Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher education in Central Asia blog

  • New article out: The Dominance of Social Sciences in English-Medium Instruction Universities in Central Asia

    The latest issue of Higher Education in Russia and Beyond, 3(5) Fall 2015, is just out today and I’m delighted to say it has an essay I wrote in it. The informational newsletter comes from the prestigious Higher School of Economics in Moscow as part of a cooperation agreement with Boston College’s Center of International Higher Education.… Read more

  • Inter-regional soft power: Kazakhstan and Tajikistan meet again

    First, greetings from Canada and a note on the silence on the blog for the past few weeks. After a whirlwind summer taking in three continents and cramming in temporary farewells to family and friends, I have now moved to Toronto, Canada and have started my PhD in Higher Education and Comparative, International & Development Education at… Read more

  • University of Central Asia – progress on Kyrgyz campus

    There’s been a lot of activity in the Kyrgyz press this week following Prime Minister Temir Sariev’s visit to the Naryn campus of the University of Central Asia, which is at long last due to start accepting students for a first cohort in 2016/17. Here’s the University’s press release on the visit, (c) UCA: Prime Minister… Read more

  • A tour of Soviet-era Bishkek

    My love affair with Soviet architecture continues whilst here in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is often held up as a model of Soviet planning with its American-esque grid road system, making it an incredibly easy city to navigate. I’m told the grids were built especially to assist in case of an emergency requiring mass evacuation. Despite these days… Read more

  • A new Islamic university for Tajikistan

    It’s been a busy month for me as I prepare to move from the UK to Canada to start a PhD on post-Soviet university development in Central Asia at the University of Toronto in September, hence the lack of posts this month. I’ve also been invited to write a short essay for Higher Education in Russia and… Read more

  • Tajik graduates ordered to repay state scholarships

    Got a degree but don’t want to use your qualification working out in the middle of nowhere without your family and earning a pittance? If you’re a graduate of a Tajik university and you’ve had funding from the state to support your studies, the ruling of a regional court this week is that if this rural employment… Read more