Program on Central Asia

Scholar-Entrepreneur Initiative

The Program on Central Asia promotes research and teaching at Harvard on the history and current affairs of five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

We support the study of the Central Asian region using tools and insights from various fields of social sciences and humanities. Our activities include research projects, seminar series, curriculum development and course offerings, creation of digital resources for the study of the region, facilitation of research by students and visiting scholars, and cultural events. 

While the program aims at generating and disseminating knowledge and resources on Central Asia spanning different periods of its history, our main focus is on the independence period and current developments. We approach Central Asia as a region that opened up as a result of the dissolution of the USSR. The states, economies, and people of Central Asia are now an integral part of the globalized world, and developments in the region cannot be properly understood without tracing and analyzing different forms of connectivity, influence, and interdependence.

Our Projects

Related Insights

The Davis Center’s Graduate Student Conference on Central Asia showcases vibrant scholars eager to share and collaborate with others who study the region.

Davis Center associate Vera Mironova, who has spent years studying militants from the ex-USSR, says that Russia’s war mobilization may have turned the concert hall outside Moscow into a relatively easy target.

Davis Center visiting scholar Rahat Sabyrbekov explores the region’s climate change challenges, spotlighting original work on decarbonization efforts in the region.

Related Events

Upcoming Event

George Krol will discuss the development of relations between the United States and the Central Asian republics from 1992 to the present time.

Past Event

Richard Foltz will present the revised edition of his 2023 book and discuss recent events affecting Tajiks in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Tajikistan itself.

Past Event

In his new book "Moscow’s Heavy Shadow" Isaac McKean Scarborough explores Tajikistan's descent into bloody civil war in the early 1990s and argues that armed conflict has accompanied the extended Soviet collapse since the beginning and until today.