“Moving Central Asian Studies ever further: Orthodox vs Unorthodox approaches”

12-15 June 2025

Conference program

Practical information

VENUE: Tashkent and Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Tashkent State University of Economics

Tashkent campus: Toshkent Davlat Iqtisodiyot Universtiteti, Islom Karimov 49, 100066, Тоshkent (Maps Google, Yandex).

Samarkand Campus: Toshkent Davlat Iqtisodiyot Universtiteti, Samarqand filiali, Professorlar street 51, Samarqand (Maps Google, Yandex).

Key conference highlights

• Nomadic conference – partially in Tashkent, partially in Samarkand (the transfer is included in the conference fee)
• Broader Regional Focus: Papers related to Central Eurasia are welcome, including topics on Turkey, the Caucasus, and Central Asia broadly defined (see detailed guidelines below).Travel Grants Available for a) Travel support, or b) Free accommodation and meals during the conference
• Publication opportunities. Publication of conference papers is not automatic nor mandatory. However, SCOPUS-indexed journals such as Cogent Social Sciences (Eurasian Section) and Studies of Transition States and Societies will be present at the conference and offer trainings on article submissions and coaching to help minimize the risk of rejection.
• Networking and Collaboration Opportunities: sessions designed to facilitate project development, network, contribute to edited volumes, and receive coaching on submitting to journals for special issues.
• Keynote speech by Prof Timur Dadabaev (University of Tsukuba)
• Field excursions – Buxoro, Nurota, Imam al-Bukhari shrine

Program

June 11-12. Wednesday, Thursday

Pre-conference workshop (publications, careers) and official opening (Tashkent)

June 13. Friday

• Official opening and sessions

• Keynote speaker

• Moving from Tashkent to Samarkand (Afrosiyob train at 19.44 and Sharq train 20.13, travel time is 2-3 hours, so time for one session and social gathering.

June 14. Saturday

• Working sessions (Samarkand)
• Reception

June 15. Sunday

• Working sessions (Samarkand)

Conference program

Timetable

January 5, 2025. Submission deadline

January 31, 2025. Notification of acceptance

February 18, 2025. Online registration opens

March 15, 2025. Online registration ends

April 10, 2025. Registration Payment Deadline (this is very important as we will need to secure places in Afrosiyob train)

May 1, 2025. Preliminary program release

June 12-15, 2025. Conference

NB!! We plan to book a seat on the train to Samarkand for all registered participants and travel in the same carriage. If you cannot travel or prefer to make your own arrangements, we will prepare a conference package with alternative means of transport.

Conference fees

	ESCAS member	ESCAS non-member
Regular	70 EUR	90 EUR
Reduced*	40 EUR	60 EUR
Student	50 EUR	N/A ***
Student Reduced*	30 EUR	N/A ***
Visitor pass **	10 EUR	10 EUR

** Visitor pass can be purchased on the spot (in EUR or UZS based on actual exchange rate) regardless of the membership. It allows the holder to participate in scientific panels and cultural events. It does not include transfer by train and reception/dinner for participants.

*** Students should become ESCAS members to qualify for the student fee.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) invites proposals for individual papers, panels and round-table discussions for the 20th ESCAS conference, which will take place in Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan. In line with regional traditions, the conference will have a nomadic format and will collaborate with the Tashkent State University of Economics. This format will allow you to experience different academic environments and network with colleagues from various disciplines. 
In line with our mission, we are now looking to revitalise ESCAS as an inclusive academic platform which responds to the needs of exchanging information and ideas and identifying challenges and opportunities for conducting research in and about Central Asia (including topics on Turkey, the Caucasus, and adjacent regions), fostering discussions between disciplines and scholarly traditions. This year’s conference topic is very broad and reflects that ESCAS is interested in contributions from the humanities,  social sciences, and economics disciplines. The broad scope of the conference is particularly suitable for interdisciplinary collaborations.

