Greetings, fellow members of the IAUNRC community.
This fall saw students, staff, and faculty back on all IU campuses for the entire semester; the pandemic seems finally to be behind us. On-campus courses, lectures, and cultural events are back in full swing. Our center’s outreach activities are occurring in-person once again. One positive impact of the pandemic remains, however—we now reach a more diverse, global, community through IAUNRC activities thanks to the added presence of participants and audiences via the internet. Similarly, our faculty and students now routinely participate virtually in global events such as the Beijing Forum which was held at Peking University this December.
IAUNRC sponsorship of faculty and student travel for international and national conferences and research has taken off. Students and faculty are back to exchanges with our partner institutions such as Peking University (Beijing) and the American University of Central Asia (Bishkek). Future workshops for the study of Central Asia in collaboration with the American University of Central Asia were planned when faculty from that institution visited IUB this fall for the CESS conference. Likewise, the annual Silk Road Workshop between faculty and students from IU and Peking University will resume this summer in Istanbul.
In addition to faculty, visiting faculty, and students re-engaging fully at IU, the fall semester also witnessed visits by ambassadors from Mongolia and Uzbekistan who toured the IAUNRC and engaged in discussions on enhancing academic and cultural cooperation.
Please keep up with all these exciting developments by visiting our website frequently and attending our events in person or via the internet.
Have a splendid holiday season and a successful 2023!
Jamsheed Choksy