Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher Education in Central Asia Blog (est. 2011)

  • International students from the former Soviet space

    International students from the former Soviet space

    How many international students are there from the former Soviet Union? Has that number increased over time? Which country sends the most international students? Find out more in this post! Read more

  • Jumping on the Silk Road bandwagon

    Whether it’s China’s ‘One Belt, One Road‘ series of economically driven initiatives, books* rewriting the history of this exotic-to-the-Westerner region or UNESCO’s growing repository of Silk Road resources, it seems the world can’t get enough of the (new) Silk Road(s) at the moment. Central Asia is right at the heart of both the ancient trading… Read more

  • On the slow progress on women’s rights in Uzbekistan

    With the opening up of Uzbekistan under President Mirziyoyev, I have been able to expand my blog’s coverage beyond my traditional territories of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The dominant narratives for higher education in Uzbekistan over the past couple of years have been the dizzying speed of reforms and the massive drive to internationalize the… Read more

  • International students in Kyrgyzstan

    A great infographic published by Russian media agency Sputnik offers a visual breakdown of Kyrgyzstan’s 20,000 international students. I’ve reproduced the infographic below but it is Sputnik’s and the original post can be found here. For non-Russian readers, here’s a summary: Kyrgyzstan’s educational ‘market’ is specific to its geographic and linguistic neighbours India is by… Read more

  • Values, Identities and the Problems of Modernisation in Central Asia: Public lecture in Almaty, June 26

    If you’re in Almaty on June 26, this upcoming University of Central Asia lecture looks great (although the word ‘modernization’ makes me queasy). Take some notes for me? Values, Identities and the Problems of Modernisation in Central Asia Eset Esengaraev Sociologist, Candidate of Historical Sciences Abstract  Central Asian societies feature characteristics of both a traditional and… Read more

  • New university ranking for Uzbekistan

    New university ranking for Uzbekistan

    It was only a matter of time. Uzbekistan has another university ranking… Read more