Central Asia

An introduction to Chieko Hirota’s work

by Chieko Hirota

Hello everyone, I am Chieko Hirota from the PPIA Japan team. I am a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Since 2011, I have been conducting annual field research on the cultural background of Kazakh people’s behavior in Mongolia (except for the period of Covid-19: 2020-2022). From 2012 to 2014, I have been living with Kazakh people in Bayan-Ulgii Province, learning handicraft techniques from Kazakh women, and documenting their skills in the pastoralism. In this blog, I would like to introduce my research sites and recent research interests. About the Survey Site The current… Read More »An introduction to Chieko Hirota’s work

Join Elena Gordillo Fuertes in Mongolia

by Elena Gordillo Fuertes

“Join me in Mongolia!” That is what Dr Ariell Ahearn, very enthusiastically, said on the last day of our Environmental Governance in Central Asia undergraduate course at Oxford. I am still not sure whether she was being nice or she actually meant it (probably both!) but little did she know I was going to take her up on the offer a year later. After graduating from Oxford, I started my master’s in Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. My research interest lies in the intersection between resource governance, human rights and mobility. I was eager to learn… Read More »Join Elena Gordillo Fuertes in Mongolia