Reminder: May 1 Deadline for Fall 2026 Study Abroad

A brief reminder that the application deadline for SRAS Fall 2026 study abroad programs is May 1.

Our fall programs offer students the opportunity to engage directly with the Baltics, Central/Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia through field-based, regionally focused study. Coursework spans disciplines including international relations, history, media, and cultural studies, combining disciplinary coursework with language study in Russian and other regional languages.

Fall 2026 programs include:

• Baltic Security and the Information Environment — Riga, Latvia
• Identity and Conflict in the Caucasus (ICON) — Tbilisi, Georgia (with regional travel)
• Central Asian Studies — Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (with regional travel)
• Security & Diplomacy: CEE Perspectives (Warsaw, Poland)
• Russian as a Second Language (RSL) — Bishkek, Tbilisi, and Riga

Across programs, students combine classroom learning with structured fieldwork and regional travel, engaging with the historical, political, and cultural dynamics of the areas they study.

Deadline April 1: Russian in Central Asia Summer Program & Fall 2026 Semester in Bishkek

If you have not yet finalized your summer plans, you may wish to consider applying to the Russian in Central Asia Summer Program. As in previous years, we are extending the application deadline to April 1 to allow additional time for students to complete their applications.

The program is hosted by Bard’s partner institution, the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and offers an excellent opportunity for students to study Russian while engaging with the diverse cultural and linguistic environment of Central Asia.

We are also continuing to accept applications for the Fall 2026 Study Abroad semester program in Bishkek, with the same April 1 deadline.

Program descriptions are included below. I would be very grateful if you could share this information with interested students.

American Councils - AUCA Semester Program for Social Entrepreneurship in Bishkek

This fall, American Councils and the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) will launch a groundbreaking semester program for undergraduate and graduate students that blends social entrepreneurship, problem-based learning, and Central Asian studies in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

 

Program participants will:

 

• Join teams of Central Asian students to research local community needs in Bishkek and develop products that address those needs in sustainable and environmentally responsible ways;
• Develop prototypes of the products they design in the AUCA Maker Space, an open-access workshop equipped with 3D printers and other high-tech tools;
• Pitch their new products to a group of investors and community leaders at semester’s end;
• Complete semester coursework in Social Entrepreneurship, Design Thinking, and Central Asia Today;
• Earn 16 semester credits from Bryn Mawr College in economics, sociology, and international studies;
• Gain hands-on skills that are most in demand by today’s employers, including creative problem-solving, leadership, and flexibility; 
• Live with local host families, who provide two meals per day and private, furnished rooms;
• Receive ongoing support, including 24-hour emergency assistance, from a full-time American Councils Resident Director; and
• Be eligible for financial aid from a wide range of American Councils scholarships.

 

Participants may opt to study Russian or Kyrgyz on program, but no prior language study is required to join the program.

 

More information on the program can be found on our website:
https://www.studyabroad.americancouncils.org/socialentrepreneurship

 

Or by writing: Outbound@americancouncils.org

CfP - 2026 Central Asian Studies Conference, University of Chicago

We are excited to announce the Central Asian Studies Conference at the University of Chicago, organized by the university's Central Asian Studies Society and taking place on April 17–18, 2026.

 

Call for Papers. We are now accepting abstracts of papers, mainly from graduate students, but also from postdoctoral fellows, faculty members, and independent scholars. We invite historians, linguists, anthropologists, art historians, literary scholars, sociologists, musicologists, and scholars of religion whose work engages with Central Asia—conceived broadly: from the Mongolian Plateau in the east to the Urals in the west, from Afghanistan in the south to the Altai Mountains in the north—between late antiquity to the present.

 

We particularly encourage submissions related to this inaugural conference’s theme: “Voices through Art and Culture: Identity Formation in Central Asia, from Music to Architecture.” What can art and culture tell us about the process of identity formation? What is the relationship between culture and politics? How were the responses to historical events that affected the whole of Central Asia, in political, ecological, economical realms differ and take shape in the forms of art and culture? How does art and culture reflect Central Asianness, whether as a unified identity and/or a condition of great diversity and difference? 

 

Keynote Speakers: The keynote speakers for the Conference are distinguished scholar of ethnomusicology Professor Theodore C. Levin and prominent Kazakh artist Gulnur Mukazhanova. 

 

Submissions. Please send submissions electronically to caconferenceuofc@gmail.com no later than Sunday, February 1, 2026. Please include your name, institutional affiliation, program of study or position, a 250-word abstract, and a tentative title. If you are unsure about the suitability of your topic, please feel free to email us at the above address. Applicants will hear back from us by late February 2026. 

 

Limited funds for travel will be available to presenters without access to institutional funding. Please indicate if you are interested in being considered for this funding in your email.

An online course based on the history and culture of Central Asia

Dr. Saule Satayeva, recently retired as Deputy Director of the Central State Archive of Cinema, Photo and Sound Recording Documents of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is now offering an online course in English based on the history and culture of Central Asia, covering both pre-Soviet and Soviet periods through cinema, photo, and audio documents.

He is a Fulbright alumna (2112-2013) from American University in Washington, DC where he conducted research on American travelers to Kazakhstan in the 19th and first half of the 20th century. During his Fulbright year, he was invited to present his research titled "Illuminating the Kazakh Nomadic Culture: American Travelers to Kazakhstan in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century." Satayeva presented this work at Columbia, Texas, Maryland, Harvard, Indiana, and George Washington Universities, as well as in courses at American University. He also presented at the Smithsonian Institution (Museum of Natural History, Recovering Voices Program), the Wilson Center (Kennan Institute), the Library of Congress, and the Mongolian Embassy in Washington, DC during their Annual Mongolian Studies Conference.

