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This is a monthly listing of selected academic activities and resources 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 and/or the editor, Marissa Smith, at msmith@mongoliacenter.org. |
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ACMS Sponsored Programs and Events
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Speaker Series
The Speaker Series are formal presentations given by leading academics, experts and community leaders on a wide variety of topics related to Mongolia. Each session has a 30-45 minute formal lecture followed by a 30 minute Q&A session. All presentations are held in the American Corner presentation room of the Natsagdorj Library in Ulaanbaatar. We invite all researchers visiting Mongolia and who are interested in presenting to contact us at their earliest convenience.
March 11th Speaker Series – Cameron Wright
Mr. Wright is a pharmacist and a member of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia. For the last year he has been volunteering with the Mongolian Anti-Tuberculosis Association, developing programs and policies on health promotion and prevention. The presentation will focus on current research on Tuberculosis in Mongolia, the initiatives developed over the last year and discussion on where to go from here.
March 25th Speaker Series – Dr. Odnoo Dogsom
Dr. Odnoo is a Physician and President of the Foundation for Public Health Policy (FPHP) of Mongolia. She will be presenting on the activities of the FPHF over the last 10 years, some recent air quality concerns and the health initiatives surrounding air quality being developed.
ACMS Annual Meeting, March 28th, 2014 in Philadelphia
Reception, Cultural Program and Poster SessionPhiladelphia Downtown Marriott (1201 Market Street, Philadelphia), Grand Salon L Friday March 28, 7:30-9:30pmThe ACMS will celebrate its 12th annual meeting and the 10th anniversary of its Ulaanbaatar office with a reception, cultural program, poster presentation and annual business meeting held in Grand Salon L of the Downtown Marriott in Philadelphia from 7:30-9:30pm on Friday March 28, 2014. The meeting is held in conjunction with the Association of Asian Studies (AAS) annual conference. The ACMS reception and cultural program are free and open to all interested parties. You do not need to be registered for AAS to take part. The cultural program will include Mongolian music and food, and is being organized in conjunction with the Mongolia Cultural Center (MCC) of Washington, DC. A poster display highlighting academic research and cultural topics related to Mongolia will be held during the reception. To propose a poster or display for the session, please send a brief abstract or description (no more than 250 words) to David Dettmann at ddettmann@mongoliacenter.org before March 14th, 2014. Posters and displays will be accepted on a rolling basis. Reception, Cultural Program and Mongolia Poster Session - 7:30-9:30pmDowntown Marriott Grand Salon L The reception and poster session are free and open to the public. Mongolian food and drink will be available, along with Mongolian cultural performances. Posters and information tables will be displayed around the ballroom, and poster presenters will be available to discuss their research and cultural work. ACMS Annual Membership Meeting – 8:00-8:30pmDowntown Marriott Grand Salon L The ACMS annual membership meeting will include an update on ACMS operations and programs with reports by ACMS President Bill Fitzhugh of the Smithsonian, ACMS US Director, David Dettmann, and Ulaanbaatar Office Manager Baigalmaa Begzsuren. For more information or directions, please contact David Dettmann at ddettmann@mongoliacenter.org. Mongolia-related Papers and Panels at AASIf you do plan to register for the Association for Asian Studies conference, there are several Mongolia-focused papers and panels that may be of interest to you, including papers delivered by past ACMS fellows Lauren Bonilla and Devon Dear. On Thursday night, March 27th, there will be a Mongolia-focused panel titled: "Memory, Narrative, and Violence among contemporary Mongolians and Mongols on the Margins of Russia and China". For a full list of Mongolia-related papers, see the News and Events section below.
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New Books in the ACMS Library
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W. W. Hopkins. 2012. Communication and the law. Northport, AL: Vision Press
L. Rowntree, et al. 2006. Diversity amid globalization: world regions, environment, development. Upper Saddle River, NJ : Pearson Prentice Hall.
G. M. Meier. 2000. Leading issues in economic development. New York: Oxford University Press.
T. H.Tietenberg. 2009. Environmental economics and policy. Boston: Pearson Addison Wesley,
B M. Robinson. 2003. Hatley Park through the seasons. Victoria, B.C.: Natural Light Productions.
M.T. Brown. 2003. The ethical process: an approach to disagreements and controversial issues. Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall.
