2011 SUMMER INSTITUTE
“AMERICA ENGAGES EURASIA”
Columbia University, June 13-July 1, 2011
For three weeks in June, Columbia University hosted “America Engages Eurasia: Studies, Teaching, and Resources,” a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute. This Institute examined the evolution of “academic” engagement with Eurasia: the historic personalities, institutions, organizations, and research resources that collectively constituted the foundation of Eurasian studies in America. These components were considered within the broad framework of the geopolitical relations of America and Eurasia over more than 150 years, with the goal of establishing a more broadly applicable paradigm of area studies development in the United States (for Middle Eastern, East Asian, African, Latin American studies, etc.), suggesting avenues of comparative research.
Twenty-five undergraduate faculty, library curators, museum educators, and independent scholars were selected from a large pool of worthy applicants to participate in sessions led by a distinguished faculty and other professionals. Participants had a hands-on opportunity to work with the unparalleled material and academic resources of Columbia University and the City of New York.
The Institute was Co-Directed by Robert Davis of the Area Studies Division of the Columbia University Libraries, and Edward Kasinec of the Harriman Institute. Timothy Frye, Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy and Harriman Institute Director, served as Principal Investigator.
This website serves as a virtual archival repository for documentation connected with the Institute—the daily schedule, names and backgrounds of NEH Summer Scholars, distinguished daily presenters, and special luncheon guests. Columbia University Libraries’ Center for Digital Research and Scholarship (CDRS) videotaped selected lectures, vastly expanding the reach and impact of the Institute. As scholarly and other “products” created by the 2011 NEH Summer Scholars are brought to the attention of the Co-Directors, we will add these to the site as well.
Welcome to this website, and we hope you find this material interesting and thought-provoking. On behalf of the many individuals involved in this Institute, we wish to thank the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Summer Seminars and Institutes for College and University Teachers Program for their generous support.
Robert Davis Edward Kasinec
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment of the Humanities.