IAUNRC Newsletter 2006 Fall/Winter
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Inner Asian & Uralic National Resource Center Fall/Winter 2006 Newsletter A Word from the Director Contents Even specialists focusing on the Inner Asian region and Uralic peoples have often A Word from the Director 1 been confused about the division of labor be- tween IAUNRC and the Department of Cen- Nobel Peace Prize Nominee 2 tral Eurasian Studies (CEUS). The confusion increased when, in 2002, IU received funding Turkish Culture Flourishes in Indiana 2 for the Center for the Languages of the Cen- Turkish Adventure 3 tral Asian Region (CeLCAR). Below is a brief outline explaining the tasks of these three in- Baltic Studies Report 3 stitutions and a bit about the relations among them. Mentoring a Scholar from Azerbaijan 4 CEUS is a department in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU which, as any other Lotus Festival 5 department, offers courses, hires faculty, designs curricular requirements for degrees, Hungarian Revolution Commemoration 6 etc. Unlike most departments, CEUS offers no bachelor degrees, only MAs and PhDs. Nevertheless, many CEUS courses are open to undergraduates. In terms of territory and Outreach Corner 6 peoples covered, CEUS roughly coincides with IAUNRC. The most important difference is that IAUNRC does not cover Iran or Persian culture outside of Central Asia; therefore, From CEUS to the Cotton Fields 7 in this area, CEUS, which covers Iran, offers courses that are not part of the IAUNRC domain. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Much of the IAUNRC budget supports courses in CEUS, especially language The Inner Asian and Uralic National courses that IU might not otherwise offer without the contribution of Federal funds. Resource Center (IAUNRC) at Indiana IAUNRC and CEUS work closely together in sponsoring programs, the largest and most important of which is the SWSEEL, our summer intensive language institute. Because University is a United States Depart- IAUNRC is a Title VI center supported by the US Department of Education, many of its ment of Education Title VI grant institu- activities involve constituencies beyond CEUS, including other units at IU, other univer- tion dedicated to increasing the general sities, and primary and secondary schools across the state and country. IAUNRC cooperates closely with CeLCAR, whose primary task is to develop, test, and scholarly understanding of the Inner and disseminate materials for studying languages of the Central Asian region. This coop- Asian region and Uralic peoples. The In- eration takes many forms, including an initiative just getting under way to develop bet- ter proficiency tests for Central Asian language learners. This, as many other CeLCAR ner Asian and Uralic National Resource initiatives is national in scope, since many other centers across the US also contribute to Center Newsletter is a biannual publi- these projects. cation of the IAUNRC prepared by the Confusing? No doubt. However, the web of close ties helps us leverage our collec- tive strength and allows us to carry out our mandate in the most effective and efficient Center’s graduate assistants. Questions, fashion. comments, and suggestions may be sent to the Newsletter Editor at iaunrc@indi- Sincerely, ana.edu. For further information regard- ing the services of IAUNRC, please con- tact: IAUNRC Indiana University Goodbody Hall 324 Bloomington, IN 47405 Tel: (82) 856-5263 Fax:(82) 855-8667 Email: [email protected] IAUNRC also regularly posts announce- ments, outreach materials and services, and networking opportunities on its web- site at: http://www.indiana.edu/~iaunrc/ On the Cover: One of Huun-Huur-Tu’s Dr. Nurlan Nurkinovich Akhparov (left) gives a presentation entitled “Healthcare System in Kazakhstan: Challenges During the Transition” with the assistance of translator and horsehead stringed instruments SPEA student Ainur Aiypkhanova (right). Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center Newsletter Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Visits Indiana University Although released from a Chinese larly congratulated for her efforts, she said prison less than two years ago, Nobel Peace that she was typically ignored and warned Prize nominee Rabiye Kadeer was confident to avoid meddling in political affairs. Ka- and upbeat as she spoke to a standing room- deer refused to confine her activity strictly to only crowd for nearly 90 minutes with the her business interests and was placed under assistance of her translator, Alim Seytoff. house arrest. Eventually released, she sought Kadeer delivered a lecture entitled “The Cul- contact with a United States Congressional tural Crisis Facing the Uyghur People,” and delegation and was arrested on the charge of then took questions from the audience. She passing state secrets to foreigners. She con- offered the audience insights into the suc- tended during her lecture, however, that “It cesses and hardships in her own life as she wasn’t a secret [the condition of Uyghurs in underwent a transformation from wealthy the XUAR]. I just told them what was hap- businesswoman to exiled human rights ac- pening.” tivist. Seytoff, the