The IAUNRC has continued its long tradition of K-12 outreach with a series of school visits this fall.
We were pleased to return to The Project School in Bloomington to take part in their yearly International Night activities. On Thursday, October 26th, graduate assistant Ben Storsved visited The Project School to give an introductory presentation about the culture and landscape of Mongolia to the “Passions” elective class. This presentation provided teachers and students with the cultural and historical background for the shagai, Mongolian fortune telling, exhibit on International Night. On Tuesday, November 7th, graduate students Mira Kuzhakhmetova and Stu McLaughlin showed students, teachers, and parents the Mongolian tradition of how to learn your fortunes by rolling dice made from sheep ankle bones.
On November 30 and December 1, Center graduate assistants Ben Storsved, Mira Kuzhakhmetova, Stu McLaughlin, and Anton Ermakov visited Edgewood Junior High in Ellettsville, Indiana, to supplement the students’ classroom learning about the Mongol Empire with hands-on activities and cultural artifacts. With help from the graduate assistants, over 240 Edgewood students in eight classes completed an interactive learning activity on the geography of the Mongol Empire, tried on traditional Mongolian clothing and hats from Mongolia and Central Asia, learned about the traditional practice of fortune telling using sheep’s ankle bones (shagai), and put together a model ger (Mongolian yurt).
Finally, on December 14th, graduate assistants Ben Storsved, Mira Kuzhakhmetova and Stu McLaughlin visited over 150 sutdents in six AP World History classes at Bloomington High School South. As the classes prepared to learn about World War I and revolutions around the world, IAUNRC graduate students presented on “The Bolshevik Revolution and the Aftermath of World War I in Central Asia.” This presentation was developed by Mira with contributions from Anton, Stu, and Ben, utilizing their combined knowledge from research and coursework. We were happy to have the opportunity to show these classes how Central Asia fits into World History and help them prepare for their AP Exams in the spring.