CfP: Central Asia: Sharing Experiences and Prospects

CALL for PAPERS

European Society for Central Asian Studies Tenth Conference on

Central Asia: Sharing Experiences and Prospects

12-15 September 2007
The Middle East Technical University
Ankara, Turkey

The European Society for Central Asian Studies invites panel and paper proposals for its Tenth Conference, to be held in Ankara, Turkey. The event will be organized by the Center for Black Sea and Central Asia, the Middle East Technical University.

The ESCAS Xth Conference provides Central Asian and European researchers with a golden opportunity to study and to exchange views on Central Asia; its past, present and future. Ever since it was founded in 1985, ESCAS has always striven to promote Central Asian studies among Western scholars as well as colleagues from the region.
The creation of the newly independent Central Asian Republics after 1991 accompanied by the opening of this region to the world, marked the new era for Central Asian studies. Current developments in Central Asia are reflected in all academic disciplines, dealing with geopolitics, energy and economics, urbanism, society and communities and religious beliefs, ethnography, history, archaeology and
linguistics.

Conflicts can be triggered off between neighbours and great powers over the issues of water or oil, since Central Asia, rich in natural resources, is closely connected with the neighbouring great powers in competition for hydrocarbon, water and other resources. Nowadays Central Asia attracts lots of attention from the states of other
regions and continents and serves as a new field for numerous NGOs, Muslim, Christian and other missionaries.

The geographic domain of Central Asia, according to the ESCAS definition, covers contemporary Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Northern Iran, Northern Afghanistan, North-Western China, Trans-Caspian and South Siberia.

What are the different concepts used by scholars today, when dealing with such a wide range of topics? Central Asia, being a special area due to its unique history, societies and religions, cannot be studied solely through the prism of such concepts as “developed and developing countries” or “modern and traditional societies”.

For the first time the conference will be held in Turkey at the Middle East Technical University, who has been a pioneer in the Eurasian Studies by establishing a research centre on the region for the first time in Turkey.

Panels and paper topics relating to all aspects of humanities and social sciences on Central Asia are welcome, including:

1. Geopolitics of Central Asia: Interdisciplinary Approach
2. Central Asian History at Crossroads
3. Forms of Cultural Expression, Language, Linguistic, Arts, Music
4. Confronting Experiences: Spaces and Society
5. Cross-Regional Issues
6. Peoples and Their Identities
7. Aspect of Sustainability: Market, Natural Resources and Energy
8. Re-thinking Central Asian Research: New Concepts, New Approaches

1. Modalities:

Venue: Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences of the Middle East Technical University

Language: English. No translation facilities will be provided.

2. Submission of Proposals

Program limitations: Each participant may present only one paper at the conference. Each paper presentation should not exceed 20 minutes. The presenters are encouraged to prepare and bring with them handouts or any other materials for distribution, as the organizers will not be able to provide photocopying or computer services.

To ensure a broad and active participation, any individual should appear at maximum at two panels as a chair or a discussant.

Commitment to participate: When receiving a proposal, the organizers assume a serious intention to participate from the applicant. Once the proposal has been accepted, the participation must be confirmed. If needed, the organizing committee will provide invitation/acceptan ce letters for visa purposes.

Submission format:
• An abstract and a brief CV for individual papers, including contact details, in particular e-mail address/fax number.

Guideline on Abstract Format
An abstract is a very brief summary of your paper (200 to 500 words).
Your abstract should include the following information:
 The topic of your paper.
 Your research method and/or sources.
 Your specific argument and/or central findings so that anyone who reads the abstract will know what the results of your research are.
 The relevance of your argument or findings to a larger body of
scholarly literature.
Please note that abstracts longer than 500 words may be rejected by
the selection committee with no further consideration.

• A panel programme includes abstracts and brief CVs of contributors. Only English language electronic submissions in the MS Word format will be accepted.

Further information on how to prepare an abstract could be obtained from the following web-sites:

www.escas.pz. nl or http://cess. fas.harvard. edu/

Ensuring quality proposals: Since the selection process may be competitive, the presenters and panel organizers are expected to ensure the proper quality of papers, including submission formats for abstracts and final papers according to academic standards and publishable quality. The organizers plan to produce a book of
abstracts and subsequently a publication of conference proceedings

Equipment: Together with the proposals, the author is asked to indicate the need for audio-visual equipment and the technical specifications/ requirements. This is an important notification as the organizers may not be able to accommodate all requests. Should the equipment request be changed or abandoned, please inform immediately the organizers.

