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Reconceptualizing Cultural and Environmental Change in Central Asia:
An Historical Perspective on the Future

An International Workshop Organized by:

The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS)
The National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU)
The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN)

1-2 February 2009
Lecture Hall, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan

Background and Objectives
Historically and geographically, Central Asia has been a key area of interaction, transit and exchange between East and West.  While many Central Asian peoples are well recognized in historical records as skilled nomads, merchants and traders, it is more recently acknowledged that these peoples also assimilated the ideas and artifacts passing through their territories into their own cultures, often with material effect on landscapes and livelihoods.  This multidisciplinary workshop will focus on historical transitions in subsistence practices in the region, especially as these can be linked to external influence, multicultural exchange, and environmental change, both ancient and modern. The aims of the workshop are allow an international and multidisciplinary group of academics to share their research experiences in Central Asia and to stimulate innovative conceptualization of cultural and environmental change in the region.

Date:  1-2 February 2009

Venue: Lecture Hall, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan

Topics

1. Reconstruction of the environmental change in Central Asia, especially in Ili-Balkash basin, during the last two millennia analyzed by various proxies, such as ice cores, tree rings, lake sediments, historical documents, and archaeological monuments
2. Historical analysis on human adaptation to external influences, such as changes of the environment and social systems
3. Impact of human activities on the environment in the context of historical transitions in subsistence, such as nomadic activities and agriculture
4. Balancing resource development and preservation in arid and semi-arid regions.

Working languages:
Working languages in the workshop are English, Russian and Japanese. We will prepare simultaneous interpretation among these languages during the workshop.

Contact; Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
E-mail: ilipro@chikyu.ac.jp　Phone: +81-75-707- 2396,   Fax: +81-75-707- 2509