Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES)
No events are scheduled.
Georgetown University (GU) is pleased to be hosting the 2008 Annual Conference of the Central Eurasian Studies Society. Information regarding local arrangements and facilities for the conference may be found on this website, and the contact person for local arrangements at Georgetown University is Sarah Klump, CESS Conference Manager for the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CERES), ICC 111, Box 571031, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA, cess@georgetown.edu. For information related to the content of the conference, including the registration fees and forms and the online submission of proposals, please visit the CESS website at www.cess.muohio.edu.
The 9th Annual Central Eurasian Studies Society Conference will be held at Georgetown University from September 18-21, 2008. This international conference welcomes academic specialists on Central Eurasia from all over the world and includes a public lecture and film series. The Keynote Address will be delivered by Rory Stewart, Chief Executive of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Kabul, Afghanistan and author of The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq (2006) and The Places in Between (2004). The Address will take place on Friday, September 19, from 5:00 to 6:30 pm in Gaston Hall on the campus of Georgetown University. Films on and from the region will be shown in the Auditorium of Georgetown's Bunn Intercultural Center on Saturday, September 20, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Both events are free and open to the public. These free public events are sponsored by Georgetown University's Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
On-site registration for the CESS conference will take place from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on Thursday, September 18 in the Galleria of the Bunn Intercultural Center and will continue on Friday and Saturday between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm at the same location.
Conference attendees arriving on Thursday are invited to attend a welcome reception and photo exhibition opening in the Galleria of the Bunn Intercultural Center from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. A second reception for registered attendees will be held at a different location (TBA) on Friday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, following the keynote address by Rory Stewart.
Rory Stewart, OBE, is currently the Chief Executive of The Turquoise Mountain Foundation, which has established a school for traditional masonry, tile-work, wood-work, and plasterwork in Kabul, Afghanistan. He served in the British Embassy in Indonesia from 1997 to 1999, as the British Representative to Montenegro in the wake of the Kosovo campaign, and as Coalition Deputy Governor of Maysan and Senior Advisor in Dhi Qar, two provinces in southern Iraq during 2003–2004. From 2004, he was a Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University, United States. He has travelled extensively, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan. From 2000-2002 he walked across Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Nepal, a journey of 6000 miles. His first book, The Places in Between (2004), was a critically lauded account of his experiences in Afghanistan, and a New York Times bestseller. It won the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, a Scottish Arts Council prize and the Spirit of Scotland award in 2005. The book was adapted into a radio play by Benjamin Yeoh and was broadcast in 2007 on BBC Radio 4. His second book, The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq (2006), outlines his experiences as deputy governor of the Iraqi province of Maysan and Senior Advisor in the province of Dhi Qar shortly after coalition forces entered Iraq. It describes his struggles to establish a functional government in these regions.
Keynote Speaker Rory Stewart's Article on Afghanistan Featured on the Cover of Time. Click Here for: "The Right War: Why the West is failing there, and what to do about it"
If you need a letter of invitation to attend the conference, please fill out this form. If for some reason you encounter problems submitting the form, please e-mail Sarah Klump at cess@georgetown.edu. Letters are processed and mailed in PDF format at the end of each week. If you do not receive your letter within two weeks of completing the form please contact us.
Founded in 1789, the same year the U.S. Constitution took effect, Georgetown University is the nation's oldest Catholic and Jesuit university. Today, Georgetown is a major international research university that embodies its founding principles in the diversity of its students, faculty, and staff, its commitment to justice and the common good, and its intellectual openness. Georgetown takes great pride in its international character and is recognized as a national leader in international learning, providing overseas study opportunities for its students, and hosting international students and scholars on campus. Its distinguished faculty include renowned scholars and U.S. and international professionals who bring to the classroom a lifetime of experience.
Georgetown's 104-acre Main Campus includes over 60 buildings. For more than 218 years, Georgetown has stood on the banks of the Potomac River overlooking the nation's capital. Few settings could offer greater intellectual, political, or cultural resources. Among Georgetown’s academic assets is the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES), which directs one of the nation's preeminent Master's degree programs. A US Department of Education Title VI funded National Resource Center, CERES provides a broad and deep understanding of Eurasian, Russian and East European affairs to audiences at Georgetown and throughout the Washington, DC community.
The conference will be held on Georgetown University’s Main Campus. Wireless internet access will be available on campus for guests.