Panels:

Pre-organized panels should be thematically coherent and should include:
• a title
• a programme/abstracts
• details of panel chair and discussant(s) as well as participants.

Pre-organized panels should include not more than five presentations, should identify a chair and discussants. Panel organizers are also very much encouraged to ensure funding for participants from the region.

Roundtables:

Organized as open discussions, the proposals can refer to presentations made by/on organizations, research initiatives, network groups, curricula etc.

Publication of conference papers:

The organizers plan to publish conference proceedings/ papers, pending availability of funds. The presenters are requested to indicate preliminarily if they wish their papers to be included into the conference proceedings.

NOTE: Proposals must be submitted online to this e-mail address:
escas@metu.edu. tr

For further information, see to the following web-sites:
www.escas.pz. nl
www.kora.metu. edu.tr

3. Schedule of Key Dates:

Deadline for Panel Proposal : 31 December 2006

Individual Papers-Deadline for Abstract : 15 February 2007

Notification of Acceptance : 15 March 2007

Pre-registration : 1 May 2007

Submission of Papers to the Panel Chair and Discussants : 15 August 2007

4. Registration

Pre-registration is necessary for accommodation needs at the conference facilities for participants on campus. Conference fee is Euro 50 for regular participants, Euro 25 for students. It is payable to this bank account: KORA, Account Number: 4229 3392807.

Alternatively conference fee is payable upon your arrival.

5. Travel and Accommodation

Travel

Ankara can be reached by air directly from various cities across the world. The Ankara Esenboğa airport is about 15 km outside the city center. You can take the shuttle service (HAVAŞ buses, costing approximately US$ 7) to various locations in Ankara, the closest to METU being the “AŞTİ Bus Station.” You can also get a cab (“taksi,” costing approximately US$ 50 from the airport to the METU campus). You can also reach Ankara by bus from Istanbul in about 6 or 7 hours (costs ranging usually between US$ 20 to US$ 50). If you would like take a bus, you can search through these web-sites:

http://www.nilufert urizm.com. tr
http://www.kamilkoc .com.tr/
http://www.varan. com.tr
https://secure. ulusoy.com. tr/main.asp
http://www.tcdd. gov.tr/tcdding/ index.htm

For air travellers, here is the web site of Turkish Airlines:

http://www.thy. com/tr-TR/

Accommodation

These are the alternative accommodation facilities on METU Campus:

1. METU Guest House

Very limited availability. Prices as of September 2006, without including breakfast, are as follows:

Single Room Euro 12
Double Room Euro 14

2. METU Student Guest House

Prices as of September 2006, without including breakfast, are as follows:

Single Room Euro 17
Double Room Euro 14
Rooms for 4 people Euro 9

For more information: http://www.metu. edu.tr/clife/ accomodate. php
Hotels
Ankara has several hotels in different price categories and standards (ranging from Euro 53 to Euro 200 including breakfast for single room). Reservations in those hotels can be made individually by visiting the following web-page address:

http://www.bilkento tel.com.tr/
http://www.midihote l.com/
http://www.hotelmid as.com/index1. php
http://www.turkeytr avelplanner. com/stay/ index.html
www.gtahotels. com.

These reservations, however, should be made on an individual basis and
the organizers will not be responsible for any inconveniences or
financial issues.

NOTE: The organizers do not have sufficient funds to cover all costs of the conference. Participants are strongly advised to seek their own funding. As a special incentive for participants from the region, however, the organizers will try to seek funds to cover the accommodation costs and registration fee, depending on availability of their financial sources.

Special facilities for handicapped are unfortunately not available in any of the conference venues.

Should you have more questions, please, do not hesitate to contact us at:

The Center for Black Sea and Central Asia
Iktisadi Idari Bilimler Fakultesi B Binası
Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi
Kat: 2, Oda no: I204
Assoc. Prof. Pınar Akcali (Chair of Organizing Committee):
akcali@metu. edu.tr

Research Assistant Aslihan Anlar doganlar@metu. edu.tr

ESCAS 2007 Organizing Committee: escas@metu.edu. tr

www.kora.metu. edu.tr
www.escas.pz. nl

Organizing Committee Members:

Assoc. Prof. Pınar Akcali
Assist. Prof. Oktay F. Tanrisever
Assist. Prof. Ayca Ergun Ozbolat
Dr. Erdogan Yildirim

[sursa e-nass]