L. H. Newton. 2003. Ethics and Sustainability: sustainable development and the moral life. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall. |
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Calls for Papers, Conferences, and Workshops |
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Call for Posters
The ACMS still has space available for presenters for the poster session that will coincide with the ACMS Annual Meeting and Reception, Friday, March 28th, 2014 at the Downtown Marriott in Philadelphia, PA. To propose a poster or display for the session, please send a brief abstract or description (no more than 250 words) to David Dettmann at ddettmann@mongoliacenter.org before March 14, 2014. Posters and displays will be accepted on a rolling basis.
Call for Articles
The Center for Asian Literature and Translation (ALT) is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal established by the Centre for the History of Religion in Asia (CHRA), Cardiff University. The main objective of the journal is to publish research papers, translations, and reviews in the field of Asian religious literature (construed in the widest sense) in a form that makes them quickly and easily accessible to the international academic community, to professionals in related fields, such as theatre and storytelling, and to the general public. The scope of the journal covers the cultural, historical, and religious literature of South, Southeast, East and Central Asia in the relevant languages (e.g. Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, et al.). We particularly welcome literary translations, including extracts from longer works in progress, manuscript reports and commentarial material, new adaptations of classic texts, archive stories and debate pieces, and the discussion of new approaches to translation. Book and performance reviews, including visual material, and letters to the editor, including responses to published material, are also solicited. Contributions are welcome on a wide range of topics in the research area as defined above. For further information see: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/share/research/centres/chra/whatwedo/journal- asian-lit-and-translation.html.
Call for Papers
The Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) invites panel and paper proposals for the Fifteenth Annual CESS Conference, October 23-26, 2014, in New York City. The event will be held at Columbia University, hosted by the Harriman Institute. Registration starts Thursday evening, October 23. Panels begin Friday morning, October 24, and continue through mid-day on Sunday, October 26. Panel and paper topics relating to all aspects of humanities and social science scholarship on Central Eurasia are welcome. The geographic domain of Central Eurasia extends from the Black Sea and Iranian Plateau to Mongolia and Siberia, including the Caucasus, Crimea, Middle Volga, Afghanistan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Central and Inner Asia. Practitioners and scholars in all humanities and social science disciplines with an interest in Central Eurasia are encouraged to participate. The program will feature approximately 70 panels. There will also be supplementary events and a keynote speaker. To submit a pre-organized panel or individual paper proposal, please login to the CESS Website atwww.centraleurasia.org.
The Centre for East Asian Studies Groningen (University of Gronigen, The Netherlands) will be hosting a conference titled "East Asia and the European Union: strong Economics, weak Politics?" on May 8-9 2014. Participants from around the world are welcome. Among the themes included in this free conference will be the Political and security complex, Trade and investment, Trand and investment partnership (TTIP), Culture and people-to-people. For full information on the call for papers see here, otherwise for visit the conference website at http://www.rug.nl/research/east-asian-studies/news/call-for- papers_-east-asia-and-the-european-union_-strong-economics_-weak- politics_
Call for Film Review
The Journal of the Anthropology of the Contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia (ACME) welcomes film reviews for the third issue of his journal. Should you like to review a particular documentary or send us one to review please email the film review editor Dr Michael Abecassis directly: (michael.abecassis@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk) For general inquiries and Instructions for Authors, please visit: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/anthropologyiran/acme |
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Postdoctoral Position
The Department of Anthropology at University College London (UCL) is looking to appoint a Research Associate for an exciting new ERC-funded project entitled ‘Emerging Subjects of the New Economy: Tracing Economic Growth in Mongolia’. The candidate should be able to carry out fieldwork for up to 9 months (or over three, three-month periods) and have some grasp of the Mongolian language. The duties and responsibilities expected of the candidate include taking part in the group’s reading and writing group, writing a monograph based on their research, and contributing a chapter to an edited volume based on a workshop. The project also plans for an exhibition showcasing visual aspects of the research. The post is available from September 2014 and is initially funded for three years. Key Requirements: We are looking for a person with a background in anthropology, development studies, geography, sociology, political economy, or economics. The applicant should be familiar with issues pertaining to the Mongolian mining economy. It is envisaged that the research will focus on communities who live close to mining areas and/or engage in seasonal mining work, but is in no way restricted to this. For more information including online application, go to this link or contact Dr. Rebecca Empson with informal inquiries or Martin O'Connor regarding application process. Application deadline: March 31st, 2014
PhD Studentship positions
The Department of Anthropology at University College London (UCL) has secured funding for 2 PhD Positions for four years for an exciting new ERC-funded project entitled ‘Emerging Subjects of the New Economy: Tracing Economic Growth in Mongolia’. Candidates will be part of a group of researchers exploring the form of capitalism emerging in Mongolia’s mineral economy. We will seek to understand how local economic engagements come to determine the economy in particular ways that gives rise to new capitalist vernaculars and forms of subjectivity. The project is composed of five distinct ethnographic studies, including a study of loan and credit systems, changing property regimes and understandings of ownership, religious and nationalist ideologies, and the mining industry itself. It involves working in a team, as well as carrying out independent fieldwork. For more information about these positions visit the PhD Studentships page at UCL, and again, direct questions to Dr. Rebecca Empson . Application Deadline is April 1st 2014.
