Maxwell School News and Commentary

Mongolia’s leaders plan to move the nation’s capital from increasingly congested Ulaanbaatar to the culturally-significant yet undeveloped area called Kharkhorum. But Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment, says, “Buildings on a blank slate, it's a lovely image, but it doesn't solve any of those bigger structural issues in a state."

Woodard, assistant professor of anthropology, recently traveled to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and to major cities in South Korea to examine the war’s impact on migration patterns throughout Europe and Asia.

The new and expanded MOUs with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will pave the way for more students and scholars to build skills and develop their home nations.

Students from the Central Asian nation are taking advantage of all Executive Education and Maxwell as a whole offers, along with pursuing studies through some of the most prestigious fellowships offered.

While there is an unavoidable conflict in a petrostate hosting a climate summit, it may also be fitting: The country that was home to the oil industry’s beginnings may also host negotiations that could one day bring the petroleum era to an end. “It is possible to frame it as something of a closure,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment.

"Research in a Closed Political Context, COVID, and Across Languages: Methodological Lessons, Messages, and Ideas," co-authored by Darzhan Kazbekova, graduate research associate in the Center for Policy Design and Governance, and Rebecca Schewe, associate professor of sociology, was published in the International Journal of Qualitative Methods.

Dimitar Gueorguiev, associate professor of political science, has contributed to and edited "New Threats to Academic Freedom in Asia" (Columbia University Press, 2023). 

“I am truly impressed by how the academic and research environment for persons with disabilities is advanced and promising for replication in Uzbekistan,” said Mirjakhon Turdiev, a current social science Ph.D. candidate. “A rights-based approach to persons with disabilities and disability understanding in general is something I planned to export to Uzbekistan.” 

“We enjoy working with students from Kazakhstan because they are so appreciative of their opportunity to study at the Maxwell School,” says Steve Lux, director of the Executive Education program. “Every one of them are eager to apply what they have learned to the challenges facing their country."

Uzbekistan Ambassador to the United States Javlon Vahobov and senior officers from the Uzbekistan Embassy met Monday with Syracuse University officials to discuss educational partnerships between their country, the Maxwell School, and the School of Information Studies (iSchool). The visit included meetings with leadership of both schools, a tour of campus, and meetings with students.