General Secretary of the While the United States, the European Uyghur American Association, hailed Ka- Union and several human rights organiza- deer as the leader and mother of the Uyghur tions campaigned for her release, Kadeer people, a Turkic Muslim people living main- spent five years in solitary confinement. In ly in the East Turkestan People’s Republic of early 2005, she unexpectedly received word China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Re- one night that she was free on medical leave gion (XUAR) and in nearby Central Asian and would be discharged into the custody of countries. the United States. Having been granted asy- Kadeer spent most of her life in north- lum in the United States, Kadeer lives in the western China, but did not emerge as a leading Rabiye Qadeer speaks about Uyghurs in Xinjiang Washington, DC area and continues to sharply figure in the Uyghur community there until criticize Chinese policies in her homeland while the 980s. She took advantage of economic Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a national serving as Director of the Uyghur American reforms under Deng Xiaoping and founded a governmental advisory body. Association and Uyghur Human Rights Project. trading company that offered employment to a Kadeer’s fate changed as her growing She also continues to advocate for the release of large number of Uyghurs in the XUAR. Suc- dissatisfaction with the Chinese government’s her three sons and a daughter, who are currently cessful management of this company launched policies in the XUAR led to her arrest and im- imprisoned by the Chinese government. Kadeer into the economic elite of China as she prisonment in 999. Kadeer used her member- became one of the richest people in China. As ship in the CPPCC as a platform for critiquing A complete audio recording of Rabiye Kadeer’s she observed during her lecture, the government the central government’s policies and relied lecture is available on the IAUNRC website encouraged success in business and soon re- on her status to conduct investigations into the at: http://www.indiana.edu/~iaunrc/media/ warded her with a number of honors, including mistreatment of Uyghurs. Despite being regu- 20060825Rabiye_Kadeer_IU(16kbps).mp3 membership in the Chinese People’s Political Turkish Culture Flourishes in Indiana Several events during the Fall semester at world. Music recognizes no boundaries and • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Indiana University celebrated Turkish culture. can penetrate the mind and souls of the listeners The Indiana University Turkish Student From films to coffee to music, members of the without being judgmental.” Association sponsored a Turkish film series, IU and Bloomington communities had many Visitors were able to enjoy a variety of which including screenings of four films over chances to explore historical and contemporary coffee samples and baklava while they relaxed the course of the fall semester with plans for an- aspects of Turkey in a variety of venues around in the Art Museum’s beautiful atrium and An- other four films in the spring. This semester’s of- campus. gles Café & Gift Shop. Over 400 students and ferings included Dongel Karhanesi (2005), Why During the first three Thursday nights in community members enjoyed the pairing of art were Hacivat & Karagoz murdered? (2005), September, the Indiana University Art Museum and music, and an art-and-coffee scavenger hunt 15 Minutes Slow Burning (2006), and Zurgurt was open late for the inaugural Coffeehouse added to the fun by encouraging visitors to find Aga (1986). The film series is a new event that Nights program. Visitors to the Art Museum featured pieces of art. The Art Museum hopes to Turkish graduate students Abbas Karakaya and experienced art from a new angle when coffee, continue hosting similar evenings in upcoming Burcu Karakhan started in Fall 2005. Their ap- art, and music came together with each evening semesters. preciation of Turkish film previously led them featuring a different one of the museum’s three • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • to found the annual Bloomington Turkish Film galleries. September 7 celebrated Turkish cul- The Mathers Museum of World Culture Festival in 2004. The third annual is scheduled ture. Although coffee originated in Africa and at Indiana University’s Bloomington campus to coincide with celebration of Navruz next became an exclusive commodity of Arab trad- opened a special exhibit this October entitled spring. The Turkish Film Festival highlights the ers, the Turks were both the first to use coffee as Laughter on a Stick: Turkish Shadow Theater. artistic accomplishments of the Turkish cinema a drink and also the first to establish café culture The exhibit showcases changes in Turkish by sharing Turkish films with the public. starting with the opening of the first coffee shop shadow puppetry across several historical eras opened in Constantinople (Istanbul) in 475. from its inception as a form of urban entertain- This article was written with the assistance of The Silk Road Ensemble, led by De- ment in the sixteenth century until the present Emily Powell and Abbas Karakaya.