The Department of History at the University of Kansas invites candidates to apply for a tenure-track faculty position at the Assistant Professor level in Premodern China/Chinas Borderlands; the position is expected to begin as early as August 18, 2014. We are particularly interested in candidates whose work focuses on Chinas ethnic diversity, its multi-ethnic borderlands and/or its coastal regions, or that considers China as a source or destination of major population movements in the period from 1300 to the late nineteenth century. We are seeking candidates who are prepared to participate in a cluster of faculty located in departments across the university who are working on collaborative research and teaching projects related to migration, immigration, diaspora, and human trafficking. The successful candidate will join a well-established East Asian history program with two historians of Japan and a historian of modern China, and will be a member of the University’s Center for East Asian Studies, a Title VI National Resource Center. |
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Research Fellowships, Scholarships and Grants |
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Postdoctoral Position: The Department of Anthropology at University College London is looking to appoint a Research Associate for an exciting new ERC-funded project entitled ‘Emerging Subjects of the New Economy: Tracing Economic Growth in Mongolia’. The candidate should be able to carry out fieldwork for up to 9 months (or over three, three-month periods) and have some grasp of the Mongolian language. The duties and responsibilities expected of the candidate include taking part in the group’s reading and writing group, writing a monograph based on their research, and contributing a chapter to an edited volume based on a workshop. The project also plans for an exhibition showcasing visual aspects of the research. The post is available from September 2014 and is initially funded for three years. Deadline: March 31, 2014. Visit: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AIF056/research-associate/
PhD Studentships: The Department of Anthropology at University College London has secured funding for 2 PhD Positions for four years for an exciting new ERC-funded project entitled ‘Emerging Subjects of the New Economy: Tracing Economic Growth in Mongolia’. The candidate will be part of a group of researchers exploring the form of capitalism emerging in Mongolia’s mineral economy. We will seek to understand how local economic engagements come to determine the economy in particular ways that gives rise to new capitalist vernaculars and forms of subjectivity. The project is composed of five distinct ethnographic studies, including a study of loan and credit systems, changing property regimes and understandings of ownership, religious and nationalist ideologies, and the mining industry itself. It involves working in a team, as well as carrying out independent fieldwork. Deadline: April 1, 2014. Visit: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/anthropology-news/phd-studentships
Doctoral Fellowships and Postdoctoral Fellowships: ANARCHIE Research Group and REALEURASIA Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany. The aim of ANARCHIE is to renew transdisciplinary agendas in fields where socio-cultural anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians have much to gain from cross-fertilisation. The designated fields include collective identifications, religion and ritual, and economic and demographic causation. While the first cohort of PhD students is conducting research in the area of collective identifications, students now invited are expected to present research projects dealing with religion and ritual. Further information on the research agenda of the Max Planck Institute is available on our website: http://www.eth.mpg.de REALEURASIA (Realising Eurasia: Civilisation and Moral Economy in the 21st Century) is a multidisciplinary comparative project rooted in economic anthropology which will take a fresh look at classical contributions to historical sociology on the basis of ethnographic fieldwork. It draws together the large literatures on moral economy (Thompson) and economic ethic (Weber), and applies these concepts at multiple levels within the framework of civilizational analysis (Arnason). In towns selected to ensure structural comparability, doctoral students will investigate a spectrum of family-controlled firms and the domestic group per se. The overall hypothesis is that, alongside civilisational pluralism, the long- term evolution of Eurasia has established a substantial degree of unity across the landmass. Please submit your application electronically by 31st of March 2014 following the link for vacancies on our homepage. Contact: Robert Gille, gille@eth.mpg.de, Personnel Administration. Informal enquiries concerning the positions may be directed to Prof. Dr. Chris Hann. (hann@eth.mpg.de).
