Distinguished Speaker Series | "Uyghurs Today: What Happened to the Camps?"

About the Program:

As we all watch the Russian invasion of Ukraine in horror and anguish, it's easy to forget that suffering continues in other places. In the course of the Q & A,  I'd like to point out that the camps are still there, though other institutions have sprung up - still primarily aimed at punishing, and then erasing, religiosity and cultural difference. Though Uyghurs are the majority population, Kazakhs and others have been among the detained. Thus the forcible assimilation campaign appears to target all Turkic Muslims in the region. It will be good to consider the campaign in the context of an increasingly confident, and increasingly nationalist, Chinese Communist Party, and ultimately widen the view to take in Taiwan and Ukraine.

About the Speaker: 

Dr. Gardner Bovingdon researches nationalism, identity politics, and ethnic conflict in China and Central Asia. His first book,The Uyghurs: Strangers in Their Own Land (Columbia, 2010) focused on the tumultuous history of Uyghurs and Xinjiang since the founding of the People's Republic of China. He is now writing a book on architecture, city planning, and identity in Kazakhstan, with a focus on the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. Bovingdon earned his BA in politics from Princeton University and his PhD in Political Science and Government from Cornell University, and now serves as an Associate Professor at Indiana University.

Waiting room will open at 6:45 PM with a program on Uyghur music and culture.