XVIII International Summer University at the DKU in Almaty

On August 1, 2022, the XVIII International Summer University at the DKU in Almaty opened!

The Kazakh-German University (DKU) in cooperation with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) invited students from Germany and Central Asia to participate in the XVIII International Summer University in 2022!

In recent years, the countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, long spared from social unrest after independence, have experienced a rise in civic engagement in the region. Despite the growing momentum of civic engagement, our knowledge of the causes, structures and actors in these two regions is limited. The aim of the Summer University is, on the one hand, to assess the development of social movements after independence and, on the other hand, to critically review theoretical approaches explaining social activism in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Our courses have been designed to shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of previous explanatory approaches in research and to point to new approaches to the study of civic engagement in the post-Soviet region. Participants should gain a deeper understanding of the development and dynamics of civic engagement in Central Asia and the South Caucasus and thus be able to develop possible scenarios for the future of social engagement in these two regions.

Summer University 2022 offers two core modules on Central Asia and the South Caucasus that are structured to cover a wide range of issues relevant to social engagement in the region. The Central Asia course is linked to political science and sociology, the South Caucasus course is more anthropological in nature.

Each module consists of a group of 10−15 students and is taught by experienced teachers in English. Coursework consists of group work, seminars, presentations and usually covers the time until lunch. After lunch there are external expert presentations for students in both modules.