Postdoctoral Fellowships: The Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem offers post-doctoral fellowships for the year 2014-2015. The post-docs are open to scholars in the humanities and social sciences specializing in East Asia, especially China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia. Fellowships are granted for one academic year or one term with the possibility of extension for an additional year. The starting date of the visit should not be later than four years after receipt of the Doctoral Degree; the fellow must hold a valid Doctoral Degree no later than September 2014. The fellowship consists of a monthly stipend (tax free) of $1,500. Payments are made once in three months in Israeli Shekels and are linked to the “representative rate of exchange.” Fellows are entitled to one airline ticket (economy class, up to 1500$) for a direct flight from their home town to Israel and back. The fellows are expected to teach one or two courses in the Hebrew University (for additional payment, according to the Hebrew University regulations). The ability to teach a course in Hebrew is welcome, but is not a prerequisite for attaining the fellowship. The fellows are also expected to actively participate in the life and activities of the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies. The fellows will present their research at the department seminar of the Asian Studies Department, and possibly at other relevant forums. Any work outside the Hebrew University would be allowed only after specific approval by the Frieberg Center. Applicants should submit one hard copy and one electronic copy (in one file) of their application to the address below, no later than April 30, 2014. Visit: http://www.eacenter.huji.ac.il. |
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Dissertation Reviews now includes a section on Inner and Central Asia: http://dissertationrev iews.org/archives/category/review/innercentralasia
Asian Highlands Research Network [AH-RN] is a scholarly discussion group associated with the journal Asian Highlands Perspectives. This group focuses on the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding regions, including the Southeast Asian Massif, Himalayan Massif, the Extended Eastern Himalayas, the Mongolian Plateau, and other contiguous areas. We aim to promote exploration of cross-regional commonalities in history, culture, language, and socio-political context not served by current academic forums. AH-RN will be of interest to Sinologists, Tibetologists, Mongolists, and South and Southeast Asianists. We welcome group members to share information about events and publications related to the study of the Asian Highlands.
Services: timely and exclusive reviews of new books in the field; semi-regular roundup of new open access publications; announcements
of new publications from Asian Highlands Perspectives.
AH-RN is a private group. To join, please contact: Gerald.Roche[at]ymail.com.
For more on Asian Highlands Perspectives:
http://www.plateauculture.org/asian-highlands-perspectives
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/asianhig hlandsperspectives
TheDukha Ethnoarchaeological Project. The primary goal of the DukhaEthnoarchaeological Project is the development of spatial theory of human behavior for application to archaeological problems. Visit the website at:https://sites.google.com/site/dukhaethnoarch/ .
Asian Politics and History Association. Asian Politics and History Association is a non-political, non-profit academic society organized by scholars of Asian studies. Established in 2011 in Hong Kong, APHA currently has members from Asian-Pacific, European and North American countries. APHA supports the Journal of Asian Politics & History, an academic journal published twice a year beginning in October 2012. Visit the website at:http://www.aphahk.org.
Juniper: Online Database for Mongolian and Siberian Studies. This new French scientific tool is created at the initiative of the Centre for Mongolian and Siberian EPHE. It aims to bring together texts (native), images and multimedia on the peoples of Mongolia and Siberia. Several galleries of images are presented, including collections of old prints and a new series of old photographs of the Tuvan National Museum. Sheets populations gather essential information and links to documents relating to the peoples of Northern Asia. Subject files (kinship, Personalia, shamanism and soon others) allow you to browse the data according to thematic itineraries. The bibliography contains references to books and articles, some of which have been digitized and can be downloaded for researchers. Visit: www.base- juniper.org.