He is eager to share his knowledge on Central Asian history and culture through his specialized course. The course will be available remotely as Dr. Satayeva teaches from Kazakhstan. Information on the course as well as the syllabus can be found at the link below:

Syllabus

Contact Dr. Satayeva at his email for questions, s_satayeva@mail.ru

CFA - postdoc on contemporary Russia @ University of Michigan

The Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) at the University of Michigan seeks to hire a scholar of contemporary Russia for a two-year WCEE Postdoctoral Fellowship, from August 2026 to July 2028. 

We encourage applications from specialists on Russia proper as well as those who focus on Russia’s interactions with its neighbors (the Baltic states, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Mongolia, China, Japan). Candidates should have a PhD completed, or nearly completed, in the social sciences and/or cultural studies, broadly construed. We are especially interested in scholars who will complement and add to the coverage offered by our existing faculty.

WCEE Postdoctoral Fellows are expected to focus on their own research, participate in the center’s events, present at least one public lecture during their two-year fellowship, and teach one course per year at the University of Michigan while in full-time residency. 

Eligibility

Eligibility is restricted to applicants who have obtained their PhD no earlier than January 1, 2024. Current doctoral candidates are eligible to apply but must have defended and filed their dissertations by July 31, 2026.

Benefits

Fellowships carry an annual salary of $60,000 and up to $10,000 in research funds during the postdoctoral appointment. Fellowship recipients will be eligible for U-M health, dental, and life insurance options (beginning August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2028). Fellows have full access to U-M library resources.  

Application Materials

Candidates should submit the following via Interfolio:

• A research proposal (2000 words maximum) that describes your intellectual objectives and concrete plan for the fellowship duration
• Curriculum Vitae
• A scholarly writing sample, such as a dissertation chapter or peer-reviewed journal article (50 pages maximum)
• Teaching statement with potential course topics
• Two letters of recommendation

To be assured full consideration, fellowship applications should be received by October 15, 2025, 11:59 PM EST. Successful applicants will be notified by December 2025. 

Please contact the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia for additional information at weiseraward@umich.edu.

Bard-AUCA Study Abroad Program Spring 2026

Applications are open for the Spring 2026 Bard-AUCA Study Abroad Program in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan! Hosted by the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), a Bard College dual-degree partner since 2009, the program invites undergraduate students to spend a semester studying in an international liberal arts setting at one of Central Asia’s leading institutions.

Please find the program details below. Also, please feel free to share with students who may be interested. Questions are welcome at torlova@bard.edu.

Spring 2026 Bard-AUCA Study Abroad Program

January 5 - May 23, 2026

Deadline: November 1, 2025.

For more information and to apply visit the website.

The Bard-AUCA study abroad program provides students a chance to engage deeply with the languages, cultures, and politics of Central Asia while living and studying in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. With coursework in fields such as Anthropology, Central Asian Studies, Political Science, and regional languages, the program is especially fitting for students interested in the post-Soviet space. Russian language development is supported across all levels, and students can choose one of three academic tracks based on their academic goals and language proficiency:

• Beginning Russian Language Track

• Intermediate/Advanced Russian Language Track*

• Liberal Arts Track

*Students with at least one year of college level Russian can apply for the Intermediate and Advanced Russian Language Track.

Key aspects of the program include:

• One-week Russian Intensive

• Russian Language Courses

• Russian-speaking Home-Stays

• Enrollment in 2-5 academic courses

Additional program highlights:

• Cultural program 

• Support from peer tutors

• Student clubs, extracurricular activities, and civic engagement projects

• Volunteering and internship opportunities

CFP: 2023 REECAS Northwest Conference

Deadline: February 20, 2023

REECAS Northwest, the annual ASEEES northwest regional conference for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies (REECAS) will take place April 20 – 22, 2023 at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.

The REECAS Northwest Conference welcomes students, faculty, independent scholars, and language educators from the United States and abroad. Proposals on all topics connected to the Slavic, East European, and Eurasian world are encouraged. The conference hosts panels on a variety of topics and disciplines including political science, history, literature, linguistics, anthropology, culture, migration studies, gender studies, LGBTQ studies, film studies and more.

Established in 1994, REECAS Northwest is an important annual event for scholars and students in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. This interdisciplinary conference is organized by the University of Washington’s Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies.

The REECAS Northwest Conference welcomes papers by individuals and pre-formed panels. Individual papers will be grouped thematically into panels.

There are no registration fees for REECAS Northwest conference participants or attendees.

The CFP is open! To submit your proposal, please submit a 300-word abstract and C.V. using the form on the REECAS Northwest Conference webpage: https://bit.ly/REECAS-Northwest

Questions? Please email reecasnw@uw.edu with any questions not answered on the conference website.

Job: Two Assistant Professor Positions at TSI-AUCA, Bishkek

Deadline: contact listed email for more info

Technical School of Innovation (TSI) is an original 3-year educational institution combining specialized professional training with a strong liberal arts core curriculum. TSI offers the following majors: Startup Finance and High Technology; New Entrepreneurship and Human Intelligence; Design Management and Design Thinking; Software Engineering and Social Transformation; Ecology and Energy Efficiency; Design and High Technology.

Within its liberal arts core curriculum, TSI is searching for faculty members (open rank) to teach a course in Academic Reading and Writing (1 position) and General English (2nd position) to all its juniors.

Master or PhD in Humanities as well as a (near) native English speaker level are the main requirements.

These positions can suit young researchers interested in Central Asia.

For further information, feel free to email bruley_j@auca.kg.