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 …
Tag: Soviet Union
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 …
A visual tour of Central Asia’s universities
I've had a small gallery of my pictures of Central Asia's universities up on this site for a while, and have been meaning to update it after taking lots more photos this summer. So here we are, for your viewing pleasure (well, mainly for mine), here is a new and updated gallery showcasing just a …
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Central Asia’s first universities
As Tajikistan's oldest university celebrates its 70th birthday [ru], I thought (as probably only I would) that this would be an excellent opportunity to reflect back on the development of universities in Central Asia in the early to mid 20th century. Prior to the 20th century, universities did not exist in Central Asia. That perhaps surprising fact …
The ironic fate of Soviet nostalgia
If you're feeling nostalgic for the Soviet Union, for the days of free education, jobs for life, and street names that were the same in every city, then it seems you're not alone. Sputnik News today reports the results of a poll of over 12,000 people across 11 countries of the former Soviet Union who were asked whether …
Holiday viewing: early Soviet Central Asia posters
This isn't a news story but a visual offering from me to you for the holiday season. My MA thesis was on the relationship between art and the state in the early Soviet period in Russia. Continuing my interest in this theme, it's a delight to share these wonderful and often rather radical designs with …
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