Subject: This Month in Mongolian Studies - November 2021

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In this Issue:

ACMS Announcements 

ACMS Sponsored Programs and Events

Vacancies and Fellowships

Grants, Scholarships, Calls for Papers

New Resources

Other News and Events

Recent Books

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!

 
ACMS Announcements, News and Media References

Editor's Note

Dear reader,

Where is the field of Mongolian studies heading? Is it a growing field with enough employment and scholarship opportunities for faculty and students around the world?

We here at ACMS believe so. And we list as many academic resources, job vacancies, fellowship and grant opportunities in this monthly newsletter to promote interest in this field.

So, whether you're a brand-new subscriber or a long-time partner, I thank you for reading. If you missed any of our back issues, our archive is at your disposal. 

And so am I. 

I transitioned this week to become the ACMS U.S. Director, a position sometime ago held by my great colleague and mentor David Dettmann, who is the Associate Director of UPenn's Center for East Asian Studies. As such, engaging with you, our members, like David did will be the core of my new duties. (More on that in the future.)

So, if you find our resources useful, please consider renewing your membership or making a tax-deductible donation. (If you signed up for our lecture series and haven't yet become a member, join us!)

Sincerely,
Natso Baatarkhuu

ACMS supports organization of Morin Khuur Festival 

As part of an ongoing effort to expand presence in the U.S. and strengthen membership base within the Mongolian American community, ACMS supported the organization of the rapidly growing U.S. festival dedicated to the traditional instrument of Mongolia, the Morin Khuur or Horse Fiddle. The festival was organized at the University of California, Berkeley campus Oct 9-10 by the Morin Khuur Center in North America, and comprised of academic presentations, amateur players' competition, and concerts by professional morin khuurists from Mongolia.

OFS Session 2's Literature course begins Oct 29

"Literature in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Mongolian History" by Simon Wickhamsmith held its first session on October 29, and its recording is stored on studymongolia.org.

This is a book-club format course, in which we will discuss every week three or four thematically-related stories, and so develop an understanding of the relationship between literature and Mongolian politics and culture over the century since the revolution of 1921. Mongolia has a rich and varied modern literary scene, and whatever you enjoy reading, in English or another language, has parallels in Mongolian. Reading Mongolian fiction is an exciting and meaningful way to explore Mongolia’s culture and history - and also to prepare for a future trip!

Simon Wickhamsmith is is a translator and scholar of modern Mongolian literature. He is the author of Politics and Literature in Mongolia 1921-1948 (Amsterdam University Press, 2020), and the translator of Ts.Oidov's The End of the Dark Age (Phoneme Media, 2015) and Suncranes and other stories: Modern Mongolian short fiction (Columbia University Press 2021). He teaches at Rutgers University..

Please note that ACMS is planning to provide on-site field courses in Mongolia in 2022, and the online courses participants are encouraged to apply for richer and in-depth experience. Mongolia Field School 2022 announcement is scheduled for late-October, pending COVID-19 restrictions.

All courses of the Online Field School are open to participants of any nationality and background. Interested applicants can sign up on the ACMS website to enroll directly for the courses. Thanks to the generous funding of Henry Luce Foundation, enrolled participants get a one-year complimentary ACMS membership.

ACMS Fellowships accepting applications for 2022

ACMS is pleased to announce its 2022 fellowships, namely on field research, summer language program, and library fellowships. Depending on the COVID-19 situation, the fellows may be expected to defer their research to the following year even if accepted.

ACMS Field Research Fellowship Program provides awards of up $4000 to US citizen students and/or university faculty to conduct academic field research in Mongolia between May and October. The fellowship is supported with funding from the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs through a grant by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. Deadline for receipt of complete applications: February 15, 2022.

ACMS Library Fellowship Program provides US citizens who are advanced graduate students or faculty in library science or related fields with up to $4000 to conduct short-term projects and/or research in Mongolia between May and October. This program helps support the development of the ACMS research library through specific defined projects designed to enhance the collection content and resource availability. The fellowship is supported with funding from the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs through a grant by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. Deadline for receipt of complete applications: February 15, 2022.