Searchable Ornithological Research Archive (SORA). Recently the University of New Mexico Library officially announced the launch of the new, upgraded Searchable Ornithological Research Archive (SORA). The ornithological community is once again indebted to the UNM library for investing in the open access distribution of our historical ornithological literature. SORA has been moved to a new platform that will allow the resource to grow and expand over time. Many of the SORA journal titles have been updated with additional articles, and a new ornithological title has been added to the site. SORA now offers a number of new features for users and provides tools for journal publishers to update the SORA repository directly, with little or no technical support. All of these improvements have been needed for some time, and the UNM Libraries SORA team appreciates your collective patience; it has taken over a year to convert the entire SORA article holdings and prepare the new site for production. A number of ongoing improvements are still in the works for 2014, and as with any major system upgrade, there are a countless number of small details that still require attention. The new URL to the site is http://sora.unm.edu.
The Mongolist is a website dedicated to sharing knowledge about Mongolian politics, business, and society. The website is an ever growing resource built on data and information collected on the Internet and in Mongolia. The aim of this website is to make understanding the complexity of the rapid social and economic change occurring in Mongolia not only accessible but also rewarding. The underlying principle guiding the development of all content on this website is evidence based investigation. Whenever possible, opinion, conjecture, and pure guesswork are replaced with facts, data, and extrapolation. And, when this is not possible, opinion, conjecture, and pure guesswork are advertised as such. Visit: http://www.themongolist.com/
Education About Asia (EAA) has become an essential resource for teachers dealing with Asian themes or topics; both in the broad trans-continental and regional contexts. Conceived as a publication for K-12 faculty, it has in fact proved to be extremely helpful for higher education faculty seeking insights on many subjects. The Asian Studies outreach activities of many colleges and universities have greatly benefited from EAA materials. Register (for free) to access approximately 900 articles from all thirty-seven back issues from 1996-2008: http://www.asian-studies.org/EAA/index.htm and subscribe to the Print Edition at https://www.asian-studies.org/EAA- Subscriptions.htm.
Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center: Indiana University’s IAUNRC has updated its website to include not only its regular newsletters but podcasts, lecture videos, teaching resources and more:http://www.iu.edu/~iaunrc/.
Mongolia Focus (formerly “Mongolia Today”): “This blog is an attempt by three avid Mongolia watchers to share their observations about current developments in Mongolia.” By Julian Dierkes and Dalaibulanii Byambajav, social scientists at the University of British Columbia, this blog mostly follows Mongolian politics and the mining sector. Visit: http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/. |
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Mongolia-related Papers and Panels at AAS
If you do plan to register for the Association for Asian Studies conference in Philadelphia, there are several Mongolia-focused papers and panels that may be of interest to you, including papers delivered by past ACMS fellows Lauren Bonilla and Devon Dear. On Thursday night, March 27th, there will be a Mongolia-focused panel titled: "Memory, Narrative, and Violence among contemporary Mongolians and Mongols on the Margins of Russia and China". Listed below are these and several other Mongolia-related papers being presented. Again, you should be registered for AAS to go to panels. Check the updated AAS program for locations:
- "Interpretations of the Past and Imaginations of the Future: Historical Narratives in Inner Mongolia", Paula Haas, University of Bonn. Time: Thu Mar 27 2014, 7:30 to 9:30pm.
- "Rediscovered Shrines and Bad Karma: Embodied Histories and Ritual Practice in Buryatia", *Justine Buck Quijada, Wesleyan University. Time: Thu Mar 27 2014, 7:30 to 9:30pm.
- "Making Memories for a Better Future: The Role of Memory in Shaping Development, Mining, and Environmental Relations in Mongolia", *Lauren Bonilla, Clark University. Time: Thu Mar 27 2014, 7:30 to 9:30pm.
- "Plotting Counter-Revolution: Narratives of Treason and State Power in Early Socialist Mongolia", *Chris Kaplonski, University of Cambridge. Time: Thu Mar 27 2014, 7:30 to 9:30pm.
- "Technologies of Textiles and Forms of Fashion: Clothes and the Sino-Mongol Man", *Jennifer Purtle, University of Toronto. Time: Thu Mar 27 2014, 7:30 to 9:30pm.
- "Conquerors’ Qualities? Reading Elements of ‘Mongol’ Identities and Social Capital in Yuanshi
- Biographical Narratives", *Geoffrey Humble, University of Birmingham. Time: Fri Mar 28 2014, 8:30 to 10:30am.
- "Inventing a Monastic Architecture in Mongolia", *Isabelle Charleux, National Centre for Scientific Research. Time: Fri Mar 28 2014, 8:30 to 10:30am.
