This Month in Mongolian Studies – September 2013

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 or mjstwo@princeton.edu.

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ACMS Sponsored Programs and Events
New Books in the ACMS Library
Call for Papers, Conferences and Workshops
Research Fellowships, Scholarships and Grants
Position Openings
Resources
News and Events
Recent Publications
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ACMS Sponsored Programs and Events

Speaker Series

September 11th – Benjamin Meader
Geographer and Assistant Instructor at Middlebury College, Mr. Meader is a specialist in GIS data analysis and applications.  He will be discussing how GIS technologies can be used in all fields of Mongolian studies.
September 25th – Dr. Charles Krusekopf
Dr. Kruskopf, founder of the ACMS, will be doing an overview of the ACMS’ last 10 years and discuss the future of Mongolian Studies.

Scholar's Corner

The Scholars Corner is an informal gathering aimed at providing an opportunity for visiting academics, resident scholars and interested individuals to meet, discuss their research and exchange ideas.  The gatherings will be held on the last Thursday of each month, with additional gatherings scheduled around noteworthy events or visits. 

September 19th – Prof. Julian Dierkes
Open discussion on Mongolian politics and international policy.  Event will be held at the Blue Sky Hotel, 7th floor outdoor patio starting at 6 pm.  Should the weather be uncooperative, we will move the event to the 23rd floor Sky lounge.  Hope to see you all there.

New Books in the ACMS Library

Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1975. From the Lands of the Scythians: Ancient treasures form the museums of the U.S.S.R., 3000 B.C – 100 B.C. New York; New York Graphic Society
P.R.S Moorey, E.C. Bunker, et all. 1981. Ancient Bronzes, Ceramics and Seals: the Sasli M. Heeramaneck Collection of ancine Near Eastern, central Asiatic, and European art.    Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
P.M Taylor, C. Polgolase, et all. 2011. Past and Future heritage in Pipelines Corridor: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Asian Cultural History Program
S.I. Rudenko, translator M.W. Thompson. 1970. Frozen Tombs of Siberia. Berkeley: University of California Press
J.P. Mallory, V.H Mair. 2000. The Tarim Mummies: ancient China and the mystery of the earliest peoples from the West. New York: Thames and Hudson
V.D. Kubarev, D. Tseveendorj, et all. 2005 Petroglify Tsagaan-Salaa i Baga-Oigura: Mongolskii-Altai. Novosibirsk: International arkheologii etnograghii SO Ran
V.N. Basilov, Translator M. Fleming Zirin. 1990. Nomads of Eurasia. Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
Hsing Yuan Tsao. 2000. Differences Preserved: reconstructed tombs from the Liao and Song dynasties. Portland: Douglas F. Cooley Memorian Art Gallery
S.S. Minyev. 1998. Дырестуйский могильник /Derestuj burial ground. Sankt-Petersburg: Evropeiskii dom
J.D. Talko-Gryntsevich. 1999. материалы к палеоэтнологий забайкалья/ materialy k paleoethnologii Zabaikalia. Sankt-Peterburg : Sankt-Peterburgskiĭ fond "Aziatika”
T. Koppel. 2003. Lost World : rewriting prehistory : how new science is tracing America’s Ice Age mariners. New York: Atria Books
M. J. Gannon. 2008. Paradoxes of Culture and Globalization. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications
V. Hansen. 2012. The Silk Road: a new history. Oxford: Oxford University Press
C. W. Hartley, G. B. Yazicioglu, A. T Smith. 2012. The archaeology of power and politics in Eurasia: regimes and revolutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
R. E Gamer. 2008. Understanding contemporary China. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers
A. F. Wright. 1978. The Sui Dynasty. New York; Knopf Press
P. Hopkirk. 1984. Foreign devils on the Silk Road: the search for the lost cities and treasures of Chinese Central Asia. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press
S. Carey. 2012. Reindeer herders in my heart: stories of healing journeys in Mongolia. Middlebury, Vermont : Wren Song Books
A.p Derevyanko, et all. 2000. Archaeological studies carried out by the Joint Russian-Mongolian-American Expedition in Mongolia in 1997-1998. Novosibirsk: Izdatelstvo Instituta arkheologii i etnographii SO RAN
 H.G. Schwarz. 1978. Studies on Mongolia: proceedings of the First North American Conference on Mongolian Studies. Bellingham: Center for East Asian Studies, Western Washington University
Mongolian Academy of Sciences. 1994. A report on the joint investigation under the Mongolian and Japanese Gurvan Gol Historic Relic Probe Project, 1991-1993. Ulaanbaatar: Mongolian Academy of Sciences
S. I. Rudenko, H. Pollems. 1966. Die sibirische Sammlung Peters I. Moskau: Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften der UdSSR