ACMS Intensive Mongolian Language Program. Students and scholars are invited to enroll in an eight week Intermediate Intensive Mongolian Language Program at the ACMS in Ulaanbaatar, from June 6 to August 5, 2022. The focus of this program is to provide students with an opportunity to enhance their communicative competence through systematic improvement of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills, in an authentic environment. Some full and partial fellowships are available to cover the cost of tuition, which is $2,000. Deadline for receipt of applications: March 1, 2022.


Institute of Language and Literature gifts 75 books to ACMS Library

The Institute of Language and Literature at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and Dr. Bat-Ireedui J. donated 75 of Institute-published books during their book donation event on Oct 15! Thank you for your kind donation. Happy 100th anniversary!

ACMS and National Library of Mongolia co-organizing a cataloguing workshop for Mongolian librarians
The virtual 15-day workshop dedicated to teaching librarians about the cataloguing standards kicked off on Oct 30, with 110 participants from all over Mongolia, and two U.S. Library professional instructors, Dr. Saruul Erdene M. from the U.S Library of Congress and Dr. Enerel D. from the Columbia University Library. The recordings of their instruction is being stored on the ACMS e-learning platform for asynchronous study as well.

ACMS Sponsored Programs and Events
Please note that our VSS programming is alternating monthly between Mongolian and English as part of our larger plan to create inclusive and accessible discourse. November event is a panel on Nomonhan Incident/Khalkhyn Gol River. The event will be held in English.
October Cultural Heritage Discussion was held on October 14, 10 am ULAT. The discussion was titled: "Соёлын Өв- Цуврал Хэлэлцүүлэг: Музейн манлайлал" and was moderated by P.Baigali, Director at Fine Arts Museum of Mongolia, and had 8 panelists from various institutions and relevant organizations.

The discussions are held in Mongolian, and the recordings of the panel will be uploaded on the ACMS YouTube channel soon


Dr. Enkhchimeg B, historian and sinologist, presented "The 1945 Independence Referendum and the " on October 20, 9am GMT+8. The discussion was in Mongolian and will soon be uploaded to ACMS YouTube channel with Mongolian subtitles. However, the full livestream is also available on the ACMS Facebook page.

Vacancies and Fellowships

Tenure-Track Professor in Buddhist Studies at Vienna University


At the Faculty of Philological and Cultural Studies of the University of Vienna the position of a

Tenure-Track Professorship
for the field of
Buddhist Studies

(full-time position) is to be filled.

The research and teaching focus of candidates should be in one or more of the following areas of Buddhist Studies: history of philosophy, of religion, and of literature. Primary sources should play a prominent role in both research and teaching. Consideration of the social dimension is welcome. Candidates should have command of and use Sanskrit and Pali; knowledge of Buddhist Chinese and/or Tibetan is desirable. Readiness to cooperate especially with Tibetology and South Asian Studies as well as with other disciplines of the University of Vienna is expected.

The application deadline is 10 January 2022.
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation New Professorships in Buddhist Studies

Institutions of higher education worldwide are eligible to apply for grants up to $300,000 (to be expended over four years) in support of new teaching positions in Buddhist studies.

The proposed position must be a new position, not a replacement for a retirement or for an otherwise vacated position in the same or very similar field.

The establishment of the position must contribute significantly to the institution. This has been taken to mean establishing a curriculum in Buddhist Studies where none has existed or where such a curriculum was in clear and urgent need of support.

Award funds should be used only for the new professor’s salary, benefits, and research expenses, not for indirect or administrative costs, or office expenses.

In addition, applicant institutions are eligible to request funds for costs related to a competitive search for the proposed position. The request must not exceed the $300,000 maximum.

A letter must be attached to the application from the institution’s president, vice-chancellor, rector, provost, or dean expressing the institution’s commitment to maintain the seeded position as a permanent, tenure-track post after the expiration of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation's funding, consistent with the university's policies on tenure-track positions. At institutions without a tenure-track system, the applicant institution must commit to continuing the position for a substantial period after the expiration of grant funding and must provide a description of how this commitment fits its contractual practices.

The heart of the application is a statement outlining the proposed position—its responsibilities, departmental location, its rank, the fit with the institution’s mission and curricular plans, and the qualifications sought in potential appointees. The statement should describe the process of identifying the appointee.

