“Modern Mongolia: Heritage and Tradition Amid Changing Realities”

June 6 - July 1, 2016, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Host Institution

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) is an ideal host for this workshop’s theme, as it has been a leader for educational programs pertaining to East Asia for more than a century and was a pioneer in the teaching of East Asian Studies and languages. The School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) supports a range of programs and departments, including the ACMS, along with key campus partners in East Asian studies: the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations (EALC), the Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS), and the Center for the Study of Contemporary China (CSCC).
 
The University of Pennsylvania also has a substantial library collection of East and Inner Asia-focused materials. The University has several specialized libraries on campus, and the largest Mongolia, China, and Russia-focused studies of literature, history, and social science are found in the Van Pelt Library. In addition to the general stacks, the Derk Bodde East Asian Seminar Room contains core East Asia reference works and unbound academic journals. Dr. Brian Vivier, a historian of Mongolia and China, manages East and Inner Asia-related holdings.

The University of Pennsylvania library e-resources include online journals and databases, and are accessible campus-wide with a PennKey. Penn’s library system is also connected to the institutional holdings of Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, and Harvard, through an inter-library loan system called BorrowDirect. Campus-wide Wi-Fi Internet access is also available with PennKeys.

Penn facilities also include state-of-the-art classroom spaces with smart boards and media projection, and classrooms in Williams Hall which will be be reserved for the Institute. On-campus housing is available for participants of summer programs in “high rise” dormitories, and selected cafeterias and food courts are open with meal plans. Campus housing is a 5-minute walk to Williams Hall classrooms, and popular restaurants and food trucks can be found all around campus.

Finally, Philadelphia is one of the centers of Mongol expatriate communities on the East Coast, and cultural activities including painting, Buddhist temple visit, food tastings, music and dance performances, will be co-organized with these active groups.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.