Emma Harden-Wolfson

Higher education in Central Asia blog

  • Managing your career in higher education administration: book review

    A very positive review of my recent co-authored book Managing your career in higher education administration is out today on WonkHE, a well-read and regarded website for those working in higher education. The review, available at www.wonkhe.com/2014/10/24/managing-your-career-in-higher-education, notes that the book is the first of its kind, and concludes by saying that ours is: …a really useful book for anyone… Read more

  • Culture and communication from China to Kyrgyzstan

    Chinese newspaper Shanghai Daily reports today on the rise of the Confucius Institute [en] in Kyrgyzstan. Confucius Institutes are non profit-making organisations connected to the Chinese Ministry of Education aiming to promote Chinese language and culture, somewhat akin to the British Council from the UK or the Goethe Instituts from Germany. There are around 500 Confucius Institutes around the world after the first… Read more

  • Calls to bring back Russian to Tajik classrooms

    EurasiaNet’s Konstantin Parshin has identified what he sees as a growing call EurasiaNet’s Konstantin Parshin has identified what he sees as a growing call amongst Tajik parents for more and better Russian language instruction in primary schools. The article, at http://www.eurasianet.org/node/70211 and (c) EurasiaNet, offers an interesting angle on the oft-repeated theme of endemic corruption… Read more

  • Too many unis in Kyrgyzstan?

    Hot on the heels of my last post which compared the high number of universities in Kyrgyzstan to other European countries with similar populations, it seems that the Kyryz government has also taken up the theme. Kyrgyz news agency 24 yesterday reported on criticisms made by the head of state Almazbek Atambayev about quality levels… Read more

  • Views of Bishkek / Вузы Бишкека

    This summer I spent nearly a month in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, both on holiday and also doing some research on university administration and management in Central Asian universities. More on the latter in a future post but in the meantime, today’s post is a “postcard” from me highlighting just a handful of Bishkek’s many higher education institutions.… Read more

  • Managing your career in higher education administration is PUBLISHED

    Our new book, Managing your career in higher education administration, is officially published today! Amazon.co.uk even tells me that there is ‘limited stock’ available, although at 648,950 in their bestsellers rank I suspect that is more to do with the smallish print run than anything else… If you haven’t already ordered your copy, please feel free… Read more