- "Profitability without Production: Restructuring the Chinese-Mongolian Frontier, 1904-1911", *Devon Dear, Harvard University. Time: Fri Mar 28 2014, 10:45am to 12:45pm.
- "Of Prostitutes and Airplanes: How Anti-Clerical Humor Paved the Way for the Stalinist Purges of Buddhism in Mongolia", *Simon Wickham-smith, Independent Scholar. Time: Fri Mar 28 2014, 1:00 to 3:00pm.
- "The Search for Korean Origins in Mongolia and Genomics As the New Founding Myths in the 21st Century", *Young-Gyung Paik, Korea National Open University. Time: Fri Mar 28 2014, 3:15 to 5:15pm.
- "Substantializing the Frontier through Immigration: Land Reclamation and State Making in Inner Mongolia, 1902-1911", *Yi Wang, University of California, Berkeley. Time: Sat Mar 29 2014, 8:30 to 10:30am.
- "A Cartographic Way of Thinking: Imanishi Kinji, Aerial Photography, and Evolutionary Ecology in Inner Mongolia", *Sakura Christmas, Harvard University. Time: Sat Mar 29 2014, 2:45 to 4:45pm.
- "Mongolian Climate Variability and 'Dzud' over the Past 2 Millennium and Societal Impacts", *Nicole Davi, William Paterson University. Time: Sun Mar 30 2014, 10:15 to 12:15pm.
Monthly Biobeers Talk: First Thursday of the month, Sweet Cafe (located behind the Information and Technological National Park and next to the Admon Printing Company, west of Internom Bookstore Building). People are requested to arrive after 6pm, in time for the talk to start at 6.30. Biobeers is a monthly gathering of government and NGO staff, biologists, researchers, and other professionals interested in conservation. Each month, Biobeers sponsors a half-hour presentation on a topic relevant to Mongolian conservation, followed by an informal gathering to discuss activities and issues of interest. Biobeers is an opportunity to find out what is happening in the field of conservation in Mongolia, talk informally to other researchers and peers in your field, and share information about issues critical to the environment and people of Mongolia. Biobeers is organised by the Zoological Society of London's Steppe Forward Programme and sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Join the Yahoo! Group Mongolbioweb for announcements |
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Nomadismes d'Asie centrale et septentrionale (Nomadism in Central and North Asia) by Charles Stépanoff, Carole Ferret, Gaëlle Lacaze, Julien Thorez. For more information in French about this publication visit the website of the publisher, or find a table of contents pdf here.
Tragic Spirits: Shamanism, Memory and Gender in Contemporary Mongolia, (Manduhai Buyandelger). The collapse of socialism at the end of the twentieth century brought devastating changes to Mongolia. Economic shock therapy—an immediate liberalization of trade and privatization of publicly owned assets—quickly led to impoverishment, especially in rural parts of the country, where Tragic Spirits takes place. Following the travels of the nomadic Buryats, Manduhai Buyandelger tells a story not only of economic devastation but also a remarkable Buryat response to it—the revival of shamanic practices after decades of socialist suppression. Attributing their current misfortunes to returning ancestral spirits who are vengeful over being abandoned under socialism, the Buryats are now at once trying to appease their ancestors and recover the history of their people through shamanic practice. Thoroughly documenting this process, Buyandelger situates it as part of a global phenomenon, comparing the rise of shamanism in liberalized Mongolia to its similar rise in Africa and Indonesia. In doing so, she offers a sophisticated analysis of the way economics, politics, gender, and other factors influence the spirit world and the crucial workings of cultural memory.
In Pursuit of Early Mammals (Life of the Past) , (ZofiaKielan-Jaworowska). In Pursuit of Early Mammals presents the history of the mammals that lived during the Mesozoic era, the time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, and describes their origins, anatomy, systematics, paleobiology, and distribution. It also tells the story of the author, a world-renowned specialist on these animals, and the other prominent paleontologists who have studied them. ZofiaKielan-Jaworowska was the first woman to lead large-scale paleontological expeditions, including eight to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, which brought back important collections of dinosaur, early mammal, and other fossils. She shares the difficulties and pleasures encountered in finding rare fossils and describes the changing views on early mammals made possible by thesediscoveries.Between 1963 and 1971, Kielan-Jaworowska organized eight paleontological expeditions to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. These expeditions assembled an impressive collection of dinosaurs and Cretaceous mammals. Her research has focused on the study of the detailed structure of the brain and musculature of early mammals and their evolutionary relationships.
