Synopsis:  Professor Hanks will address the challenges inherent in constructing national identity in post-Soviet Uzbekistan.  Using a theoretical framework anchored in ethno-symbolism, he will examine how the concepts of oltin meros (golden heritage) and territorialization are being employed in this process.  The central thrust of this research focuses on the construction and nature of Ozbekchilik, or “Uzbekness,” and the strategies and techniques utilized by the Karimov regime to formulate policy and build state institutions to frame and reinforce this identity within a national discourse.  

Biography:  Reuel R. Hanks is Professor of Geography at Oklahoma State University, and serves as the editor of the Journal of Central Asian Studies.  He holds a doctorate degree in Geography (University of Kansas) and master’s degrees in Geography (University of Missouri) and Soviet Studies (University of Kansas). Hanks was a Fulbright Scholar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1995 and has consulted for the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Education, the International Exchanges Board (IREX), Fulbright Association, and several private institutions.  He has published approximately twenty scholarly articles and book chapters on Central Asia focused on Islam, nationalism and identity, foreign policy and political geography, and is the author of Uzbekistan (1999), an annotated bibliography in the World Bibliographical Series published by ABC-CLIO, Ltd; Central Asia: A Global Studies Handbook (2005, ABC-CLIO, Ltd); and Global Security Watch: Central Asia (2010, Praeger International).  He has given numerous public lectures in Central Asia, and has been a Visiting Professor at Tashkent State Economics University, Samarkand State Institute for Foreign Languages, KIMEP (Almaty, Kazakhstan) and Eurasian National University (Astana, Kazakhstan).

Registration required
E cais@anu.edu.au
T 02 61254982

This lecture is free and open to the public.