Fortunately, our new article will not make you fall asleep For my first blog post of 2021, I'm very pleased to share a new peer-reviewed journal article. It explores China and Russia’s efforts to construct a higher education region in Eurasia and also examines the responses of policymakers in Central Asia to these initiatives. The …
Wrapping up 2020
Well. It's been quite the year. It's hard to know where or how to start what would typically be my annual recap post. There's both too much and not enough to say, whether it's on higher education in Central Asia, on the injustices and inequalities that have been brought to the forefront by Covid, on …
Traveller’s tales: Sending 1,000 books to libraries in Tajikistan
Now more than ever, it's important to find ways to lift our spirits and focus on the good that this world can sustain. With that in mind, I'm very happy to share my very own good news story. For various reasons, I wasn't able to publish this at the time, but better late than never... …
Continue reading Traveller’s tales: Sending 1,000 books to libraries in Tajikistan
Distance learning feels very distant in Tajikistan
With borders still closed and Covid cases on the rise, many of the 26,000 or so Tajik students who study in Russia each year remain stuck at home. With around five million students (a massive number but actually only 2% of the world's student population) studying abroad, Tajikistan's international students are far from being alone. …
Continue reading Distance learning feels very distant in Tajikistan
Who’s coming, who’s going, and who’s staying at home: Update on student mobility in Central Asia
Yes, Kazakhstan is Very Nice. Read on for the tenuous link. With some borders tentatively re-opening and others staying firmly shut as the Covid-19 pandemic rumbles on, it's inevitable that this has impacted student mobility to and from Central Asia. However, this isn't always entirely due to Covid-19 and it isn't always playing out in …
Educating Central Asia, From Soviet Collapse to COVID-19 – Interview with The Diplomat
I recently teamed up with Vasila Bozichaeva, higher education researcher and PhD candidate at the Academy of Sciences in Tajikistan to do an interview with The Diplomat on education in Central Asia. Our interview responses were furr-ific In the interview, we cover everything from the idea of a university in Soviet times to how Tajikistan's …
The next phase
Welcome to my newly refreshed website, complete with a new background image of the beautiful Badakhshan mountains. I took the photo on a helicopter ride from Dushanbe to Khorog in Tajikistan during my PhD fieldwork in 2017. The site now also features a new Watch/Listen page with video and audio recordings of talks and events …
Join me live on Oct 1: Surviving a crisis: Resilience, adaptation, and transformation in higher education after the collapse of the Soviet Union
Updated Dec 2020: You can now watch a video of the seminar. I'm giving a seminar on October 1 (9am Eastern, 2pm UK, 6pm Dushanbe) about my recently completed doctoral work and would love to see you there. It's being hosted by the Centre for Global Higher Education, an international research centre with hubs at …
Nine years of blogging later…
Cat memes are now an integral part of the blog. I started to include them after a friend suggested (jokingly??) that I should add cat pics to increase readership... I started this blog back in September 2011 after completing my Master's degree and having had the chance to write my final report about a subject …
Making it easier for international students to work in Russia
New regulations in Russia are making it easier for international students to work whilst studying
