Putrefaction and Prototyping: the political economy of spatial and temporal transformation in Ulaanbaatar. 

May 10th, 2016 - Starting 5:30 PM

Location: American Corner, Ulaanbaatar Public Library

Tel: 976 7711-0486

What can a single building in central Ulaanbaatar reveal about the bricolage of social, political and material transformations at play within in Ulaanbaatar today? 

In the wake of socialism and colonialism, a rich vein of transitology offers us array of concepts through which to render the potentialities of space, place, networks and meanings as they are yoked to temporal transformations. Amidst a burgeoning discourse on urban planning in Ulaanbaatar, I present this paper as a means to initiate discussion on the very material basis of emergent and unintended transformations in a rapidly developing urban society. 

The grey carcass of the building in question looms imposingly over the political, cultural and now bustling business heart of the Mongolian Capital. Straining skywards since the height of a mining-led investment boom in Mongolia, the structure currently stands unfinished and dormant, ringed by diminutive apartment buildings that once housed high-ranking members of socialist society. As the construction protrudes from one of the most intensive sites of socialism in Mongolia, it has attracted questions over legitimacy of land transfers and planning permissions within the capital. 

In tracing the swimming potentialities of this structure single structure, we can witness how it continues to invoke peculiar intensities of political networks that emerged from the socialist political economy as arteries and organs that can no longer function to support an ideal body, if they ever fully did. From and with these disrupted material and social remnants, a new array of forms also continues to emerge, which themselves remain visibly incomplete or decaying vis-à-vis their idealized natures. 

Following these trajectories, this paper initiates discussion of a politics of urban development that draws epistemological and ethical import from the capacity to productively resist closure, excavate interiority and render salient the contradictions that beset and are productively constitutive of an array of new ideal and wholesome forms of politics, space and society in Ulaanbaatar.

March 22th, 2016 - Starting 5:30 PM

Location: American Corner, Ulaanbaatar Public Library

The ACMS is excited to announce the launching of a new online research publication called Mongolian Field Notes which will be available periodically tentatively starting May 1^st, 2016. Mongolia Field Notes will communicate academic research about Mongolia to broader audiences. They are modeled on the successful Asia Pacific Field Note’s produced by the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia (http://www.asiapacificField Note.ca/).

Mongolia Field Notes connect research work conducted by Mongolian and international researchers to issues in contemporary Mongolia. The goal is to highlight researchers and their areas of expertise, and to provide information in a concise format. Field Notes can cover any topic related to Mongolia, including politics, economics and business, science, environment and technology, or people, history and society.

We are currently encouraging American, Mongolian and other international researchers to submit their short articles for review. Write a 300 to 1000 word Field Note using lively, jargon-free language and clear writing. At this time, only submissions in English are accepted. A Field Note should explore an academic concept or research related to contemporary Mongolia. Where possible, integrate current events into your Field Note. Your submission should effectively convey a key idea or point, backed up by concise arguments and evidence.

Submissions are now being accepted for the May 1^st as well as future editions of Mongolia Field Notes.   In order to be considered for the May 1^st edition, your submission must be received by April 11^th, 2016.

For more information about how to submit as well as the full submission guidelines email Julia Clark at Jclark@mongoliacenter.org.

The State and Fate of Mongolia’s Environment

March 1st, 2016 - Starting 5:30 PM

Location: American Corner, Ulaanbaatar Public Library

Tel: 976 7711-0486 

 The 2016-17 Mongolia Cultural Heritage Research Fellowship program supports academic research projects that will contribute to the documentation and preservation of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Inner Asia, with a focus on the people and geographic area that is now in the nation of Mongolia. The ACMS Cultural Heritage program is supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation (http://www.hluce.org/home.aspx).

 ACMS Mongolia Cultural Heritage Fellowship has two goals: 1) to improve knowledge about Mongolia’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and 2) to make that knowledge accessible to people in Mongolia and around the world. Fellows will be expected to contribute to the development of data management systems and collections of Mongolian cultural heritage either with their own research materials and/or with the research materials of others, working to make information more accessible to scholars, officials, and the general public. Projects utilizing archives or collections from Mongolian institutions are encouraged, but must be willing to share this data with the ACMS Cultural Heritage Program and Mongolian Cultural Heritage Center, and should be accompanied by a brief letter of support from the host institution. Any fellow who wishes to use the research materials of others, please contact the Cultural Heritage Program (jclark@mongoliacenter.org) for more information on available data sets. Research projects that relate to the preservation of Mongolia’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage are welcome, from humanities and digital humanities fields such as archival studies, archaeology, language and literature, performing arts, history, religious studies, and others. Social science, natural science, and information technology projects may also be considered if they have a strong cultural element or application to cultural heritage issues. Scholars will have the opportunity to work with ACMS partners and may have the opportunity to take part in workshops and/or trainings funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. Fellows will be expected to spend some time working directly on Cultural Heritage Project initiative such as workshops, conferences and data management projects when it does not directly interfere with their own research. Project proposals should clearly outline an intended time frame indicating if they are proposing a short-term fellowship (of 1-3 months), or a long-term fellowship (of up to 9 months).

All applicants should be advanced graduate students or graduated from a university in the US or Canada. The deadline for applications is February 15, 2016.

Questions about the program should be directed to jclark@mongoliacenter.org, or to the US or UB ACMS offices.

This schedule may be subject to change.