CESS is pleased to announce that a number of pre-conference workshops will be offered for the first time at the 2018 CESS Annual Conference. Intended to provide additional opportunities for scholarly engagement and training, these half-day and full-day workshops will be held from 1-5pm Wednesday, October 24 and 9am-1pm Thursday, October 25.

There is no charge to participate in the workshops as they are generously supported by a grant from Open Society Foundations and financial support from the journal Central Asian Survey. Each half-day workshop includes one meal and one coffee break. All workshops will be held at the University of Pittsburgh, the conference site.

Descriptions of the workshops, the number of maximum participants for each workshop, the date/time, the eligibility criteria, and additional application materials required can be found at the pre-conference workshops page. Please carefully read the descriptions and requirements for each workshop before applying.

The closing date to apply and to submit any additional required materials is August 3, 2018.

Pre-Conference Workshops are offered the day before the CESS Annual Conference. This format was successfully introduced at the CESS 2018 Annual Conference in Pittsburgh and has now become an annual event.

Propose a Pre-Conference Workshop

Pre-conference workshops will be offered again at the CESS 2023 Annual Conference. Intended to provide additional opportunities for scholarly engagement and training, the half-day workshops will be held on the morning of October 19.

Possible workshop topics include: ethics and safety in field research, guidance for doctoral students preparing for fieldwork, methods workshops (best practices in archival research, qualitative data analysis, interview best practices, participatory approaches), publishing/preparing research for submission, teaching about the region and workshopping syllabi, conducting public scholarship, and grant proposal writing. We are open to other proposals, including other practical learning activities not envisioned here.

A small honorarium will be offered to facilitators.

Each proposal must include:

1)  the pre-conference workshop title
2)  facilitator’s name(s) and position(s); confirmation of current CESS membership
3)  workshop length
4)  the ideal number of participants
5)  a description of the pre-conference workshop, including the pedagogical approach (no more than 500 words)
6)  brief bio(s) of the facilitators and explanation of preparedness to run this pre-conference workshop (maximum 100 words)
7)  necessary technical facilities/support
8)  workshop plan/outline (maximum one page)

To submit a pre-conference workshop application, please email your proposal to info@centraleurasia.org by the extended deadline of March 1, 2023.

How to Participate

Details of the pre-conference workshops that will be offered in early 2023 and how to apply to participate in a workshop will be provided on this page at a later date.

For information, six pre-conference workshops were held in 2019. Descriptions of each workshop, the number of maximum participants for each workshop, the date/time, the eligibility criteria, and additional application materials required can be found in this document:

Some workshops run for half a day, others for a full day (Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning).

You must register to participate in a pre-conference workshop.

Please read the descriptions and requirements for each workshop carefully before you sign up. Several workshops require additional proposals to be submitted for selection, so please be sure to follow the specific workshop directions.

You may register for up to two workshops as long as they are running at different times (i.e. you cannot register for two half-day workshops at the same time, but you can register for one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, or you can register for one full-day workshop).

You must be registered for the CESS Annual Conference to attend a workshop. These workshops are open to anyone who is registered for the CESS Annual Conference, however where space is limited, priority will be given to Central Eurasian scholars for access reasons.

If you register for a workshop but have a change in plans, please contact info@centraleurasia.org as soon as possible.