Peoples and Cultures of Central Asia

Course content

The course will provide an understanding of the region and its peoples over the course of the last century. So it will start with a general overview of its geography and history as well as some general patterns of traditional economy and society, including the major religions in the past and in the present. The second part will introduce the indigenous peoples in the region, i.e., those that were already living there before the area was annexed by the Russians and the Chinese respectively. In the third and fourth parts the changes that took place during the socialist times in the aftermath of the dissolution of the socialist systems will be discussed.