A Monastery in Time: The Making of Mongolian Buddhism, by Caroline Humphrey and Hurelbaatar Ujeed. (University of Chicago Press). A Monastery in Time is the first book to describe the life of a Mongolian Buddhist monastery—the Mergen Monastery in Inner Mongolia—from inside its walls. From the Qing occupation of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through the Cultural Revolution, Caroline Humphrey and HürelbaatarUjeed tell a story of religious formation, suppression, and survival over a history that spans three centuries.Often overlooked in Buddhist studies, Mongolian Buddhism is an impressively self-sustaining tradition whose founding lama, the Third MergenGegen, transformed Tibetan Buddhism into an authentic counterpart using the Mongolian language. Drawing on fifteen years of fieldwork, Humphrey and Ujeed show how lamas have struggled to keep MergenGegen’s vision alive through tremendous political upheaval, and how such upheaval has inextricably fastened politics to religion for many of today’s practicing monks. Exploring the various ways Mongolian Buddhists have attempted to link the past, present, and future, Humphrey and Ujeed offer a compelling study of the interplay between the individual and the state, tradition and history.
Fossil Mammals of Asia: Neogene Biostratigraphy and Chronology, by Xiaoming Wang, Lawrence J. Flynn, Mikael Fortelius.(Columbia University Press). Fossil Mammals of Asia, edited by and with contributions from world-renowned scholars, is the first major work devoted to the late Cenozoic (Neogene) mammalian biostratigraphy and geochronology of Asia. This volume employs cutting-edge biostratigraphic and geochemical dating methods to map the emergence of mammals across the continent. Written by specialists working in a variety of Asian regions, it uses data from many basins with spectacular fossil records to establish a groundbreaking geochronological framework for the evolution of land mammals.Asia's violent tectonic history has resulted in some of the world's most varied topography, and its high mountain ranges and intense monsoon climates have spawned widely diverse environments over time. These geologic conditions profoundly influenced the evolution of Asian mammals and their migration into Europe, Africa, and North America. Focusing on amazing new fossil finds that have redefined Asia's role in mammalian evolution, this volume synthesizes information from a range of field studies on Asian mammals and biostratigraphy, helping to trace the histories and movements of extinct and extant mammals from various major groups and all northern continents, and providing geologists with a richer understanding of a variety of Asian terrains.
LIVE FROM UB: A Documentary on Modern Mongolian Rock, by Lauren Knapp (Fulbright-mtvU Fellow 2012). post-production is currently underway Lauren Knapp's documentary film LIVE FROM UB. She spent ten months in Mongolia researching the rock music scene, its history, and how the new generation of musicians is fusing traditional music and themes with modern styles to create something that is unique to both their generation and Mongolia. Lauren was first interested to learn how the first generation of Mongolians to grow up in a democracy was expressing themselves through music. She found that the trajectory of Mongolian rock through, emulates the path Mongolia has taken as a nation over the past three decades. You can read more about the film, her research, and watch exclusive videos on the film website (www.livefromub.com).
Does Everyone Want Democracy? : Insights from Mongolia, by Paula Sabloff. (Left Coast Press). Do all people desire democracy? For at least a century, the idea that democracy is a universal good has been an article of faith for American policy makers. Paula Sabloff challenges this conventional wisdom about who wants democracy and why. Arguing that certain universal human aspirations exist, she shows how local realities are highly particularistic and explains that culture, history, and values are critical to the study of political systems. Her fascinating study of Mongolia —feudal until it became the first country to follow Russia into communism and now struggling with post-socialist democratization—is a model for investigating how everyday people around the world actually think about and implement democracy on their own terms.
A History of Land Use in Mongolia: The Thirteenth Century to the Present, by Elizabeth Endicott (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). A History of Land Use in Mongolia examines conceptual and practical issues of land use during eight centuries of Mongolian history. The book analyzes how Mongolia's pastoral nomadic herding population historically has dealt with secular and religious forms of authority in the ongoing struggle for control over pastureland and water resources. The author's findings derive from a number of field trips to the Mongolian countryside as well as a diverse array of written sources including Russian geographic treatises, historical texts, Mongolian press accounts, and Western economic analyses of the present day herding sector.