Completed applications must be submitted through the ACLS Online Fellowship and Grant Administration (OFA) System (ofa.acls.org) no later than 9PM Eastern Time, January 11, 2022.
Assistant Professor of East Asian History at Boston University

The History Department at Boston University invites applications for a tenure-track appointment at the level of Assistant Professor in Modern East Asian History, beginning Fall 2022.

The Department seeks candidates with expertise in modern East Asian history, and possible intersecting interests in Southeast Asia, with a preference for applicants with comparative, transnational or global perspectives. Candidates should demonstrate a commitment to excellence in research and teaching. Responsibilities include teaching undergraduate and graduate core courses and in fields of specialization. 
Ph.D. in hand by beginning of employment. 

Applicants should submit by October 12, 2021 a cover letter detailing teaching and research interests, a C.V., and two letters of recommendation to Academic Jobs Online

Please direct any questions about this position to Professor Benjamin Siegel at siegelb@bu.edu.
Visiting Research Scholar Program at Institute of the Study of Ancient World, New York University

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) is a center for advanced scholarly research and graduate education, which aims to encourage particularly the study of the economic, religious, political and cultural connections between ancient civilizations. In an effort to embrace a truly inclusive geographical scope while maintaining continuity and coherence, the Institute focuses on the shared and overlapping periods in the development of cultures and civilizations around the Mediterranean basin, and across central Asia to the Pacific Ocean. The approaches of anthropology, archaeology, geography, geology, history, economics, sociology, art history, digital humanities, and the history of science and technology are as integral to the enterprise as the study of texts, philosophy, and the analysis of artifacts.

ISAW is prepared to host visiting scholars in three categories:

(1) Two-Year Visiting Assistant Professors: ISAW anticipates appointing up to two two-year Visiting Assistant Professors with a start-date of September 1, 2022. Holders of these positions are appointed as faculty, teach a graduate-level research seminar at ISAW, and teach one undergraduate course in an NYU department per academic year. Visiting Assistant Professorships are reserved for early-career scholars who received their PhDs on or after May 1, 2019. Current doctoral students in their final year of dissertation work are also welcome to apply, but please note that official conferral of the PhD must take place prior to the start-date of the position (September 1, 2022). Application link: https://apply.interfolio.com/93231

(2) One-Year Visiting Research Scholars: ISAW anticipates appointing up to three funded one-year Visiting Research Scholars for the 2022-23 academic year (September 1, 2022-August 31, 2023). Holders of these positions are typically appointed as professional research staff. One-Year Visiting Research Scholar positions are available to scholars of all post-PhD career stages, from recently minted PhDs to retired academics. Current doctoral students in their final year of dissertation work are also welcome to apply, but please note that official conferral of the PhD must take place prior to the start-date of the position (September 1, 2022). Application link: https://apply.interfolio.com/93238

(3) Externally-Funded Visiting Research Scholars: ISAW is prepared to consider applications from postdoctoral scholars with their own funding from another source for appointments to be held during the 2022-23 academic year. Appointments can be for one semester (fall 2022 or spring 2023) or for the entire 2022-23 academic year. Externally Funded Visiting Research Scholar positions are available to scholars of all post-PhD career stages, from recently minted PhDs to retired academics. Applicants should have their doctorates in hand by the beginning of their period of appointment at ISAW. Holders of these positions do not receive any financial support from ISAW. Application link: https://apply.interfolio.com/93240

For category 1 and 2, the application deadline is November 20th, 2021. Applicants in category 3 must apply at least one semester in advance of their anticipated start date; to ensure full consideration, the recommended deadline for all 2022-23 positions is November 20, 2021.

Other questions should be directed to Marc LeBlanc, Associate Director for Academic Affairs, at marc.leblanc@nyu.edu.

World Language Scorer at Pearson Assessment VUE

We are the world’s learning company with more than 24,000 employees operating in 70 countries. We combine world-class educational content and assessment,powered by services and technology, to enable more effective teaching and personalized learning at scale. We believe that wherever learning flourishes so do people.


We have immediate openings for candidates to score the following World Languages in our Hadley office:

[...]

