On Monday, July 26, 2010, Tuya Shagdar began working in the ACMS Ulaanbaatar Office as Director of International Relations. Tuya received her BA degree in American Studies and Linguistics at the University of the Humanities and her MA degree (summa cum laude) in Comparative Literature and Translation at the University of Wisconsin-Milwauke; she is fluent in Mongolian, Russian and English.  After receiving her BA degree, Tuya worked in the English Department of National University of Mongolia teaching English to second and third year college students, and then worked at a private institution in Ulaanbaatar teaching English to adult and secondary school students, IELTS preparation classes, and  coordinated with various international networks for helping students study abroad.   Tuya also worked at the Trade and Development Bank, then served on the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations. After finishing graduate school, she worked in Chicago at an English language training center in the areas of admissions, financial aid counseling, and educational materials management.

As ACMS Director of International Relations Tuya will work to strengthen ACMS ties with ministry, embassy, NGO, business and government agencies (such as the Tax, Immigration, Foreign Affairs offices) in addition to strengthening ties in educational sector. She is returning to Mongolia after having studied and worked in the US for five years and she and her family are excited to finally be home.  “A lot has changed in Mongolia since I last worked and studied here, and I am eager to renew old ties and make new ones in my new role with the ACMS.”

On Romanizing Mongolian

August 5, 2010, 5.30PM; Room 305, Building No. 5, NUM

Professor Janhunen will present his linguistic research on the BJR (Balk-Janhunen Romanization System) for written Mongolian. He will begin by briefly describing the principles of romanizing cyrillic Khalkha, then discuss the prospects of creating a Roman-based practical orthography for Mongolian. He has previously published papers on these topics and will partly be referring to them, adding some new ideas.
He has authored more than 265 academic publications including Manchuria: An Ethnic History; Siberian Shamanistic Terminology; From Manchuria to Amdo Qinghai: On the Ethnic Implications of the Tuyuhun Migration; Typological Interaction in the Qinghai Linguistic Complex; Mongolic as an Expansive Language Family ; On the Romanization of Phags.pa Mongol ; Reconstructing the Language Map of Prehistorical Northeast Asia; On the position of Khamnigan Mongol
The languages of his publications include: English, French, German, Swedish, Russian, Finnish, Hungarian, Saami, Kirghiz, Khakas, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

Link: Full Publication List

Professor Janhunen, a distinguished linguist, has served as Chair of Finno-Ugrian Studies, University of Oslo; Senior Research Fellow, Academy of Finland, Helsinki; Visiting Fellow in various institutions in Osaka, Sapporo and Tokyo; Honorary Professor, Inner Mongolia University; and as a Member of Academia Europaea, London, Societas Scientiarum Fennica, Helsinki, Finnish Association of East Asian Studies, Royal Asiatic Society, London, Finnish Oriental Society, Helsinki, and the Finno-Ugrian Society, Helsinki. He has conducted extensive field research in Gansu, Qinghai, Manchuria, and Hokkaido and has been conducting research in Mongolia since 1976.

Link: Full CV

Second Annual ACMS Conference

Fifteen researchers (from the US, Canada, UK, Mongolia, Hungary, France, Wales and Australia) presented their research on the ongoing revitalization, adaptation, change or preservation efforts taking place in Mongolia since 1990 in four topic areas: the arts, new cultural practices, language, and religion.

The keynote speaker was Carole Pegg, Ph.D., University of Cambridge who presented her research on “Performing Mongolian: Culture and Identities in a Globalizing World.” Professors Morris Rossabi and William Fierman were the special guest speakers. A book display was organized, with relevant titles in English and Mongolian, and the Conference wrapped up with a Roundtable discussion by the panel Moderators.

An exclusive pre-premiere screening of the documentary film 'Mongolian Bling' has taken place at the Khan Bank Theater after the Opening Reception.

The conference was sponsored by the Henry Luce Foundation in cooperation with University of the Humanities, Language Policy National Academy, and Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Social Science School, National University of Mongolia.

Conference Document: .pdf

Remarks by Ambassador Addleton at Closure of the Conference - The Speech link

The American Center for Mongolian Studies is pleased to announce a new online Mongolian course being offered at University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) from August 30 to December 18, 2010. The course is co-organized by UMA and ACMS. The course is open to anyone (you do not need to be a student at UMA to participate), and it is the first semester in a two semester offering of beginner Mongolian.

MONA  101E - Introduction to Mongolian Language and Culture

Four Credits, Three Instructors, No Textbook
Register through University of Maine at Augusta
http://www.uma.edu/enrollmentservices.html
1-800-868-7000

No prerequisites
Taught totally online
Highly interactive weekly assignments
No required times for student meetings

Students will interact with fluent Mongolian speakers
using a variety of web-based tools to gain practical
competence speaking, reading, writing, and listening in
Mongolian at the Beginner Level.

Email info@mongoliacenter.org with questions or for additional information.