Central Asia and the Caucasus: From the Recesses to Reemergence

For three weeks in June, 2011, Columbia University hosted "America Engages Eurasia: Studies, Teaching, and Resources," a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute. This Institute examined the evolution of "academic" engagement with Eurasia: the historic personalities, institutions, organizations, and research resources that collectively constituted the foundation of Eurasian studies in America. These components were considered within the broad framework of the geopolitical relations of America and Eurasia over more than 150 years, with the goal of establishing a more broadly applicable paradigm of area studies development in the United States (for Middle Eastern, East Asian, African, Latin American studies, etc.), suggesting avenues of comparative research. This presentation was delivered on June 24, 2011, by John Schoeberlein, Director of the Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus, Davis Center, Harvard