The Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) is a North American-based society for scholars concerned with the Central Eurasia

Central Eurasia

Central Eurasia is a geographic term, which may refer to:* Central Asia, i.e., the five Central Asian Republics as well as the lower Volga Region in Russia, southern Siberia, Iran, Afghanistan, parts of China and Northern Pakistan, Kashmir and sometimes Mongolia and Tibet* The Caucasus region,...

n region. The society seeks to "promote high standards of research and teaching, and to foster communication among scholars through meetings and publications", and to "facilitate interaction among senior, established scholars, junior scholars, graduate students, and independent scholars in North America and throughout the world". Created in 2000, the society holds annual conferences, presents awards for recent publications, and publishes the biannual Central Eurasian Studies Review.

History

Initial discussion about the creation of a society for Central Asian studies

Central Asian studies

Central Asian studies is the discipline of studying the culture, history, and languages of Central Asia. The roots of Central Asian studies as a social science discipline goes to 19th century Anglo-Russian Great Game...

 in North America began in the late 1990s during workshops at the University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

. Eventually consensus was reached for the establishment of the Central Eurasian Studies Society, and the first annual conference was held in October 2000. In April 2001, CESS was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in Massachusetts. The organization grew rapidly, and by 2003 had over 1,500 members from 70 countries.

The Central Eurasian Studies Review, the society's main publication, was first published in 2002.

By 2003 the CESS Secretariat had been established at Harvard University's

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus. The secretariat would later becoming a rotating secretariat, moving to Miami University

Miami University

Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...

 in 2007.

Activities

CESS has held an annual conference every year since 2000, usually in October. The conferences are held at various universities throughout Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The 2008 conference was held at Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

The society's first international conference (called a "regional conference") was held in August 2008 in Choktal

Choktal

Choktal is a village in the Issyk Kul District of the Issyk Kul Province of Kyrgyzstan. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Issyk Kul between Tamchy and Cholpon Ata....

, Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...

.

Additionally, CESS presents two awards every year - a Book Award and a Best Graduate Student Paper Award. Each winner receives $500, and the best graduate student paper will be published in the academic journal

Academic journal

An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...

Central Asian Survey.

Publications

The main publication of CESS is the Central Eurasian Studies Review, published bi-annually in the spring and summer. It was first published in January 2002. The publication is divided into four sections: Perspectives, Research Reports (for on-going research only), Conferences and Lecture Series, and Educational Resources and Developments. All current and past issues are available online.