Call for Papers, Conferences, Workshops, and other Academic Programs

Call for Articles: The Journal of the Anthropology of the Contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia (ACME) is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the anthropological studies of all societies and cultures in the Middle East and Central Eurasia. Its scope is to publish original research by social scientists not only in the area of anthropology but also in sociology, folklore, religion, material culture and related social sciences. It includes all areas of modern and contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia (Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, China) including topics on minority groups and religious themes. The journal also will review monographic studies, reference works, results of conferences, and international workshops. ACME also publishes review essays, reviews of books and multimedia products (including music, films, and web sites) relevant to the main aims of the journal. All submissions for articles are peer-reviewed. ACME is published with the financial support and collaboration of GroupeSocietes, Religions, Laicites, Centre National de la RechercheScientifique (CNRS), France. For general inquiries and Instructions for Authors, please visit: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/anthropologyiran/acme/contact/.

Call for Articles: 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.

Research Fellowships, Scholarships and Grants

The Institute of East Asian Studies has established a new School of Advanced Studies on Innovation in East Asia funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Organized in six Junior Research Groups the School will focus on innovations in East Asia in two areas: New forms of mobility (e-mobility) and urbanization. Inter alia the School aims to narrow the gap between disciplines and regional studies by strengthening the application of cutting edge theoretical and methodological approaches to research in area studies. Each junior research group consists of two doctoral researchers and is led by a post-doctoral scholar. The School is looking for 12 doctoral researchers with a background in the social and economic sciences, in engineering/mobility studies or urban development studies who aim at a doctoral degree. For details of the School and the different research foci of the research program cf. www.in-east.de/school. Applications are invited from candidates with a strong MA degree (or equivalent), good knowledge in theories and methods of their respective discipline and a proven interest in East Asia as well as in transdisciplinary cooperation; good knowledge of an East Asian language and German is an advantage. A command of English is a prerequisite. The School offers successful applicants a highly dynamic research environment, a structured PhD program with excellent supervision and guidance. The duration of the PhD projects is three years. Applications (incl. CV, copy of degrees incl. transcript of grades, a research proposal of 3-5 pages) are to be submitted in one electronic file to the director of the School Prof. M. Taube (markus.taube@uni-due.de) by Sept. 15, 2013. In addition a letter of recommendation from a scholar able to assess your scholarly potential must be sent directly to Prof. Taube, IN-EAST, University of Duisburg-Essen, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) announces a new initiative supporting research and teaching in Buddhist studies. ACLS will offer an articulated set of fellowship and grant competitions that will expand the understanding and interpretation of Buddhist thought in scholarship and society, strengthen international networks of Buddhist studies, and increase the visibility of innovative currents in those studies. These are global competitions. There are no restrictions as to the location of work proposed or the citizenship of applicants.Applications must be submitted through the ACLS Online FellowshipApplication system (OFA). Sample applications and a link to OFA will be available in July 2013. Visit: http://www.acls.org/programs/buddhist-studies/

Position Openings

Faculty Position: The Departments of Religion and East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University invite applications for a joint appointment to the Sheng Yen Chair in Chinese Buddhism, at the level of tenure-track assistant professor or tenure-track associate professor.  Area of research and teaching specialization is open, although demonstrated interest in interdisciplinary research and teaching is necessary. Ph.D. required by the time of appointment.  Candidates will be expected to sustain an active research and publication agenda and teach in undergraduate and graduate programs.Candidates are required to submit a cover letter, CV, statement of teaching and research, dissertation abstract, three reference letters, writing sample, and samples of syllabi.  Review of applications will begin October 1, 2013 and continue until position is filled. Preliminary interviews will be conducted at the AAR annual meeting in Baltimore in November.For more information and to apply for the position, please use the following URL:https://academicjobs.columbia.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=58085

Resources

TheDukhaEthnoarchaeological 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 2013, 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 DalaibulaniiByambajav, social scientists at the University of British Columbia, this blog mostly follows Mongolian politics and the mining sector. Visit: http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/.

News and Events

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. 

Recent Publications

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 HurelbaatarUjeed. (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. Christoph Baumer'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.