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| Paige Brewer |
By Paige Brewer, Class of 2015
On March 5, Dr. Aigerim Shilibekova gave a lecture at U of L through the Center for Asian Democracy. Originally from Kazakhstan, Dr. Shilibekova is currently a visiting scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard. Her public lecture was titled, “Transformation of Higher Education in Kazakhstan: The Case of Gumilyov Eurasian National University," and she offered many interesting insights about the state of higher education around the world.
Many Westerners have probably never heard of Kazakhstan, the sizable country south of Russia, except for maybe as the homeland of Shacha Baron Cohen’s 2006 Borat character (a movie Dr. Shilibekova advised to never mention to a local Kazakh). Under the control of the Soviet Union until 1991, the nation is currently in an interesting point of transition. It is also very rich in natural resources and arguably important to pay attention to in terms of U.S. national security.
Dr. Shilibekova talked about Gumilyov Eurasian National University’s attempts to create stronger ties with Europe and the U.S. through student exchange programs. She discussed the university’s hopes to promote greater English language learning in order to further research development, since translating high level research publications from one language to another is difficult and time-consuming. The university’s international student population continues to grow, attracting over 300 students this past year from seventeen different countries. She expressed hopes for increased international recognition and development for her home university, and one couldn’t help but share her enthusiasm.
I’m happy to have had the opportunity to hear such an interesting talk from a part of the world most Americans know so little about.
Paige Brewer, of Wilder, Ky., is a junior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. She is studying political science.