I've spent many a happy hour enjoying the challenge of finding a vaguely suitable cat meme to go with many of my blog posts Somehow, the tenth anniversary of this blog has rolled around. From my very first post published on 30 September 2011, I've published 345 posts, averaging around three posts a month. In …
International students can return to Russia
International students are ready to fly back to Russia - if they can afford the price of the ticket After partially reopening its borders to international students in March 2021, the Russian government announced in September that all international students can return - or come for the first time - to study in the country. …
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Knowledge production in post-Soviet Central Asia / Производство знаний в постсоветкстой Центральной Азии
Here's a very nice (Russian language) summary of a recent (English language) seminar given by Professor Sarfaroz Niyozov of the University of Toronto, Canada on knowledge production in Tajikistan. Niyozov draws on global discourses of decolonization, recolonization and indigenization as they might pertain to the contemporary Central Asian context. You can also watch the seminar …
Vaccinated students rewarded with tuition discounts, free courses and more
Would you prefer Miaow-derna or Pfiz-purr? Students in Kazakhstan are being incentivized to get their Covid vaccines. Vaccinated students will be able to get discounts on their tuition fees, priority for student housing, transport vouchers, and - the ultimate student incentive - free food. At some universities, students can also get free access to a …
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Creating a Central Asian Higher Education Area
Big and exciting news in the world of higher education in Central Asia: a Central Asian Higher Education Area is finally on the cards. Five cats cuddled together... Five Central Asian countries agreeing to a partnership... OK, OK, it's pure feline clickbait. Sorry not sorry. The plans have been formalized and signed by the five …
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National approaches to university rankings in Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America (new open access book chapter)
I'm happy to see the long-awaited publication of a book chapter on national approaches to university rankings in Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and Latin America in the volume Global University Rankings and the Politics of Knowledge, edited by Michelle Stack. Our chapter, co-authored with Creso Sá, Nadiia Kachynska and Magdalena Martinez, reviews …
Selling out? Kazakhstan’s KIMEP University goes fully private
Watch out, this post ends with a pun that's even worse than this one. Another blog post, another story about privatization in Kazakhstan's higher education. No stranger to privatization, Kazakhstan's universities and colleges have been on quite the rollercoaster ride in terms of ownership and funding. Most recently, I reported that the President had seemingly …
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Russia partially re-opens its borders for international students
Feline good about getting back to the library During March 2021, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science passed two orders permitting the return of international students from a total of 31 countries. This includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (Turkmenistan is not on either list), other ex-Soviet states and a slightly random collection of …
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Teaching and Learning in Central Asia / Преподавание и обучение в Центральной Азии (Seminar, 8 April/Семинар, 8 апреля)
This upcoming Russian-language seminar from the University of Central Asia should be of great interest to all those researching and working in the area of high/secondary school teaching and learning. Recommended! Предстоящий русскоязычный семинар Университета Центральной Азии должен вызвать большой интерес у всех тех, кто занимается исследованиями и работает в области преподавания и обучения в …
Dissertation Award
Sharing good news: my PhD thesis was selected as the winner of the 2021 Comparative & International Education Society Eurasia Special Interest Group Dissertation Award!
