Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher Education in Central Asia Blog (est. 2011)

  • The Economist on the University of Central Asia 

    Highly regarded British politics and economics magazine The Economist is a reliable source of news and tongue-in-cheek humorous bylines about what’s happening in the world. I was delighted to see a short article on the Badakhshan region of Tajikistan in this week’s edition, complete with silly/witty byline “Aga saga”. This refers to the Aga Khan,… Read more

  • The ironic fate of Soviet nostalgia

    If you’re feeling nostalgic for the Soviet Union, for the days of free education, jobs for life, and street names that were the same in every city, then it seems you’re not alone. Sputnik News today reports the results of a poll of over 12,000 people across 11 countries of the former Soviet Union who were asked whether… Read more

  • Kyrgyz athletes encouraged to “do it like Iceland” at Rio Olympics

    Footballing minnows Iceland stunned the world (or at least the parts of it that care that much about the beautiful game) in June by defeating England and knocking them out of the Euro 2016 championships, in the process progressing to the quarter finals for the first time in the nation’s history. Their victory instantly became part of modern footballing legend.… Read more

  • “We are losing our future”: Corruption in Uzbek higher education

    I’m excited to share the results of new original research on corruption in Uzbek higher education, written by Albina Yun. Yun is a graduate of the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and the Uzbek State World Languages University. She is a higher education professional currently working at Westminster University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Yun’s research, written up as a policy brief… Read more

  • Gender gaps in higher education across Central Asia

    After a recent blog post I published on Women in higher education in Central Asia, I was approached by University World News to write more about why it is that some women in Central Asia – particularly those in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – are doing so much better (better even than the world average) in getting to university than… Read more

  • How to pass exams in Kyrgyzstan

    In my most recent post, I passed on some tips on how to get into university in Kyrgyzstan. Today I’d like to share some more advice, this time on how to pass your university exams, courtesy of Ernist Nurmatov at Radio Azattyk [Liberty]. In an article entitled “Osh: did students get grades without going to… Read more