Program on Central Asia

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

Political scientist Nargis Kassenova, director of our Program on Central Asia, analyzes developments in the region's richest country for the Atlantic Council, outlining three scenarios for Kazakhstan's path forward.

As global powers vie for indispensable minerals in Central Asia, the region's governments must figure out how to drive growth without causing long-term damage to their economies, environment, and societies, argues REECA alum Aruzhan Meirkhanova.

Are you a graduate student writing about Central Asia? Submit your application for the Davis Center Graduate Student Conference on Central Asia by Jan. 31, 2025!

Related Events

Upcoming Event

Join us for the talk to hear Dr. Artemy present how social scientists, both within and outside government, influenced Central Asia countries' transition from state socialism in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Upcoming Event

Come hear more than 20 outstanding young scholars present on topics as diverse as energy, child care, migration, managed successions, and much, much more.

Upcoming Event

Join us for Dr. Lubin's presentation on the impact that US and international assistance had on corruption in Central Asia over the past five decades.