Greetings, supporters of the IAUNRC.
The 2022-23 academic year has been an event-filled one for the Center. We sponsored the CESS and MonSoc conferences during fall 2022 and the ACES conference during spring 2023. Spring 2023 also saw three lectures in the series “Understanding Iran 2023.” Other individual lectures covered topics spanning our entire region, from “Supporting Linguistic Diversity in Finnish Schools,” “Secrets of Chuvash Embroidery,” and “Creatures in the Tatar Mythic Pantheon,” to “Tibetan-Mongolian Interface in the 17th and 18th Centuries” and “Aging and Migration in Nepal.” This year the center also supported discussions of important topics impacting the world. One panel of experts discussed HIV/AIDS, and another panel examined Queer Migrations from/in Central Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The Bloomington Silk Road Ensemble Performed for IU’s International Week and at Bloomington’s Lotus Festival. Many hands-on activities brought our regions of the world to K-12 students. These events included the Bridges program on less commonly taught languages and cultures and the Lotus Blossoms World Bazaar. We are grateful to the US government’s Title VI Program whose funding made these events possible as well as the awarding of Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships to undergraduate and graduate students.
Looking ahead to the 2023-24 academic year, please join us in person or virtually for programs on Minorities in Central Eurasia and the Middle East, on Environmental Issues in Central Eurasia, and much more.
In closing let me extend sincere thanks to the team that takes all these activities from planning to implementation: Assistant Director Kasia Rydel-Johnston, Administrative Liaison Heysol Buitrago, and Graduate Assistants Casey Edgarian, Anton Ermakov, Stu McLaughlin, and Ben Storsved.
Have a productive and successful summer!