Michelle graduated from Wellesley College, majoring in Russian Area Studies and Peace and Justice Studies (with a concentration in translation and multilingualism) in 2019. There, she took advantage of the opportunity to study abroad in Belgium, Iceland, and Russia. Right after that, Michelle moved to Kyrgyzstan for a year until the pandemic hit.
As a MAERES student, she focuses geographically on Central Asia, Russia, and the Arctic and thematically on how different actors within these spaces understand and communicate complex and pertinent sociological phenomena like risk and change. More specifically, Michelle studies climate change.
In the past couple of years, you had several trips to Central Asia, including your recent research trip. What were the purposes of these trips? How did you end up in Central Asia?
My first trip to Kyrgyzstan came after two unsuccessful Boren and Fulbright applications–so I decided to make my own Fulbright and go to a place that interested me and that I knew very little about. I spoke with a friend who had done Fulbright in Bishkek, and she put me in contact with the head of the English language department at Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University (KRSU), where, in the end, I worked. This was my core occupation in Kyrgyzstan, and I also volunteered with the US Embassy’s American Corner, and various other groups: Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan (a human rights organization), Peshkom. When the pandemic hit, I continued my work online. I built an online platform for my students at KRSU, and we made it into a fun activity–tracking changes from our various locations, thoughts, and expectations while practicing English. This platform is still being used today.
The summer after, when things opened up again, I went there again to meet old friends and students and practice Russian.
Then I went for the third time last summer to continue practicing Russian. Initially, I intended to do independent research (for my capstone project) but ended up focusing my time on remote work that I had while I was there.
Most recently, I had a work trip to Uzbekistan connected to my position as a Research Assistant at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, NDU. This trip was a very rewarding and fascinating experience because we engaged with a wide variety of actors–people and groups whose work I would read in my research: from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies, the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED), think tanks like Knowledge Caravan, and others.
What did you find most valuable from being in the field? Did this experience change some of your previous perceptions about the region?
It certainly did. The most valuable thing about being in the field is that it contextualizes and brings all you might have studied into your own reality in some ways. When I went to Kyrgyzstan for the first time, I knew very little about the country. With everything so new, I learned immensely from it, expanding my worldview.
With Uzbekistan, I had been coming across, reading all these names, scholars, and materials from think thanks in my research already before going there. In Tashkent, actually engaging with people–with those very names–was valuable. I was able to match up what I would encounter in the media space with real discussion–and much more dimensional encounters.
Overall, probably one of the greatest biases that you get to challenge when you go to Central Asia, is that the region is often framed as a homogenous one: a post-Soviet space. A lot of academic literature, news, etc, is written from that perspective, which is quickly broken down when you go there.
How was your interaction with the scholarly community there?
It is always valuable to engage in interesting conversation with experts in their fields. I was glad about how honest many conversations were in Uzbekistan—especially given that the environment was more of a bureaucratic one than at KRSU, for instance. In fact, I am still in contact with one of the professors from UWED because we share some of the same interests.
What would be your advice for other students and scholars planning to visit the region? What nuances should they be aware of?
As an international scholar, first of all, absolutely visit!
Second of all, considering my experience in Kyrgyzstan especially–try to get outside of the “international person” bubble. I was lucky to have a position at a university that was less international, and really strove to engage with my students and coworkers. I was incredibly lucky to be invited not just to dinners with the famous Central Asian hospitality, but to private lagman-making “master classes” (yes, multiple, and no, I still cannot successfully replicate it on my own). I was invited to help construct benches for a local urban-development festival, to volunteer at a retirement home. People are really welcoming!
It is important to try to get outside of that international bubble–and it is easy to slip into. Don’t just go to Chicken Star but go to Stolovaya (of course, do go to Chicken Star as well, the owner often features interesting local artists, and they serve kimchi plof). And “broader Bishkek” is just one part of the country. Take advantage of the moment, because people are very kind and will invite you to really valuable experiences.
As for nuances… as with any place, going with an open mind is always important. There are always different ways of doing things, approaching ideas, etc–however subtle.