Washington, D.C. is served by three major airports, one in Maryland and two in Virginia. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is located just across the Potomac River from downtown D.C. in Arlington County, Virginia. It is the only Washington-area airport that has its own Metrorail station. Major international flights arrive and depart from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), located 26.3 miles (42.3 km) west of the city in Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia. Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), is located 31.7 miles (51.0 km) northeast of the city in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, near Baltimore.
From Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, take the blue line on Metrorail toward Largo Town Center. Get off at the Rosslyn Station. From Dulles International Airport, take the 5A Metro Bus toward L’Enfant Plaza. Get off at Rosslyn Station.
Once at Rosslyn Station (coming from either Reagan Airport or Dulles Airport) locate the Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle bus stop on the corner of 19th Street and Moore Street. The Shuttle will bring you to the campus of Georgetown University.
From Baltimore-Washington Airport, take the MARC connector bus to the MARC train station. Take the MARC train to Union Station in Washington, DC. From Union Station, take the red line on Metrorail toward Shady Grove. Get off at the Dupont Circle Station. Exit from the Metro via the Q Street exit (not the Dupont Circle South Exit). Once above ground outside of the Dupont Circle Station, locate the Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle bus stop on the corner of 20th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NW. The Shuttle will bring you to the campus of Georgetown University.
Alternately, all three airports are serviced by taxis, shared shuttle services (such as Super Shuttle), and private car services.
For maps, schedules, fares, and other information about Washington, DC's public transportation, visit www.wmata.com. For information about transportation services provided by Georgetown University, about parking at Georgetown University, or for driving directions to campus, visit Georgetown's Office of Transportation Management website.
Blocks are being held at the following hotels at the following group rates until Tuesday, August 5, 2008:
The Georgetown Inn - $219 per night
The Georgetown University Marriott Conference Hotel - $149 per night
Other hotels in the area include the following:
Georgetown Waterfront - Home to many of the city's finest shops and restaurants, providing stunning views of the Potomac River
The C&O Canal - Ideal for walking, running, biking, and bird- and wildlife-watching. During the summer, you can fish and boat on the canal or take a mule-drawn barge ride with costumed US Park Service guides detailing local history through stories and songs
Dumbarton Oaks - This 19th-century mansion is surrounded by 10 acres of formal gardens in upper Georgetown
Old Stone House - Built in 1765, this is DC's only remaining colonial building. There is a museum, craft demonstrations, and formal gardens
Embassy Row - The nations of the world come together on Massachusetts Avenue
Rock Creek Park - An oasis of fresh air, majestic trees, wild animals, and delicate forest
National Cathedral - The sixth-largest cathedral in the world and the second-largest in the United States, drawing nearly 700,000 visitors and worshippers each year
US Capitol Building
White House
National Mall
Jefferson Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
World War II Memorial
Washington Monument
Vietnam Memorial
FDR Memorial
The National Zoo
Library of Congress
Arlington Cemetery
Supreme Court
Dumbarton House - Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, in Washington, DC, is an institute of Harvard University dedicated to supporting scholarship internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies through fellowships, meetings, exhibitions, and publications. Located in Georgetown and bequeathed by Robert Woods Bliss and Mildred Barnes Bliss, Dumbarton Oaks welcomes scholars to consult its books, images, and objects, and the public to visit its garden, museum, and music room for lectures and concerts.
Smithsonian Museums - The National Gallery, The Hirshhorn Museum, The Freer and Sackler Galleries, Museum of African Art, National Portrait Gallery
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts - One of the nation's busiest performing arts venues, with more than 3,000 performances playing before nearly two million patrons yearly. Home to the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Ballet, and the Washington Opera
Kreeger Museum - Just outside of Georgetown, showcasing a permanent collection of 19th- and 20th-century painting and sculpture, as well as traditional African, Indian and Pre-Columbian art. Highlights include work by Monet, Picasso, Moore and Miro
The Corcoran Gallery of Art - Corcoran is renowned for its collection of 20th-century painting, sculpture and photography. In total, the Corcoran's American holdings illuminate the nation's history and artistic development from colonial times through the 20th century
The Phillips Collection - The Phillips Collection, opened in 1921, is America’s first museum of modern art. Featuring a renowned permanent collection of nearly 2,500 works by American and European impressionist and modern artists, the Phillips is internationally recognized for both its incomparable art and its intimate atmosphere; housed in founder Duncan Phillips’ 1897 Georgian Revival home and similarly scaled additions in Washington, D.C.’s Dupont Circle neighborhood
Central Eurasian Studies Society
Official Website of the city of Washington, DC
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