Kyzylsai regional park, Kazakhstan by Makcar79

In this course we will explore the fascinating and enigmatic area sometimes referred to as the wild and opaque “black hole” in the heart of Asia.

For millennia forming a cultural trading crossroads along the Silk Road, with unmatched prosperity in Samarkand under the Sogdian Empire, Turkestan is now defining its future as 5 independent countries forging their own statehood for the first time. Amid arbitrary borders, disputed histories and pressures from neighbouring Russia, China, India and Iran the mix of nomadic tribes and settlers are drifting away from their common legacy and forming new ties with each other and the outside world.

Over 3 weeks we will explore how people live among the shifting sands, inhospitable mountains and endless steppe facing climatic extremes of scorching heat, numbing cold and howling winds. Where peoples cross borders and borders cross peoples we will look at the affects on everyday life of the Soviet period and current independence.

Megan has worked on projects such as access to healthcare and social welfare, women’s rights, trades unions, elections, agriculture and civil society in the remote Tajik/Afghan borders and the convoluted multi-ethnic Ferghana Valley.