Mongolian

[...]

Key benefits
  • Starting rate of $22.80 per hour
  • On-site training
  • Flexibility to work scoring sessions that suit your availability
  • Overall Responsibilities
  • Evaluates responses of teacher candidates in multiple states.
  • Successfully internalizes training and scoring guide, participates in discussions.
  • Must be able to put aside personal biases and apply scoring guide according to rubric requirements.
  • Meets quality and productivity requirements established for the scoring program.
  • Engage with other scorers in consensus scoring activities.
Working Conditions

On-site training takes place in an office environment that is safe and favorable to good working conditions.

Pearson is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer and a member of E-Verify. All qualified applicants, including minorities, women, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Qualifications
  • Be a native speaker of the language OR a certified teacher or college educator in the language
  • Both active and retired teachers can be eligible to score, provided they hold a current teaching license.
  • Basic computer skills (keyboard, mouse)
  • Ability to sit for extended periods of time
  • Ability to maintain a confidential work environment
  • Eligible to work in the United States

Primary Location : US-MA-Hadley



Grants, Scholarships, and Calls for Paper


Grant: The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Translation Grants in Buddhist Studies

Critical editions are of crucial importance to the expanding field of Buddhist studies. Translation has been at the core of Buddhism since the Buddha's instruction to his monks to teach the dharma in many languages.

These grants support a broad range of endeavor, from the creation of critical editions (with full scholarly apparatus), to translation of canonical texts into modern vernaculars, to the translation of scholarly works on Buddhism from one modern language into another.

Collaborative projects are welcome.

Grant amount of up to $50,000 for twelve months. No university overhead is permitted. 

Award funds can be used as stipends for work performed (e.g., to secure release time or to pay assistants), for travel, and for related office costs, including reproduction or digitization of images. A budget is required.

There are no restrictions as to the language of the final product prepared for publication.

ACLS offers publication subventions to recipients of these grants who complete manuscripts. Subventions will be considered by the selection committee that meets following completion. They will be awarded on the quality of the written product. To be considered for a subvention, manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter and a budget.

If you have a completed manuscript, based on your work during the grant period, please email us at BuddhistStudies@acls.org.

Completed applications must be submitted through the ACLS Online Fellowship and Grant Administration (OFA) System (ofa.acls.org) no later than 9PM Eastern Time, November 15, 2021.


Fellowships: The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Dissertation Fellowships in Buddhist Studies

Stipend: $30,000
Tenure: 10 consecutive months, initiated by September 30, 2022, devoted full time to the dissertation. No other employment is permitted during the fellowship period.

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Dissertation Fellowships in Buddhist Studies provide stipends to PhD candidates for full time preparation of dissertations. The ten-month fellowship period may be used for fieldwork, archival research, analysis of findings, or for writing after research is complete.

Eligibility
  • Pursuit of the PhD degree at an accredited university.
  • Completion by April 15, 2022 of all requirements for the PhD degree except research and writing of the dissertation (the equivalent of ABD in the US system). A successful applicant, before being named a Fellow, must provide confirmation of ABD status or equivalent from a university official).
  • The application must be written in English by the applicant.
  • There are no restrictions as to the location of work proposed or the citizenship/residence of applicants.
  • Work proposed must be in the humanities or related social sciences.

Selection Criteria
  • Significance of the topic and its potential contribution to Buddhist studies
  • Coherence and cogency of presentation
  • Feasibility of the plan of work
  • Potential of the applicant for a career that will make full use of Buddhist studies expertise

Completed applications must be submitted through the ACLS Online Fellowship and Grant Administration (OFA) System (ofa.acls.org) no later than 9PM Eastern Time, November 15, 2021.


Call for Papers: TKAFMS' The Mongolian Studies, the 67th Issue

The Korean Association For Mongolian Studies(TKAFMS) publishes the Mongolian Studies, a journal listed in the Korea Citation Index (KCI), on February 28, May 31, August 31, and November 30 of every year. Thus, in accordance with the following guidelines, the Academy calls for papers that can be published in the 67th issue of the Mongolian Studies on November 30, 2021.

