INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “AT THE CEOSSROADS OF CULTURES: JEWS OF CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS”, 6-8 JUNE 2025

On June 6-8, 2025, the Center for Regional Studies of Turan University, together with the Research Center of the Jewish Museum and the Center for Tolerance (Moscow, Russia) and the Ben-Zvi Institute (Jerusalem, Israel), will organize the III International conference “At the Crossroads of Cultures: Jews of Central Asia and the Caucasus.”

The conference will focus on the interaction and mutual influence of various Jewish groups and their neighbors, other ethnic groups and faiths in Central Asia and the Caucasus during the “colonial era” of the 19th and 20th centuries and at present time. The first stage of this international conference will be held on June 4 at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow, where 11 reports will be discussed. The second stage of the conference will be organized at Turan University in Almaty. 21 reports of researchers from around the world will be heard here: they will cover a wide range of issues related to the impact of modernization and migration on the life of Jewish communities, political activism and interaction with the authorities, relations and interaction with local and foreign (Jewish and non-Jewish) populations, as well as related to cultural history and assimilation processes and language policy.

The conference will feature a round table on the topic “Studying the minorities of Central Asia and the Caucasus in the 19th–20th centuries: is there a place for Jews?”, as well as a presentation of a special issue of the journal “Central Asian Survey” (London), dedicated to the history and culture of Jews in Central Asia and the Caucasus (No. 44 (2), 2025) edited by Zeev Levin (Jerusalem).

The conference participants will be offered a cultural program, including a trip to the Medeo alpine skating rink. The organizing committee of the conference includes Svetlana Amosova, Elena Fomenko and Elena Deka (Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Moscow), Zeev Levin (Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, Jerusalem) and Ablet K. Kamalov, Director of the Center for Regional Studies, Turan University. Check the program of the Conference here.