Reading Between the Lines: The Adoption of Cyrillic and the Continued Role of the Traditional Mongolian Script By Rebecca Rich I was recently fortunate enough to participate in the ANU’s second iteration of the Modern Mongolia course, a winter-based study tour which saw sixteen students delve into a wide range of topics impacting Mongolia today.Continue reading “ANU Students in Mongolia 2018. Post No. 2 ‘Reading Between the Lines’”
Category Archives: Society & Culture
ANU Students in Mongolia: Post No. 3 ‘Kharkhorin or Karakorum’
Kharhorin or Karakorum By Abhijeet Swami Since the 1990’s there has been discussion to shift the capital of Mongolia to Kharkhorin from the current over-polluted capital of Ulaanbaatar. Historically, Kharkhorin was the centre of empires that had a significant impact across Eurasia. The plain on which Kharkhorin (earlier Karakorum) is situated extends 30 kilometers orContinue reading “ANU Students in Mongolia: Post No. 3 ‘Kharkhorin or Karakorum’”
ANU Students in Mongolia: Post No. 2 ‘Mongolian Horse Racing’
Mongolian Horse Racing: tradition or tragedy? By Melissa Duffy Photo: ‘Naadam’ by Paulo Fassina (CC BY-SA 2.0). Attending The Naadam According to the Mongolian Tourism Industry, Mongolia is ‘the land of horse riders and horse lovers with at least one horse for every Mongolian, meaning there are over 3 million horses (MTI 2017). I wasContinue reading “ANU Students in Mongolia: Post No. 2 ‘Mongolian Horse Racing’”
Changes in the Mongolian Countryside
This year I spent some valuable time filming in the countryside during the Mongolian spring, from March until May. Changes in the Mongolian countryside are not as immediately evident as the rapid development of infrastructure and the polluted and clogged roads of the capital, Ulaanbaatar. When we drove into the river valley I hadContinue reading “Changes in the Mongolian Countryside”
The Spectre of Pan-Mongolism
Sitting in the reading room at the National Library of Buryatia on a hot Monday afternoon in late June 2016, a burst of song erupts from down in the small city square of Ulaan Üde outside. People are singing the Russian national anthem because it is Russia Day, a national holiday celebrating the new constitutionContinue reading “The Spectre of Pan-Mongolism”
Epic at Altargana
During June and July this year, on fieldworld for my PhD, I was lucky enough to be in Ulaan Üde in the Russian Federation for the biennial folk festival of the Buryat Mongols, Altargana. Since 2002 Altargana has been held in various locations in Russia, Mongolia and China because of the liminal nature of theContinue reading “Epic at Altargana”
Mongolian president’s gift illustrates country’s close connection with The Australian National University
By: Spencer Haines Recently, staff and students on the way to their classes at The Australian National University (ANU) were surprised to see that a large white yurt had been mysteriously erected just across from the Chancellery Building. This intricately carved yurt, which would appear more at home on the grassy steppes of Eurasia thanContinue reading “Mongolian president’s gift illustrates country’s close connection with The Australian National University”