The call solicits all academic fields related to Mongolian Studies. 
  • All submitted papers should be written with either MS Word 2007 or 한글 2010, or more recent version of them.
  • All submitted papers must possess the format of ‘title of paper (both in original language and in English) – abstract (both in original language and in English) – key words (both in original language and in English) – manu – bibliography’ in accordance with “the Guideline for Manu Style” and “the Regulation for Submission and Publication” of Mongolian Studies.
  • Every author submitting a paper to the Mongolian Studies must fill a Form of Research Ethics Vow provided by the Academy and submit it with the file of paper.
A submitted paper will contain around 6000 English words (around 20 pages of A4 size paper) including footnotes, abstract, key words, and bibliography. A submitted paper exceeding 7000 words may incur excess amount when judging publication.

Submission Due: October 20, 2021 (Tuesday) 14:00 of Korea Standard Time

All submissions and questions should be sent to: mongolsudlal@hanmail.net

Review Process: Each submitted paper shall be reviewed and its suitability will be evaluated through the regulated reviewing process. The result of review shall be reported to each author.

Fees: The annual membership fee of 30,000 won (excluding lifetime members and institutional members) and the examination paper fee of 60,000 won should be deposited into the account below, 100,000 won for publishing and 400,000 won for research support papers.

Account Number: KB BANK 752601-04-315055 박소현(한국몽골학회)
The Chief Editor of the Korean Association For Mongolian Studies(TKAFMS)



Call for Papers: "China-Eurasia" Council's Eurasian Research on Modern China and Eurasia Conference, December 3-4, 2021

The Conference is designed for researchers in Humanities and Social Sciences. It is mostly focused on International Relations, Economics, History, Political Sciences and Sociology, International Security Issues. Please note that this conference is designed as an academic one, non-academic appliers will be rejected.

Because of COVID-19 outbreak this year conference will take place in online format. There is no attendance fee.

Registration details and schedule:

  1. A paper title and abstract (up to 400-1000 words) and Short Bio in English or Russian is to be sent by 15 November 2021 to Dr. Mher Sahakyan: info@chinastan.org
  2. The selected participants will be notified about organizing committee decision within a week after sending their applications. Selected speakers will have 15 minutes for the presentation of their papers.
  3. We intend to publish the best papers of the conference as a chapters in academic book. Invited speakers of the conference can send their full papers for peer review in English (up to 8000 words) till February 27, 2022. As a result of conferences organized in 2018 and 2019, we prepared book China and Eurasia: Rethinking Cooperation and Contradictions in the Era of Changing World Order (Ed. Mher Sahakayan and Heinz Gärtner), which is in press at Routledge.


Call for Papers: "Buddhist Identities in Twenty-First Century Asia" Conference, April 8-9, 2022

The conference will explore the character, changes and challenges of Buddhist identity in contemporary Asian cultures. Papers may concern the evolving nature of how Asian Buddhist identities are constructed, negotiated and intersect with other modes of identity in the globalized, technologized twenty-first century; they may investigate the dynamics of modern Asian Buddhism in relation to other religious groups, as well as cultural contexts, ethnicity and/or political institutions in different regions and settings. 

A central aim of the event is to provide a forum for discussion between scholars working on regions of Buddhist Asia from a distance, such as those affiliated to Western academic institutions, and those who conduct research at institutions within or proximate to Buddhist cultures, whether in South, Central, East or Southeast Asia.

Proposed contributions may employ any relevant methodology or concern any narrower subject matter that illuminates the themes outlined above. The conference is particularly interested in and encourages papers submitted by scholars at any stage in their career, including the late stages of doctoral research, who are affiliated to universities or research centres in regions of Buddhist Asia.

The conference will take place in Cambridge over 8–9th April 2022. The event will take a hybrid format, allowing for some contributors to present remotely, although the aim is to host in person as many participants as circumstances permit. Authors of chosen submissions will be offered accommodation in Cambridge between 7­–10th April 2022. Contributors will be encouraged to seek institutional funds to support travel to and from the event, but will also be eligible to seek financial support for travel from the conference.

