Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS):
Master of Arts, European, Russian and Eurasian Studies
People buy everything at the open-air markets (bazaars) in Southern Kyrgyzstan: clothing, food, jewelry, even car parts.
I travelled to the region in search of information. I wanted to find out how Kyrgyz and Uzbek people were interacting in the bazaars since the violent clashes between them in 2012. A large section of the main bazaar in the city of Osh had been burned down, and I was curious to see how it had been rebuilt, and how the interactions between sellers and buyers had changed.
With the help of a wonderful research assistant—a local Kyrgyz student who spoke Russian, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek—I visited nine bazaars, started purchasing items and asking questions of the sellers.
We barely knew what we were doing or how we would be received, but we had fun because we were both curious. Thankfully, we completed the research with 54 respondents.
While I am still working through my data, I am comfortable to say with certainty that Kyrgyz and Uzbek people are interacting in the marketplace, but much less so outside of the bazaar. Still, there seems to be hope that the bazaar could be an avenue for greater pluralism in the region.
This is precisely why I applied to the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS).
I knew I wanted to pursue a graduate program that would afford me real-world opportunities. I didn’t want to write a research paper about someone else’s fieldwork: I wanted to do my own.
The first person I talked to was Professor Jeff Sahadeo, then Director, who became my graduate supervisor. He told me that EURUS students have many opportunities in the way of internships, co-ops, and funding for research and language training abroad.
I’m so thankful because I now have this experience that sets me apart from others with MAs as I enter the job market. I can say that I have studied and conducted fieldwork in Central Asia, and that I have something new to contribute to the conversation.
Friday, September 9, 2016 in FPA Voices, Institute of European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, International, People
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