Subject: ACMS Fall 2013 Newsletter

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Vol. XII No. 1, Fall 2013         
mongoliacenter.org         email: info@mongoliacenter.org

In this Issue:

New Office in UB

ACMS Takes on the Books for Asia Program

Letter from the Executive Director

Report from Madison

Report from Ulaanbaatar

GIS and Cartography at the ACMS


Mongolian Young Leaders Forum in Vancouver

ACMS Fall Speaker Series

2014 ACMS Fellowships and Language Program

Annual Meeting and Call for Posters

Pilot Program with Oyu Tolgoi and Royal Roads University

New Partnerships with Cultural Heritage Center and National Museum of History

New Partnership with Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture

Support ACMS Programs

Our Supporters

Welcome to the New ACMS Office in Ulaanbaatar
Our new sign can now be seen on the side of Ulaanbaatar's Natsagdorj Library
Since the opening of our first UB office in 2004, the ACMS has seen many changes and evolutions. When the office was first being planned back in 2003-4, one of the biggest concerns was where it should be located. Preliminary discussions were made with several possible venues, with a high preference being the Ulaanbaatar Natsagdorj Library, where the American Corner has been housed for over a
decade. Unfortunately at the time a suitable space was not available in the library and other alternatives had to be explored. Read more>

ACMS Takes on Books for Asia Program
On October 10th, the Asia Foundation and the American Center for Mongolian Studies launched their Books for Asia program partnership with a gala event at the National Museum of History. One of the Asia Foundation’s best known and most beloved programs, Books for Asia is the leading provider of donated information resources in the region, distributing one million books to 19 countries in Asia. Books for Asia is committed to connecting Mongolian institutions with high-quality material from some of the world’s best information resources. When the Foundation first started is programming in Mongolia in 1990, Books for Asia responded to the critical need for English-language books by donating publications that were not yet available in the country. Since then, the program has provided more than half a million books, donated by leading U.S. publishers, to a wide variety of Mongolian institutions in Mongolia’s most far-flung corners. Read more>
Letter from the Executive Director
Charles Krusekopf
Energy. That one word highlights what I encountered during my visit to the ACMS office in Ulaanbaatar in September. In one week I participated in a signing ceremony for the MOU establishing our new office at the Ulaanbaatar City Library, a ceremony marking a new collaborative partnership with the University of Arts and Culture, a partnership meeting with Asia Foundation on the Books for Asia program, a meeting with Oyu Tolgoi to develop new internship opportunities, and other discussions with a variety of partners in Ulaanbaatar, both old friends and new. The new activities and resources generated are highlighted in other articles in this newsletter, and individually each new partnership is significant..  Read more>
Report from Madison
Report from Ulaanbaatar
David Dettmann
In late summer I finally participated in my first Naadam celebration outside Mongolia. The Wisconsin Mongols put together in the town of Watertown, WI. There was Mongolian food, music, and dance, and here were even professional Mongolian wrestlers, inviting challengers for wrestling matches. It was great.
       This Fall the ACMS was one of the co-organizers of the 14th annual Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) conference. Read more> 
It has been nine months since my arrival in Mongolia. In some ways it feels like I have just arrived, and in others like I have been here for years. I a proud to say that the ACMS team in Mongolia has accomplished much since March. We developed several new partnerships with American Universities and Community Colleges and look forward to facilitating their research and educational endeavors in Mongolia. This has been accompanied with the ACMS’ efforts to develop and renew valuable relationships with Mongolian Universities. Read more>
GIS and Cartography Come to the ACMS
Perhaps it is not surprising that a country of 605,000 square miles would attract those who have interest in maps. This interest was obvious with ACMS Library Fellow Ben Meader, as he came to Mongolia with the goal of setting up a GIS lab at the new ACMS Resource Center. Mr. Meader, a Geographer and Assistant Instructor at Middlebury College Center for Teaching and Learning, has been leading GIS training since 2011.
Read more>
Mongolian Young Leader Forum in Vancouver
ACMS Executive Director Charles Krusekopf participated in the Mongolia Young Leaders Program (YLP) from November 21-24 in Vancouver, Canada. The YLP brought together almost 20 Mongolian undergraduate and graduate students studying in North America for a series of talks and discussions on Mongolia’s future development paths.
     The meetings marked the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Canada Read more>

2014 Field Research and Library Fellowships
The ACMS is offering 3 fellowship programs this year, Field Research Fellowships, Library Fellowships, and Language Fellowship.  Funding is for the Field and Library Fellowships is supported with funding from the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs through a grant by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. Deadline for receipt of complete applications: February 15, 2014.
For more information visit mongoliacenter.org/fellowship
Annual Meeting and Call for Posters
The American Center for Mongolian Studies is organizing a poster session on topics related to Mongolia to be held on Friday, March 28nd, 2014, 7:30-10:00pm at the Downtown Marriott in Philadelphia in conjunction with the Association for Asian Studies' annual conference and the ACMS Annual Meeting. Posters or displays on any topic related to Mongolia, Mongolian people or historical subjects related to the Mongols are welcome. Read more>
Pilot Program with Oyu Tolgoi and Royal Roads University
In December the ACMS played a leading role in supporting a business consulting project for the OyuTolgoi (OT) copper-gold mine project being developed in the South Gobi by global mining giant Rio Tinto and the Mongolian government. A team of 5 recent Bachelors of Commerce graduates from Royal Roads University (RRU) in Victoria BC worked with a faculty member from the Mongolian Humanities University School of Business and entrepreneurs from three small and medium enterprises (SME) in Khan Bogd Sum, the town closest to the OT mine, to assist them in developing their business processes to help them meet growing demand for
products and services from both OT and the rapidly developing township. Read on>


New Partnerships with Cultural Heritage Center and National Museum of History
The research, preservation and promotion of Mongolia’s rich cultural heritage has always been a key component of the ACMS. Strengthening our ties to the heritage research community in order to improve access and collaborative opportunities has been one of the priorities for this year. To this end, we are proud to announce the signing of two MOU’s with Mongolia’s leading cultural heritage institutions. Our relationship with the Mongolian National Museum of History spans well over a decade, with the National Museum being Read More>
New Partnership with Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture
For the past three years, the ACMS has been supporting library fellows and promoting the training and modernization of Mongolian libraries. As part of that initiative, the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture (MSUAC), the sole provider or library training in Mongolia, was approached in order to collaborate on the training of future librarians. During his visit in September, ACMS Executive Director Charles Krusekopf signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the president of MSUAC, Dr. E. Sonintogos, pledging to explore areas of greater collaboration. The Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture Read More>
American Center for Mongolian Studies, 642 Williams Hall, 255 S. 36th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
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