Mongolia
Mongolia: Empire and Democracy
June 21 - July 1, 2009
Itinerary
This 11-day seminar begins and ends in Ulaanbaatar. Included is a study tour to Khentii province, birthplace of Chinggis Khaan, where participants will spend two nights at a traditional ger camp, the circular felt tents that the Mongolians have traditionally lived in for centuries. This is a unique opportunity to travel off-the-beaten-track for on site lectures in places of historic significance and witness the traditional Mongolian nomadic lifestyle. Please note that the hotel in Ulaanbaatar, where participants will spend the majority of their time, meets traditional IFDS standards. The tourist ger accommodation, however, while clean and comfortable, is double-occupancy and has a separate building with hot water and toilets. Click here to see the Summer 2009 Seminar itinerary.
Seminar Fee
CIEE Member: $2,600 Non-Member: $2,800
Add-on Tour: Gobi Desert
July 1-5, 2009
Fee: $800
There is an optional 5 day excursion in which participants will travel on the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Sainsand in the Gobi desert. From the Tavan Tohoi tourist base camp, participants will visit Khamaryn Khiid (Khamaryn Monastery) and tour the desert.
Academic Content (please note this is tentative and subject to change)
Lectures
- Mongolian Military History
- History of Mongolian Statehood
- Politics & Foreign Relations
- Economic Development
- Mongolian Buddhism
- Baldan Beraivan Khiid Monastery Restoration Project (on-site)
- Significance of Archeological Sites in Binder Soum, where Chinggis Khan united the Mongol tribes in 1206 and is allegedly buried (on-site)
Co-curricular Site Visits & Field Trips
- City tour of Ulaanbaatar
- National University of Mongolia
- Meet with NGOs working on issues of policy, governance and development
- Museums of National History, Natural History and Fine Art
- Tsenkhermandal Soum and Khokh nuur, site of Chinggis Khaan's coronation where Chinggis Khan first united local tribes
- Meet soum government and community officials
- Visit a herding families and participate in daily activities
Rationale
The establishment of the Mongol Empire is one of the most important events in world history, and Mongolia is the only former Soviet-bloc state in Asia to have successfully developed a functioning democratic political system and market economy. In spite of this, the predominant and persistent view of the Mongolians and the Mongol Empire remains one of barbaric conquerors. Providing educators the opportunity to learn about Mongolia firsthand can contribute to a more nuanced portrayal of Chinggis Khaan and the Mongol Empire, as well as a greater understanding of the dynamics of Asian empires and an appreciation of Asian cultures generally.
The seminar will allow participants to visit many of the historical sites associated with Chinggis Khan (popularly spelled Genghis Khan) and the Mongol Empire to develop a greater understanding of the context and geography that led to the Mongol’s conquest of much of Eurasia, a subject of growing, yet still underrepresented academic and popular interest. The seminar will also introduce participants to contemporary Mongolia to explore how Mongolians have sought to reconcile the heritage of Chinggis Khaan, who founded the great Mongol State in 1206, with the demands of the modern world and their experience transitioning from Communism to democracy and a market economy. IFDS participants will witness a society experiencing over 800 years of social, cultural, and political change, with a combination of lectures by important Mongolian and international scholars in the field of Mongolian Studies and field trips to significant sites.
Host Institution
American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) is a non-profit educational organization that has over 30 institutional members in the US and Mongolia, and over 200 individual members. In May 2004, the ACMS opened a permanent office in Ulaanbaatar at the National University of Mongolia with support from the US Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays program, the US State Department, member institutions and individuals, and private donors. The center has organized approximately 10 major international academic conferences in Mongolia, and regularly hosts visiting academics, public academic lectures, and Mongolian Studies resource development projects.
Seminar Leadership
Munkh-Erdene Lhamsuren, PhD is Professor and Chair of Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, National University of Mongolia. L. Munkh-Erdene received his Bachelors degree in 1990 and Masters Degree in 1992 from the National University of Mongolia. He received his PhD in Ethnography from Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan in 2004. His dissertation was entitled “Mongolian Identity and Nationalism: Origin, Transformation and Nature, (From the thirteenth century to the mid 1920s).” Munkh-Erdene currently is a professor and Chair of the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the National University of Mongolia. His research interests include Ethnicity, Nationhood, Collective Identity, Mongolian and Inner Asian Culture and History, and Post-Socialist transition.
Brian White is Resident Director of the ACMS in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He earned his B.A. in Economics (cum laude) from the University of Washington and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Cornell University. Mr. White has spent significant amounts of time working in Japan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia in the field of education. He worked for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Mongolia as a teacher trainer and methodologist, and is proficient in written and spoken Mongolian. His Master’s research focused on international development and the use of the Internet in non-profit management and education. Mr. White also has experience working as an archivist at the Cornell University Kroch Asian Library.
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