Therefore, whether you are interested in research on remote areas, socio-economic transformations in the region, societal and cultural change, macro or micro tendencies, anthropology, archaeology, environmental issues or economics, law and legal studies, sociology or political science or cross-disciplinary research, you are very much encouraged to submit an abstract and join our discussions. We also welcome sessions and presentations offering non-orthodox approaches to the study of the region as well as papers bridging social sciences with life and exact sciences (medicine, engineering, environment)

The broad Central Asian region as a topic encourages us to look at the power shifts that are now unfolding, due not only to the current war in Ukraine but also to the changing role of the region in economic, cultural and developmental issues. We would like to promote the event as a showroom for research on Central Asia, promote collaborations and exchanges between researchers and institutions, and offer career development opportunities for young and mid-career researchers.

We welcome a regional focus on the broader Central Asian region and invite interested researchers to submit abstracts for individual papers, panels, or roundtables. Proposals can relate to all aspects of research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences on Central Asia – namely the republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, together with Xinjiang, Mongolia, Afghanistan and adjacent regions of Russia, China, Iran, South Asia, and the Caucasus.

Our programme will feature classic academic presentations and panels, roundtables, book discussions as well as professional development workshops. Submission modalities are the following:

1) Individual presentations: 300 words and a short biographical statement

2) Complete panel: For panel proposals, a panel title and an abstract of max. 400 words, preliminary presentation titles with a short biography and contact emails of the convenors, discussant, and chair. Panels shall have a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 4 speakers, one to two discussants, and a chair. If you cannot identify a discussant or chair, we can help you with that and allocate a chair or discussant for you;

3) Book discussion: 300-word abstract with the presenter’s name and the discussants (ideally 2-3). NB, the book should be from 2024 or later. For book presentations/discussions, please add “Book Discussion” followed by the book title and author. 

4) Roundtable: Provide a 400-word rationale and the names and bios of all participants. Roundtables must have a chair and a minimum of three to five speakers.

If you cannot identify a chair, we can help and allocate one for you.

We will work to prepare a programme featuring professional training (targeting Central Asian scholars), research networking sessions, and cultural activities. Samarkand is an amazing and historical place, and it will be worth exploring it together. After the conference, you might want to travel to Bukhara, Khiva, or all the other amazing places Uzbekistan offers. We will prepare an information package.

Language of the presentations

The primary language of the ESCAS Conference is English; however, proposals for academic presentations to be conducted primarily in other languages are welcome and encouraged. Panel proposals, roundtables, and book discussions should indicate the planned working language in brackets after the title (e.g. [Uzbek], [Russian], etc.) and submit an abstract in English followed by the abstract in the non-English language. Individual paper proposals can only be accepted if they will be delivered in English.

ESCAS conference travel grants

To encourage the participation of early-career researchers from the Central Asian region with little support from their institutions, ESCAS is delighted to confirm the availability of

1) up to 8 travel grants (max 250 euro each).

2) free accommodation and meals during the conference.

If you are interested in one of these opportunities, please submit a short motivation letter with your abstract indicating your circumstances (why your institution cannot support you and how much you expect your travel to cost). Priority may be given to scholars from the region (over those based in Europe/US). If you may apply for funding within your organisation, you are warmly encouraged to do so, as this would allow us to allocate money to scholars with no support.

Payment deadline: March 31, 2025. Do not forget to pay the conference fee via ConfTool (https://www.conftool.org/escas2025/). In case of any troubles you can also use Wise following QR code.

Selection announcement: Those who were informed about their successfull selection, please, register now at the ConfTool – https://www.conftool.org/escas2025/ and you can also pay the conference fee.

How to apply

Please submit your abstracts and 2-3 lines of biographical statement to escastudies@protonmail.com or escascentralasia@gmail.com* by 5 January 2025.

* Use this e-mail preferably if you have mail.ru, inbox.ru etc. as Protonmail often does not take these mailboxes.

You can also add information about any other activities you wish to offer (e.g., a cultural tour, delivering a training session, holding a research discussion, or other). Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for any clarification.