Uzbekistan

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of the Faculty of Humanities with three partners in Uzbekistan.

Project details

Leiden University coordinator:

Faculty of Humanities, Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), project coordinator: Elena Paskaleva

Partner institutions:

Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies (TSIOS)
Al-Biruni Institute for Oriental Manuscripts, Tashkent
Samarkand State University

Type of mobility:

student and staff exchange

Project duration:

2018-2021

Description of the project

The exchange between Leiden University and Central Asian academics will unite and consolidate the existing collaboration between Dutch and Uzbek scholars. The project envisages academic exchange among teaching staff and PhD candidates. In the long run, the Erasmus+ project will raise the standards of Central Asia teaching and research at Leiden University.

The current Erasmus+ project builds on ongoing collaboration initiatives and previous Erasmus+ projects between Leiden University and several Uzbek research institutes and universities. Within the Mobility Plus framework, the project will directly contribute to the teaching of Central Asia Studies at Leiden University, in particular in view of the new BA and MA courses on Central Asia established in 2016.

For project 2016-2018: see [http] tashgiv.uz/en/xalqaro-aloqalar-2/xalqaro-loyihalar-jalb-etilgan-sarmoyalar-va-grantlar

The government of Uzbekistan is pursuing the internationalisation of the country’s higher education since its independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In this context, Uzbekistan has encouraged the implementation of the European structure of a national quality-assurance system and a Western-style credit system. The current Erasmus+ mobility project will meet in particular the following targets: participation of Uzbek academic staff in international collaborative initiatives, fostering foreign exchange and establishing international training programmes.

The EU collaboration with Leiden started in June 2016 with the first Erasmus+ mobility programme between Leiden University and the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies (TSIOS) for the period 2016-2018. Given the fruitful collaboration so far, Leiden University expands this partnership by initiating a second Erasmus+ mobility project (2018-2020) with Samarkand State University and with the Al-Biruni Institute for Oriental Manuscripts, which was previously part of TSIOS.

Selection of project results

In December 2018, Dr Sanjar Golomov, a senior researcher and chief librarian of the Al-Biruni Institute in Tashkent, delivered two lectures and one masterclass for MA and PhD students as part of the Erasmus Mobility Plus project. Information was disseminated via the Leiden University Website: universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2018/12/sanjar-gulomov-central-asia-erasmus-fellow-december-2018
In spring 2019, Mr Nicholas Kontovas, a PhD candidate at Leiden University, spent three months carrying out research related to his PhD at Samarkand State University. In Uzbekistan, he participated in several conferences related to Turkic languages and gave a series of classes to BA students at the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies.
In spring 2019, Mr Nodir Karimov, a PhD candidate from the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies spent three months at Leiden University Library carrying out research related to his dissertation, which was defended in December 2019. As a result of his international activities, including the Erasmus+ project, he was awarded a presidential scholarship in Uzbekistan in 2020. See [http] tashgiv.uz/en/sharqshunos-doktorant-prezident-stipendiyasi-sohibiga-aylandi
In October 2019, Dr Dilfuza Djurakulova, Dean of the Faculty of History at Samarkand State University delivered a series of guest lectures to MA students in the seminars on Material Culture of Central Asia and Critical Heritage Studies. Information was disseminated via the website of Samarkand State University with images that show Dr Djurakulova with Leiden MA students. See [http] samdu.uz/en/news/493 .
Her lectures were included in the syllabus of the two classes. The syllabi are available via Blackboard.
In spring 2020, Ms. Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, a PhD candidate at Leiden University, spent three months carrying out research at the library of the Al-Biruni Institute for Oriental Manuscripts. In May 2020 she delivered a series of master classes at the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies. She gave bi-weekly lectures on the topics of her dissertation to the scholars and researchers there and incorporated this material to present in Farsi three times a week for undergraduates in the Department of Iranian and Afghan Philology at the University of Oriental Studies. See [http] tashgiv.uz/en?s=Jaimee and [http] tashgiv.uz/en/markaziy-osiyodagi-shayboniylar-davri-miniatyura-sanatlari-shayboniylar-davridagi-miniatyura-sanatida-buxoro-maktabi-mavzularida-jaimee-comstock-skipp-tomonidan-otkazilgan

Do you want to know more about this project?

Please contact the project coordinator for more information.

News item: An Erasmus Fellowship in Quarantine - Productivity in Captivity

Blogpost from PhD-candidate Jaimee Comstock about her research internship in Uzbekistan in times of Covid-19.

I was supposed to spend three months conducting research in Tashkent, Uzbekistan while having joint affiliation with Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies and the the Al-Beruni Institute for Oriental Studies. The first two months went smoothly but hectically, as I shuttled back and forth through the gorgeous metro stations built in the Soviet period and rushed between these two institutions. I somehow balanced carrying out my own research on 16th-century illustrated Persian manuscripts held in the Al-Beruni archives, giving bi-weekly lectures on the topics of my dissertation chapter drafts to the scholars and researchers there, and then incorporating this material to present in Farsi three times a week (including a session at 8:30am on Saturdays) for undergraduates in the Department of Iranian and Afghan Philology at the university! That all came to a standstill when Coronavirus infiltrated Uzbekistan...

Read the whole story: [http] www.erasmusplus.uz/news/An-Erasmus-Fellowship-in-Quarantine-Productivity-in-Captivity.htm