosaurs slept in same position as modern birds
/Phys.org/ Nov 23. A team of paleontologists and biologists from Hokkaido University, Hokkaido University Museum, North Carolina State University and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences has uncovered a previously unknown species of dinosaur that appears to have slept in the same position as modern birds. In their paper published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, the group describes where the fossil was found, its condition, and the unique position in which the specimen had folded itself before dying. Read more
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| | What makes Mongolia the world's most 'socially connected' place? Maybe it's #yurtlife
/NPR/ Nov 11. So if you're feeling a bit ... disconnected from your fellow humans, you might consider taking a few tips from Mongolians. In a new Gallup report for The Global State of Social Connections, people in 142 countries were asked to rate their "social connectedness" – defined as "how close you feel to people emotionally." Read more
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| | ‘Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act’ in U.S. Congress
/U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan/ Nov 30. The Mongolia Third Neighbor Trade Act would increase direct trade between the United States and Mongolia by providing Mongolian cashmere products with duty-free access to the American market. The legislation contains the same safeguards as other U.S. preferential trade arrangements to ensure, among other things, that its benefits are not diverted to the People’s Republic of China. Read more
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| | Over 20,000 petroglyphs found in the south Gobi
/iSee.mn/ Nov 21. Dr. Iderkhangai Tumur-Ochir (Ulaanbaatar State University) led a team to conduct an archaeological survey in Gurvantes soum, the westernmost county of Ömnögov’ Province. Dr. Iderkhangai discussed the four highlights from the survey: (1.) scenes depicting elite assemblies of the Mongol imperial/medieval period, (2.) the Big Dipper constellation, (3.) Bronze Age petroglyphs only visible at high noon, and (4.) a boat and leaping fish. Read in Mongolian |
| | Ancient oceans in VR at natural history museum
/GoGo Mongolia/ Nov 24. Ulaanbaatar’s natural history museum is hosting an exhibition on the contributions of paleontologist Prof. Minjin Ch. on the study of ancient marine organisms in Mongolia. There is even the possibility of seeing the ancient oceans of Mongolia using VR devices. Read in Mongolian
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| | Photos: Mongolia’s herders fight climate change by adapting and new technology
/Associated Press/ Nov 17. Since 1940, the country’s government says, average temperatures have risen 2.2 degrees Celsius (nearly 4 degrees Fahrenheit). With the increase comes the threat of pastures being eaten away by an encroaching desert and water sources drying out. And dzuds — natural disasters unique to Mongolia caused by droughts and severe, snowy winters — have grown harsher and more frequent. Lkhaebum and other nomads of Mongolia have adapted, once again, adding new technologies to their arsenal of traditional knowledge to negotiate an increasingly unreliable climate. See more
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| | South Korean exhibition on political repression in Mongolia
/Montsame.mn/ Nov 23. A monthlong special exhibition on "Contemporary Mongolian History: Political Repression and Cultural Demolition" opened in the Asian Cultural Center (ACC) of Kwangju, South Korea. From 1921-1990, particularly from 1937-1939, political repression in Mongolia was high, resulting in the deaths of thousands and destruction of countless cultural heritage and treasures. The exhibition is a collaborative effort of the State Committee on the Management of Exoneration, Asian Cultural Center, 5th Noyon Khutukhtu Danzanravjaa' Heritage Museum. Read in Mongolian
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| | Tools used for crafting deer stones found
/Montsame.mn/ Nov 20. An archaeological expedition from the Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia uncovered tools likely buried by the stone carvers. They found various beaters, polishing implements, whetstones for sharpening metal tools, dye cups, stone spheres, hammers and other tools totaling up to 30 separate items. Some of the items found were broken, however majority were found intact. They made the discovery last September. Read in Mongolian
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| | "Deer Stone Statues in Mongolia" exhibition
/Unuudur.mn/ Nov 15. Recently the deer stone monuments were registered as UNESCO World Heritage. The National Museum of Mongolia /Монголын Үндэсний музей/ is hosting an exhibition on the deer stones. Read in Mongolian
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| | Mongolia’s Looming Tuberculosis Crisis
/The Diplomat/ Nov 3. Despite Mongolia’s pledge to combat tuberculosis at the 2018 United Nations High-Level Meeting on the issue, health experts say that the country is yet to achieve U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 3.3, which aims to end the TB epidemic by 2035. Mongolia has made undeniable progress. Read more |
| | The Buryats Who Fled Soviet Russia And Now Thrive In Mongolia
/Radio Free Europe/ Nov 28. Thousands of Buryats, a distinctive ethnic minority in Russia, fled tsarist conscription during World War I as well as the Soviet repressions that followed to form their own microcosm of Buryat culture in a remote region of Mongolia. Karina Pronina, a journalist with the Siberian online magazine Lyudi Baikala, visited the north Mongolian village of Dadal where some of these Buryat emigrants settled in the last century, and came back with this report. Read more |
| | Mongolia urges Russia, other nations to return cultural artifacts