Paper titles and abstracts no longer than 400 words, anticipating papers no longer than 30 minutes in length, should be submitted together with a CV by 1st December 2021 to the convener, Dr Chris V. Jones, at the following address: cubuddhistidentities@gmail.com. Queries may be sent to this same address. Outcomes will be communicated by early 2022.


Call for Papers - "Transcultural Asia: In the classroom and the world" ASIANetwork Conference 2022, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, April 8-10, 2022

“Transcultural Asia” encompasses both the cultural diversity and complexity of Asia and the trans-cultural interactions of Asia with other societies and peoples through trade, conquest, and the movement of people and ideas. It calls attention to questions of identity and definition: What is “Asia” and “Asian” at any one point in time? How does the external attribution of “Asian” become a self-identity for a people, a political entry, a cultural system of values, norms, beliefs, a way of life? “Transcultural Asia” invites us to explore cultural interaction at all levels of analysis, today and across time and geographies, from diverse disciplinary and conceptual perspectives.

Potential areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • The negotiation of cultural difference in literature, philosophy, religion, epistemology, and artistic expression, including Orientalism.
  • Intersectionality from the perspective of cultural difference in the understanding of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and social rank.
  • Anthropocene and Asia: the impact of cultural change and difference on environmental stewardship, from “above” and “below”; practice and policy from national and transnational perspectives.
  • Negotiations within territorial borders between the state and nations, ethnicities, religions, identities.
  • People moving across borders, e.g., the Asian diaspora in the West and the African diaspora in Asia.
  • Issues surrounding transcultural and global empires, trade, religious and philosophical systems, environmental challenges, COVID-19, popular cultures: history, spread, impact, response, threat/stress.


Student video challenge: Multimedia Collaboration between Asian and U.S. Undergraduates - ASIANetwork Annual Conference 2022, October 15, 2021

The ASIANetwork Student Video Competition facilitates focused and direct interaction between students at ASIANetwork and Asian undergraduate institutions. Student teams will examine a current global issue from a comparative perspective and, in a multimedia video, present their conclusions.

Winning Entries will be promoted on the ASIANetwork website and featured at the Annual Conference. The team will produce a video (5-minute maximum) based on the year’s theme.
The completed video will be submitted through the ASIANetwork website by the faculty advisor.
Winners will be chosen by a selection committee made up of experts in Asia/global affairs, media, and film.

The faculty advisor of the winning team will be invited to the annual conference with a complementary registration fee. A certificate and $100 award will be presented to each student member through the ASIANetwork institution.

Application Procedures
The faculty advisor submits an on-line application. Deadline: October 15

A list of team members (name, major/minor, year, contact information, university)
Name and contact information for the faculty advisor
Project title with a 250-word abstract
By November 1, ASIANetwork verifies eligibility and agrees to accept the video submission.

The faculty advisor submits the video through the ASIANetwork website. Deadline: February 1.


New Resources
Interesting digital resource we discovered in October, 2021:
  • "Public Data Lab Mongolia": A civil society organization that advocates for a meaningful collaboration among stakeholders such academia, government and the media. They work to promote the culture of open data so that different actors, leaders and communities can address the environmental and public health challenges of today and tomorrow by engaging in informed and inclusive discussions. Their website has open-access data on air quality, mapping, and community science, and it's all in English.
Member contribution publications:
(We received the following announcement of publication from our members. If you would like to announce your publication, please reach out to us at info@mongoliacenter.org)

Selected scholarly articles published in October, 2021:

Other News and Events

FEATURE ARTICLES AND EVENTS ON MONGOLIAN STUDIES
"Ancient Mongol Cities in Aerial View" Exhibition: Oct 29 - Nov 4
The Mongolian Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Culture, and the Culture and Arts Authority are putting this exhibit at the National Museum of Mongolia. Check out their programme

"Mobility and Displacement: Nomadism, Identity and Postcolonial Narratives in Mongolia" Indiana University: Nov 5, 2:00pm ET
by Dr. Orkhon Myadar, Associate Professor in the School of Geography, Development and Environment at University of Arizona. The presentation is live streamed via zoom.

"National Extinction and Planerary Survival: Mongolian Avant-Garde Poetry on a Dying Planet" Cambridge University: Nov 16, 11:30am ET
by Dr. Christian Sorace from Colorado College, as part of the Research Seminar series at MIASU. The presentation is live streamed via zoom – please contact miasu-admin@socanth.cam.ac.uk.

