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Research Seminar: Negotiating Modernity: Places and Objects in the Context of Kyrgyzstan

June 8, 2012

On 12 June 2012 the Tian Shan Policy Center jointly with Central Asian Studies Institute will host a research seminar on Negotiating Modernity: Places and Objects in the Context of Kyrgyzstan. The event will start at 11 a.m. in Room 232 (CASI/TSPC Resource Center)

Please join us for a combined presentation of two visiting scholars' research in progress. Maureen Pritchard will be presenting on a case study within a larger topic that focuses on suffering in and catharsis through music. This particular case study will focus on issues of identity, ancestry, and spirituality from both the perspective of traditionalism and innovation. Jennifer Webster will discuss her dissertation chapter on Arslonbob Ata and the changing perceptions of pilgrimage in southern Kyrgyzstan from the 1960s to the present day. Her topic traces the different ways that people have understood the sacred sites in Arslonbob through legends, changing political views, and negotiations with modernity. The presentation will follow with questions and comments from the listeners, to which the speakers will try to give their answers.

Bio of presenters:

Maureen Pritchard is Visiting Research Fellow at the Tian Shan Policy Center, American University of Central Asia. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Her dissertation project focuses on processes of inter-illumination in the arts in Kyrgyzstan. Her work focuses on individuals whose creative practices spans more than one medium and genre, and includes both folk and fine art. Maureen holds an M.A. in ethnomusicology from The Ohio State University. Maureen spent several months in Talas for as part of her research for a Master's thesis focused on funeral and lamenting practices. A segment of this research was published as an article entitled "Creativity and Sorrow in Kyrgyzstan" in the Indiana Journal of Folklife Research. Prior to graduate studies, Maureen served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Naryn Region.

Jennifer Webster is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington. She joins CASI from April to August 2012 to conduct dissertation research pertaining to pilgrimage and shrines in Kyrgyzstan. Her work seeks to understand the evolution of several major shrine locations from the time of the Soviet period to the present day through an analysis of both oral and written sources. Jennifer holds a master’s degree in International Studies—Comparative Religion from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Reed College. She has designed and taught several courses on the Silk Road, the early modern Middle East, and pilgrimage and shrines in the Islamic world.

The event is open for public. If you are interested in attending, please sign up at

Please note that this event will be in English.

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