/News.mn/ Nov 22. Mongolia called for more support from Russia, Britain, and other countries to repatriate hundreds of cultural artifacts, some dating back over two millennia. Key artifacts include a letter from Mongolia’s first prime minister declaring independence from China’s Manchu dynasty, currently held at the British Library in London, the Mongolian government said. Read more
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| | Crimes Against Historical and Cultural Heritage
/Mass.mn/ Nov 16. The police have discovered crimes against historical and cultural heritage, after completing the investigation the police have transferred the cases to the prosecutor and recommended the cases be transferred to the court. The criminal police have found 230 artifacts classified as “historical and cultural heritage,” ”priceless historical and cultural heritage,” “unique historical and cultural heritage” from the Xiongnu, Uighur and Turkic periods, ranging from 2nd millenium BCE to 15th century CE. The artifacts have been transferred to the Ministry of Culture. Read in Mongolian
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| ‘The Mongol Khan,’ Mongolia’s ‘soft power’ drive arrives in London
/CNN/ Nov 24. This is the first Mongolian production to tour internationally, an “example of soft power” according to one expert, that saw it banned in China earlier this year. With costumes based on archaeological discoveries, the 2.5 hour show was adapted from a 1998 play called The State without a Seal (Tamagui Tor in Mongolian) by writer and poet Lkhagvasuren Bavuu. Read more
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| | Children of Mongolian Nomads Forced to Abandon Herding by Climate Change
/Save the Children/ Nov 27. Mongolian children are abandoning nomadic herding in rising numbers due to climate change for life in the world’s coldest capital city where they face suffocating pollution and employment uncertainty. More than 30% of Mongolia's 3.4 million population still live a traditional nomadic life, dependent on livestock, including cattle, camels, goats, sheep, yaks and horses but they are under threat. Read more |
| | Korea to improve Mongolia’s Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Oncology
/International Atomic Energy Agency/ Nov 6. The IAEA, the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), and the Ministry of Health of Mongolia have signed a landmark agreement to strengthen Mongolia’s national capacities for nuclear medicine and radiation oncology. Read more
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| | Mongolia plans to join three COP28 declarations
/AKIpress/ Nov 15. In response to the over 20 documents proposed at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP28, Mongolia is expressing commitment to join in some declarations. These commitments involve critical issues such as the food system, climate change, and public health, the Adviser noted. Read more
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| | Mongolia Tops FIDE's New Gender Equality In Chess Index/Chess.com/ Nov 29. Mongolia is the nation ranking highest for promoting gender equality in chess. Research commissioned by the World Chess Federation's (FIDE) Women in Chess Commission and published jointly with the University of Queensland ranked 105 of the world's national chess federations to create a new Gender Equality in Chess Index (GECI). Read more |
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"Yuan: Chinese Architecture in a Mongol Empire" By Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt
Price: $75.00/£62.00 (Hardback)
The Yuan dynasty endured for a century, leaving behind an architectural legacy without equal, from palaces, temples, and pagodas to pavilions, tombs, and stages. With a history enlivened by the likes of Khubilai Khan and Marco Polo, this spectacular empire spanned the breadth of China and far, far beyond, but its rulers were Mongols. Yuan presents the first comprehensive study in English of the architecture of China under Mongol rule.
In this richly illustrated book, Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt looks at cities such as the legendary Shangdu—inspiration for Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Xanadu—as well as the architecture the Mongols encountered on their routes of conquest. She examines the buildings and monuments of diverse faiths in China during the period, from Buddhist and Daoist to Confucian, Islamic, and Christian, as well as unusual structures such as observatories, archways, stone and metal buildings, and sarcophaguses. Steinhardt dispels long-standing views of the Mongols as destroyers of cities and architecture across Asia, showing how the khans and their families built more than they tore down. She demonstrates that the stipulations of the Chinese building system were powerful and resilient enough to guide the architecture that rose under Mongolian rule.
Drawing on Steinhardt’s groundbreaking textual research in numerous languages as well as her pioneering fieldwork at sites across East Asia, Yuan will become the standard reference on this critical period of cultural and artistic exchange.
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt is professor of East Asian art and curator of Chinese art at the University of Pennsylvania. Her many books include Chinese Architecture (Princeton), winner of the Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award, and China’s Early Mosques.
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"Our Man in Mongolia: Charles Binsteed, an Agent of the British Empire, in Mongolia as Qing Rule Ended" by Sue Byrne
Price: Contact the Institute for International Studies, Mongolian Academy of Sciences for a quote at iis@mas.ac.mn.
Lieutenant G. C. Binsteed holds a unique and significant place among the travellers who ventured into Mongolia in the early 20th century. His historical handwritten legacy provides us with invaluable insights into the rich history and culture of Mongolia and its people at this time.
Binsteed came to Niislel Khuree through the territories of Khiata, Barga, Khailaar, Mugden and Setsen Khan provinces in February 1912 and in August to September of 1913. He was in Mongolia during the crucial period of political transformation, marked by the declaration of Mongolia's independence.
