The conference, dedicated to the GAUGN’s 30th anniversary, is one of the flagship academic and educational projects by the Faculty of Oriental Studies. It is held annually since 2016, when the Faculty has started its comprehensive cooperation with the Institute of Oriental Studies.

 

The “Understanding the East” scholarly readings are supposed to be a platform where young researchers from various universities of Russia and foreign countries can freely present the results of their academic work, establish horizontal contacts, develop academic communication, form new academic collectives and project groups. The event focuses on a wide array of theoretical and practical issues of history, culture, economy and politics of Asian and African countries, provides a venue to discuss innovative ideas in theory and methodology of Oriental studies.

 

The conference included several thematic sections and round tables, where bachelor, major and postgraduate students could take part on equal grounds.

This year, besides the traditional sections dedicated to different fields of research within the Middle East and Far East studies, sections of African and Eurasian studies, and a “Historical Politics and Historical Memory in the Countries of Asia and Africa” round table were held.

 

The section of Middle East studies consisted of 6 sessions, devoted to research in medieval, modern and contemporary history, economic, social and political development of the MENA region. A separate session, where the countries of the Arabian peninsula were discussed, was organized together with the Center of Arab and Islamic Studies of the IOS RAS. 56 papers were presented within the section.

 

The section of Far East studies included sessions on various issues related to China, Korea, Japan, the countries of South and Southeast Asia. The participants presented 60 papers.

14 papers were presented at the newly organized section of African studies; the Eurasian studies section, for its part, became a venue for 10 presentations. 10 more research papers were discussed within the framework of the round table “Historical Politics and Historical Memory in the Countries of Asia and Africa”, where scholars from academic institutes and university professors gathered to discuss methodology and practical cases.

 

In total, 150 papers were presented at the Conference. 200 young scholars from more than 40 universities of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and China took part in the event, both in person and online. The conference was held at the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS in Moscow.

 

Russian Academy of Sciences was represented both by the researchers from the Institute itself and from other academic centers, such as the Institute for African Studies, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Institute of China and Contemporary Asia etc.

In conclusion, all participants received personal certificates. Moreover, conference proceedings are planned to be published as a book, and the best papers chosen by moderators from the Faculty of Oriental Studies and IOS RAS will be approved for publication in the “Oriental Courier” academic journal.