Speaker Series Audience

Speaker Series lectures are generally given from 5 pm to 6 pm on Thursday evenings on the campus of the National University of Mongolia. The lectures are 40-50 minutes in length, with an opportunity for audience members to ask questions. From 6 pm to 7 pm audience members are invited to the ACMS reading room for refreshments and an opportunity for further discussion.

The ACMS invites researchers and scholars to present public lectures at the ACMS Speaker Series on a rolling basis. If you are planning to visit Mongolia between late August and early July to conduct research or study, please contact info@mongoliacenter.org to schedule a date to present. The lectures must be conducted in English, and all academic disciplines are welcome. The Speaker Series is a great opportunity for scholars to present their work and for the general public to learn about academic research in Mongolia. Please notify the ACMS at least two weeks prior to your proposed date to speak in order to allow enough time to advertise the lecture.

The ACMS Spring Speaker Series will begin January 24th, 2008 with its first lecture (see below). The Speaker Series for Spring 2008 is sponsored by the Educational Advising Resource Center (EARC), which is a non-profit, non-governmental organization providing academic advisory services to 40,000 Mongolian students per year seeking entrance into international universities. The EARC has its main branch in Ulaanbaatar, with three branch offices in Darkhan, Erdenet, and Khovd. The EARC has also been a significant partner in the ACMS's mission of promoting scholarship in Mongolia, and this cooperative relationship is continued with the Spring Speaker Series sponsorship. 

--Lectures are in English and open to the public. Directions: NUM Building No.5 is the new, 6-floor yellow building northwest of the Chinese Embassy, right cross the street from “Z” (Zaluuchuud) hotel on Baga Toiruu. 

May 15, 2008, 5pm Room 305, Building No. 5 NUM

The demographic consequences of the economic and social transition in Mongolia

After 70 years of socialism, Mongolia embraced political and market reforms in 1990. The dislocation of the socialist system and the accompanying economic re-organization (shock therapy and privatization) affected dramatically the living conditions of the Mongolian population. What are the demographic consequences of this political and economic transition? This is the question addressed in this presentation.In comparison to other economic and social questions, the demographic consequences of the transition have been less studied. This research proposes to analyze the recent mortality and fertility trends and patterns to assess the impact of the transition on demography in Mongolia. The Mongolian case will be compared to other former socialist countries whose experiences are well-documented.

Thomas Spoorenberg, PhD student and teaching assistant, Laboratory of Demography and Family Studies, Department of Economic History and Department of Econometrics, University of Geneva (Switzerland), is on academic leave at the Population Teaching and Research Centre, National University of Mongolia. He earned a Bachelor and Master in Economic and Social History at the University of Geneva and went to Belgium for a Research Master in Demography. His research interests focus on Asia, both contemporary and historical Asia. He has worked and published on pre-industrial China and Japan, as well as contemporary India, Mongolia or “a somewhat not so Asian country” Switzerland.

May 29, 2008, 5pm Room 305, Building No. 5 NUM

Mongolia’s Mineral Sector in Limbo: Perpetually Awaiting Elections…

Mongolia’s mineral development sector is in limbo due to failure of the government to consummate investment agreements and approve development of several important mining projects – projects that could add materially to the wealth of the nation. Here we suggest that the only insurmountable perils facing the mining industry today are reactionary plans for more government control of the sector, including provisions for taking majority ownership positions in large deposits, and unsustainable tax regimes. This aberrant shift in policy will erode the incentive for private mining companies and explorers, particularly targeting those from Western economies that are the very companies which under more attractive (and transparent) investment conditions would invest heavily in exploration, discover new resources and build new sustainable First-World mines. It is concluded that the mining policy issue is of critical importance to all Mongolians and its timely resolution with true maximum social benefits is an opportunity, and a challenge, without parallel in Mongolia’s fledgling market economy.

Mr. Cluer is a US-based geologist with a B.Sc. degree from Idaho State University and M.Sc. degree from the University of Arizona and has been working in and around Mongolia for 10 years, with key involvement in several large-scale development projects including the Boroo and Gatsuurt gold deposits. He has more than 20 years of international experience in the mineral exploration and development sector, having worked for companies such as Tenneco Minerals, Independence Mining, Santa Fe Pacific Gold, Uranerz, Cameco Gold and Centerra Gold. More recently he has partnered with other venture capitalist entrepreneurs to create Altan Rio, a privately funded global exploration company currently working in Nevada, Brazil and Mongolia.

June 26th, 2008, 5pm Room 305, Building No. 5 NUM

Education and labor market in Central Asia

Otgontugs Banzragch will discuss her dissertation research which is primarily an empirical study using Living Standard Measurement Surveys (LSMS) conducted by the World Bank Central Asian transition countries. Her research focused on trying to estimate returns to schooling and education in these countries.

Otgontugs Banzragch worked at School of Economic Studies at the National University of Mongolia until 1995 as a lecturer in Economics. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics at Moscow State University and Master of Arts in Economics at the University of Manchester, UK. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Economics and Education at Columbia University, USA.

Below is a list of all previous Speaker Series lecturers since 2004. The list is preseneted in chronological order beginning with the most recent lecture from the previous season. 

April 17th, 2008, 5pm Room 305, Building No. 5 NUM

Creating Peoples: Nation-state history and Notions of Identity 

Dr. Sneath argues that national populist thought pictures tribal and ethnic entities in ways that were analogous to the ideological construction of the nation. Tribes and peoples continue to be conceived of as proto-national units, sharing common cultural and social forms. But if we suspend our commitment to the notion of "ethnic identity" as separate from power relations, we can see that national designations such as "Mongol" represent historical processec of political designation rather than self-forming community.

"Dr. Sneath is the Director of the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at Cambridge University and a lecturer in Social Anthropology. He is a Fellow at Corpus Christi College where he is Deputy Tutor for Advanced Students and Director of Studies in Archaeology and Anthropology. David completed his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge in 1986." [Source: http://www.innerasiaresearch.org/david_sneath.htm]  

April 10th, 2008, 5:00 PM Room 305, Building No.5 NUM

The Millennium Development Goals and Education for Students with Disabilities in Mongolia: Perceptions of Stakeholders and Teachers

Anne Riordan

Anne Riordan is a Fulbright Fellow in Mongolia, currently conducting research on Mongolian teachers' perceptions of disability in the classroom. She is pursuing a master's degree in Special Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Anne graduated from DePaul University, Chicago with a degree in Secondary Education in 2003, and served in the United States Peace Corps, Choibalsan City, Mongolia 2003-2005. While conducting research as a Fulbright Fellow, Anne is hosted by and works with the American Center for Mongolian Studies (Ulaanbataar).

February 28th, 2008, 5pm Room 305, Building No. 5 NUM

The Oral History of Twentieth Century Mongolia: Memory, Narrative and the State

Christopher Kaplonski, PhD

January 24th, 2008, 5:00 PM Room 305, Building No.5 NUM

Reconstructing the Hunnu Empire through History, Archaeology, and Ethnography

Bryan K. Miller

Bryan K. Miller is a Ph.D. Candidate in the East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department of University of Pennsylvania. He received his MA in Archaeology from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA in 2000, after which he began research in Taiwan and Mongolia and managed the Xiongnu excavations portion of the Khanuy Valley Project. He is presently in Mongolia on a dissertation grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to study resources related to the Hunnu (Xiongnu). His greater research interests concern historical and archaeological investigations of early empires in East Asia.