Throughout his travels in Mongolia, Lieut. G. C. Binsteed studied Mongolia's geography, politics, economy, political situation, temples, and the thinking of Mongolians. At the end of his 1913 visit, he wrote a detailed report and sent it to the British Legation in Beijing. This report contains interesting facts and information about the Mongolian political situation at that time. He had personally become acquainted with the political situation in Mongolia by meeting and talking with influential Mongolian politicians in Niislel Khuree during this historical period when Mongolia was actively trying to expand its foreign relations.
The compilation in this book, presented for the first time in Mongolia, includes almost all the reports written by G. C. Binsteed for the British Legation in Beijing in the years 1912-1913 and some of the photographs he took to illustrate them. These documents offer new insights into Mongolia and its people at that time, and provide an opportunity to get acquainted with the actual observations as well as the values and attitudes of one foreign traveller who visited Mongolia during this period.
The compilation also publishes the original letters from Sain Noyon Khan T. Namnansuren, official envoy by the decree of Mongolian Emperor, of 21st December, 1913, and from Mongolian Government on the 24th April, 1914, to British ambassadors in St Petersburg, Russian Empire, and Beijing, China, respectively, which are currently stored in British National Archives. The presence of these communications in the British archives prove that these official approaches from Mongolian Government to foreign states did reach their intended recipients.
The compilation is available at the library of Institute of International Studies, MAS.
Sue Byrne is an independent researcher. She previously worked as Director of the Documentation of Mongolian Monasteries project a collaboration between an international group of researchers and the Cultural Heritage Programme of the Arts Council of Mongolia.
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| | | "Multilingualism and Pluricentricity: A Tale of Many Cities" by John Hajek (Editor), Catrin Norrby (Editor), Heinz L. Kretzenbacher (Editor), Doris Schüpbach (Editor)
Price: $130.99 (Hardback)
This volume explores linguistic diversity and complexity in different urban contexts, many of which have never been subject to significant sociolinguistic inquiry. A novel mixture of cities of varying size from around the world is studied, from megacities to smaller cities on the national periphery. All chapters discuss either the multilingualism or the pluricentric aspect of the linguistic diversity in urban areas, most focussing on one urban centre.
The book showcases multiple approaches ranging from a quantitative investigation based partly on census data, to qualitative studies flowing, for example, from extensive ethnographic work or discourse analysis. The diverse theoretical backgrounds and methodological approaches in the individual chapters are complemented by two chapters outlining the current trends and debates in the sociolinguistic research on urban multilingualism and pluricentricity and suggesting some possible directions for future investigations in this field.The book thus provides a broad overview of sociolinguistic research of multilingual places and pluricentric languages.
John Hajek, Heinz L. Kretzenbacher and Doris Schüpbach, University of Melbourne, Australia; Catrin Norrby, Stockholm University, Sweden.
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"A Chinese Rebel beyond the Great Wall" by TJ Cheng, Uradyn E. Bulag, and Mark SeldenPrice: $27.50 (Paperback)
A striking first-person account of the Cultural Revolution in Inner Mongolia, embedded in a close examination of the historical evidence on China’s minority nationality policies to the present.
During the Great Leap Forward, as hundreds of thousands of Chinese famine refugees headed to Inner Mongolia, Cheng Tiejun arrived in 1959 as a middle school student. In 1966, when the PRC plunged into the Cultural Revolution, he joined the Red Guards just as Inner Mongolia’s longtime leader, Ulanhu, was purged. With the military in control, and with deepening conflict with the Soviet Union and its ally Mongolia on the border, Mongols were accused of being nationalists and traitors. A pogrom followed, taking more than 16,000 Mongol lives, the heaviest toll anywhere in China.TJ Cheng is emeritus professor of sociology at Macau University and a freelance writer based in California.
Uradyn E. Bulag is professor of social anthropology at the University of Cambridge.
Mark Selden is emeritus professor of sociology and history at the State University of New York at Binghamton. |
| | "Political Patronage in Asian Bureaucracies" by B. Guy Peters (Editor), Colin Knox (Editor), Byeong Seob Kim (Editor)
Price: $130.00 (Hardback)
Political patronage is defined as political actors appointing individuals at their discretion to key positions in the public sector. The book examines this practice in the bureaucracies of 11 Asian countries through the use of a typological framework of patronage types. The framework is based on two key criteria: basis of trust and the major role of political appointees. Several countries with well-developed civil service systems showed minimal levels of patronage (Japan, Singapore and South Korea). Two countries with a weak civil service showed very high levels of patronage appointments (Bangladesh and India). Sandwiched between those extremes are countries with formal civil service systems that are heavily influenced by political parties and by social ties to society (Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and China). The book concludes that not all patronage is the same and what is important is the tasks being performed by appointees and the nature of the trust relationship.
B. Guy Peters, University of PittsburghColin Knox, Nazarbayev University Byeong Seob Kim, Seoul National University
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