A Kazakh Teacher's Story: Surviving the Silent Steppe, by Mukhamet Shayakhmetov. (Stacey International, 2013). This book begins where 'The Silent Steppe' left off. It is early 1945, and the author, Mukhamet, still recuperating from serious war injuries, has traveled thousands of kilometers back to his home village in the eastern Kazakh steppe. As he encounters scenes of desperate poverty, he quickly realizes the immense sacrifices made by local people, and particularly women, while the able-bodied men were away fighting. Mukhamet endeavors to pick up the pieces of his pre-war life, working hard to support his extended family, marrying, continuing his education, and eventually embarking on a life in teaching dedicated to giving young people the best education possible. Through his insightful portraits of local party bosses, district officials and bureaucrats, and tales of the vicissitudes of daily life, a broader, more personal picture emerges of life under Stalin, and of his pervading shadow decades on. The author's moral integrity, stoicism and profound respect for the struggles of the common people stand out in this memoir of a life of self-effacing dedication.
Energy Access, Poverty, and Development: The Governance of Small-Scale Renewable Energy in Developing Asia (Ashgate Studies in Environmental Policy and Practice) by Benjamin K. Sovacool and Ira Martina Drupady. (Ashgate Pub Co, 2012). This book showcases how small-scale renewable energy technologies such as solar panels, cook stoves, biogas digesters, microhydro units, and wind turbines are helping Asia respond to a daunting set of energy governance challenges. Using extensive original research this book offers a compendium of the most interesting renewable energy case studies over the last ten years from one of the most diverse regions in the world. Through an in-depth exploration of case studies in Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka, the authors highlight the applicability of different approaches and technologies and illuminates how household and commercial innovations occur (or fail to occur) within particular energy governance regimes. It also, uniquely, explores successful case studies alongside failures or "worst practice" examples that are often just as revealing as those that met their targets. Based on these successes and failures, the book presents twelve salient lessons for policymakers and practitioners wishing to expand energy access and raise standards of living in some of the world's poorest communities. It also develops an innovative framework consisting of 42 distinct factors that explain why some energy development interventions accomplish all of their goals while others languish to achieve any.
The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors (Complete Illustrated History 1) by Christoph Baumer. (I. B. Tauris, 2012). The epic plains and arid deserts of Central Asia have witnessed some of the greatest migrations, as well as many of the most transformative developments, in the history of civilization. ChristophBaumer's ambitious four-volume treatment of the region charts the 3000-year drama of Scythians and Sarmatians; Soviets and transcontinental Silk Roads; trade routes and the transmission of ideas across the steppes; and the breathless and brutal conquests of Alexander the Great and Chinghis Khan. Masterfully interweaving the stories of individuals and peoples, the author's engaging prose is richly augmented throughout by color photographs taken on his own travels. For all the complexity of the history, Dr. Baumer, a noted authority on Central Asia, never loses sight of the sweeping grandeur of its overall setting. Volume 1 focuses on the geography of the area now occupied by present-day Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, northern Afghanistan, western and central Mongolia and parts of southern Russia and northern China. Discussing the changing climates of the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages, the author explores subjects as diverse as glacial retreat; the invention of the wheel; the legendary Cimmerians and Amazons; Hellenism and Zoroastrianism; and the Oxus Treasure. Future volumes will explore the later historical periods of the region.
The Short Essays of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, by Wang Hong and Zhang Shunsheng. (Paths International Ltd., 2013). The late Ming Dynasty (1572-1644) and the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1722) saw the true splendour of short essays in China. No other period in the history of short essays in ancient China can match them in the quality and number of works, literary schools, or the variety of styles. Compared with those written before or after, the short essays in these periods were richer in the choice of topics, and freer in form, focusing not only on real social life, but also on worldly experience and life's little delights. They are a rich and vital part of China's literary and cultural heritage. The 127 short essays in this wonderful book are considered to be the very best examples from an era of China's history that's synonymous with beautifully crafted short essays. 82 essays are from the Ming Dynasty and 45 essays are from the Qing Dynasty, written by more than a hundred different Chinese authors from both dynasties. These are arranged in the order of the authors' birth dates and tenderly translated into English by leading Chinese translators Wang Hong and Zhang Shunsheng, who have faithfully represented the styles and literary achievements made by the featured essayists. It's a wonderful book that will delight fans of classic Chinese short essays, as well as providing the perfect introduction to readers new to the genre.
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