"The Dimming and the Light: Pollution and Purification among Mongolian Buddhists" Lund University: Nov 10, 12:00pm ET
Open lecture with Dr Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, The University of Copenhagen. The presentation is live streamed via zoom but prior registration is required, contact paulina.kolata@ace.lu.se


FEATURE ARTICLES ON MONGOLIAN STUDIES

US-China Influence Rivalry Moves Into Beijing's Backyard | VOA News
As China spreads its influence across Asia with its Belt and Road infrastructure projects, the United States is striking back with a major development project right in China's backyard: Mongolia...

Recent Books

The Impact of Mining Lifecycles in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan: Political, Social, Environmental and Cultural Contexts" Edited By Troy Sternberg, Kemel Toktomushev, Byambabaatar Ichinkhorloo

Price: 128 USD (hardcover) 39.16 USD (eBook)
This volume investigates how mining affects societies and communities in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan. As ex-Soviet states, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan share history, culture and transitions to democracy. Most importantly, both are mineral-rich countries on China’s frontier and epi-centres of resource extraction. This volume examines challenges communities in these countries encounter on the long journey through resource exploration, extraction and mine closure. The book is organised into three related sections that travel from mine licensing and instigation to early anticipation of benefit through the realisation of social and environmental impacts to finite issues such as jobs, monitoring, dispute resolution and reclamation. Most originally, each chapter will include a final section entitled "Notes from the field" that presents the voice of in-country researchers and stakeholders. These sections will provide local contextual knowledge on the chapter’s theme by practitioners from Mongolia and Central Asia. The volume thereby offers a distinctively grounded perspective on the tensions and benefits of mining in this dynamic region. Using Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan as case studies, the volume reflects on the evolving challenges communities and societies encounter with resource extraction worldwide.

The book will be of great interest to students and scholars of mining and natural resource extraction, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.

Troy Sternberg is a senior researcher in the School of Geography at the University of Oxford, UK. He is the editor of multiple books, including Arid Land Systems (2019) and Societies and Climate Hazard Crises in Asia (Routledge, 2017).

Kemel Toktomushev is a research fellow at the University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan. He is the author of Kyrgyzstan: Regime Security and Foreign Policy (Routledge, 2016).

Byambabaatar Ichinkhorloo is a director of the International Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations under the auspices of UNESCO. He is also a lecturer at the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, National University of Mongolia.
Under the Shadow of White Tara: Buriat Buddhists in Imperial Russia by Nikolay Tserempilov

Price: 124 USD
The book systematically explores the history of the Buddhist community in the Russian Empire. It offers an advanced overview of the relations that existed between the Buriat Buddhists and the Russian imperial authorities.
Various institutions and actors represented Russian power: foreign and interior ministries, the Irkutsk general-governorship, the Orthodox Christian mission of East Siberia, local journalists and academic scholars. The book is focussing especially on the evolution of imperial legislation and specific administrative mechanisms aiming at the regulation of Buddhist affairs. The author demonstrates how these actors responded to conflicting situations and collisions of interests. Thus the history of relations between Russia and her Buddhist subjects is shown as a complex process with participation of a number of actors with their own interests and motivations.


Nikolay Tsyrempilov, Doctor in History, currently holds the position of Associate Professor at the Department of History, Philosophy and Religious Studies of Nazarbayev University (Kazakhstan). He specializes in the history of Buddhism in Tibet, Mongolia and Russia in the 17-mid 20th century.
Suncranes and Other Stories: Modern Mongolian Short Fiction, Translated by Simon Wickhamsmith

Page: 296. Price: 25 USD
Over the course of the twentieth century, Mongolian life was transformed, as a land of nomadic communities encountered first socialism and then capitalism and their promises of new societies. The stories collected in this anthology offer literary snapshots of Mongolian life throughout this tumult. Suncranes and Other Stories showcases a range of powerful voices and their vivid portraits of nomads, revolution, and the endless steppe.

