Support 25 Years of CESS Excellence

Dear Friends,

Since its beginning in 2000, the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) has led the way in pioneering interdisciplinary scholarship on Central Eurasia, shaping the field, driving innovation and collaboration amongst scholars of Central Eurasia for nearly 25 years.

Through its annual conferences—both in North America and in Central Eurasia, its active partnership with Central Asian Survey, its sponsorship of book and article prizes, our organization has put this region at the forefront of debates in a number of disciplines. In recent years, we have established partnerships with universities in Central Eurasia, organized conferences in Tashkent and Almaty, and expanded our membership to almost 1,000 members. Now, we need your help.

As we near our quarter-century jubilee, we are embarking on some exciting new initiatives and looking to expand others. To make these initiatives possible, and sustainable, we are embarking on our first-ever fundraising drive. Our goal is to raise $10,000 this December (2024).

The all-voluntary CESS Board has committed $1,000 to this fundraiser. That means that if each CESS member donated just $10, we would exceed our goal. Of course, we understand that not everyone is in a position to donate.

In addition to our usually packed activity list, here is what we are planning in the coming year:

A graduate student workshop. In fall 2025, we will host a graduate student workshop at Ohio State University—one of the leading public research universities in the world. Graduate students working on Central Eurasia will be matched with expert faculty members to get detailed feedback on their major research work. We hope that this will be the first of what will become an annual event.

More travel grants for scholars from the region. Over the past few years we have been able to offer $100 to support travel to CESS conferences in North America and in Central Eurasia. We hope to raise both the value and the number of grants that we offer in time for our Annual Conference in Fall 2025.

Publishing and professionalization workshops. In recognizing the challenges that scholars from the region face when it comes to travel, we hope to improve accessibility to our events by offering virtual programming. Additionally, we aim to organize workshops for those who are publishing their first book with leading academic publishing houses.

In honor of our 25th anniversary, we encourage you to dedicate your gift to a person or cause that you really care about. Some of us might want to remember our academic supervisors, colleagues or mentors, while others may want to dedicate their charitable donation to their loved ones. Your support is vital to make sure our initiatives thrive. Contributions of any size are deeply appreciated.

All members who donate $1,000 (Platinum Supporter), $750-$999 (Gold Supporter), $500-$749 (Silver Supporter), and $250-$499 (Bronze Supporter) will have an opportunity to have their names printed on our Annual Conference Program in 2025.

As we approach the end of this calendar year and a wonderful holiday season, we express our gratitude to everyone who made our Society possible–to all of you.

With best wishes,

Artemy Kalinovsky

CESS President 2024-2025

CESS website