Central Asian Studies Society, University of Chicago                                           

6031 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, US   cass.uofc@gmail.com

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Call for Papers for the Central Asian Studies Conference

 

We are excited to announce the Central Asian Studies Conference at the University of Chicago, organized by the university’s Central Asian Studies Society and taking place on April 17–18, 2026.

About the Conference. Throughout Central Asia, embodied culture is expressed through art and culture: oral traditions, written poetry and literature, textiles, music, and many other media. Creative acts and works have been intertwined with collective experiences ranging from celebrations to invasions to revolutions, working to represent and shape memory and identity. Our conference centers reflections on art, music, oral traditions, literature and other cultural practices as not only objects of study, but also as sources of inspiration, tangible connections to the past and means to understand the present. We are creating a space for young researchers interested in matters of culture and identity to meet, learn about, and learn from each other.

Call for Papers. We are now accepting abstracts of papers, mainly from graduate students, but also from postdoctoral fellows, faculty members, and independent scholars. We invite historians, linguists, anthropologists, art historians, literary scholars, sociologists, musicologists, and scholars of religion whose work engages with Central Asia—conceived broadly: from the Mongolian Plateau in the east to the Urals in the west, from Afghanistan in the south to the Altai Mountains in the north—between late antiquity to the present.

We particularly encourage submissions related to this inaugural conference’s theme: “Voices through Art and Culture: Identity Formation in Central Asia, from Music to Architecture.” What can art and culture tell us about the process of identity formation? What is the relationship between culture and politics? How were the responses to historical events that affected the whole of Central Asia, in political, ecological, economical realms differ and take shape in the forms of art and culture? How does art and culture reflect Central Asianness, whether as a unified identity and/or a condition of great diversity and difference?

In the current political climate of instability globally and in the region, this Conference aims to delve into the historical practice of artistic and cultural responses and help us investigate the current time – how is identity being transformed and reflected in modern art and cultural traditions? We believe that, especially in at such a time, it is important to look back at the roots of the identity and reevaluate it. And there is no better tool for that than looking into Art and Culture.

Keynote Speakers: The keynote speakers for the Conference are a distinguished scholar of ethnomusicology Professor Theodore C. Levin and a prominent artist from Kazakhstan Gulnur Mukazhanova.

Dr. Theodore C. Levin, Arthur R. Virgin Professor of Music at Dartmouth University, author of the book The Music of Central Asia. Theodore Levin is a longtime student of music, expressive culture, and traditional spirituality in Central Asia and Siberia. Levin served as the first executive director of the Silk Road Project, founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. His research and advocacy activities focus on the role of arts and culture in international development, and on the preservation and revitalization of musical heritage.

Gulnur Mukazhanova, a distinguished artist born in Kazakhstan and based in Berlin, who weaves together Central Asian heritage with contemporary artistic enquiry. Through textiles and symbolic materials, she evokes layers of cultural and historical memory. Her works unfold as dialogues between suppressed traditions and today’s shifting realities, reflecting on postcolonial experience, feminism and globalization. Her recent solo exhibitions include Bosağa – Transition. The Weave of Ancestral Memory at the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, Almaty (2025); Öliara: The Dark Moon at Mimosa House, London (2022); and The Space of Silence at Aspan Gallery, Almaty (2021).

Submissions. Please send submissions electronically to caconferenceuofc@gmail.com no later than Sunday, February 1, 2026. Please include your name, institutional affiliation, program of study or position, a 250-word abstract, and a tentative title. If you are unsure about the suitability of your topic, please feel free to email us at the above address. Applicants will hear back from us by late February 2026.

Selected papers will be grouped into panels of three. Participants should be prepared to deliver a 20-minute presentation, followed by a led Q&A discussion. Written papers must be circulated to the discussant and fellow members of the panel at least two weeks before the conference.

Limited funds for travel will be available to presenters without access to institutional funding. Please indicate if you are interested in being considered for this funding in your email.

Please circulate this widely! For questions and accessibility concerns, please write to caconferenceuofc@gmail.com.

A performance by the Tuvan music trio Alash, also organized by the Central Asian Studies Society and taking place in Rockefeller Chapel, will conclude the conference.