Spanning the years following the socialist revolution of 1921 through the early twenty-first century, these stories from the country’s most highly regarded prose writers show how Mongolian culture has forged links between the traditional and the modern. Writers employ a wide range of styles, from Aesopian fables through socialist realism to more experimental forms, influenced by folktales and epics as well as Western prose models. They depict the drama of a nomadic population struggling to understand a new approach to life imposed by a foreign power while at the same time benefiting from reforms, whether in the capital city Ulaanbaatar or on the steppe. Across the mix of stories, Mongolia’s majestic landscape and the people’s deep connection to it come through vividly. For all English-speaking readers curious about Mongolia’s people and culture, Simon Wickhamsmith’s translations make available this captivating literary tradition and its rich portrayals of the natural and social worlds.


Simon Wickhamsmith teaches in the writing and Asian studies programs at Rutgers University. He is the translator of Tseveendorjin Oidov’s The End of the Dark Era (2015).
STIGMATIZED: A Mongolian Girl's Journey from Stigma & Illness to Empowerment by Handaa Enkh-Amgalan

Page: 296. Price: 25 USD
STIGMATIZED: A Mongolian Girl's Journey from Stigma & Illness to Empowerment teaches that our struggles are our stories, and that accepting every part of who we are — even the parts we hide — is essential to growth. Handaa Enkh-Amgalan offers readers the tools to reflect on and articulate their previous experiences, while empowering them to rediscover who they are and find hope. Enkh-Amgalan intertwines her journey battling tuberculosis and the associated, pervasive social prejudice with stories of growing up in the nomadic country of Mongolia and pursuing education abroad. She chronicles:

Her daily fight for a spot on the bus out of her shantytown in Ulaanbaatar;
Sleeping just two or three hours a night for years as she studied English;
Who she turned to the night she was evicted from her apartment a world away from home;
How she proved skeptics – including family members – wrong about her destiny. In her debut book, Enkh-Amgalan deftly and earnestly combines storytelling with advocacy, drawing parallels to other stigmatized populations and embracing survivor identity.

Enkh-Amgalan earned a Master’s degree from New York University in public policy and a Bachelor’s degree in economics from East Tennessee State University, and today she works in the global humanitarian sector, specializing in refugee empowerment.
The Rise of the Mongols: Five Chinese Sources by Christopher Atwood

Page: 264. Price: 48 USD
Rise of the Mongols offers readers a selection of five important works that detail the rise of the Mongol Empire through Chinese eyes. Three of these works were written by officials of South China's Southern Song dynasty and two are from officials from North China writing in the service of the Mongol rulers. Together, these accounts offer a view of the early Mongol Empire very different not just from those of Muslim and Christian travelers and chroniclers, but also from the Mongol tradition embodied in The Secret History of Mongols.
The five Chinese source texts (in English translation, each with their own preface): Selections from Random Notes from Court and Country since the Jianyan Years, vol.2, by Li Xinchuan, "A Memorandum on the Mong-Tatars," by Zhao Gong, "A Sketch of the Black Tatars," by Peng Daya and Xu Ting, "Spirit-Path Stele for His Honor Yelü, Director of the Secretariat," by Song Zizhen, "Notes on a Journey," by Zhang Dehui. Also included are an introduction, index, bibliography, and appendices covering notes on the texts, tables and charts, and a glossary of Chinese and transcribed terms.

Christopher Atwood is the chair of the East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department, and a professor, Mongolian and Chinese Frontier & Ethnic History
Transforming Inner Mongolia: Commerce, Migration, and Colonization on the Qing Frontier by Yi Wang
Page: 336. Price: 105 USD
This groundbreaking book analyzes the dramatic impact of Han Chinese migration into Inner Mongolia during the Qing era. In the first detailed history in English, Yi Wang explores how processes of commercial expansion, land reclamation, and Catholic proselytism transformed the Mongol frontier long before it was officially colonized and incorporated into the Chinese state. Wang reconstructs the socioeconomic, cultural, and administrative history of Inner Mongolia at a time of unprecedented Chinese expansion into its peripheries and China’s integration into the global frameworks of capitalism and the...

Yi Wang is associate professor of history at Binghamton University.
American Center for Mongolian Studies, 642 Williams Hall, 255 S. 36th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
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