CESSI 2024 came to a close August 9 with final presentations by our Kazakh, Tajik, and Uyghur language students followed by a delicious lunch catered by Silk Road restaurant. Pictured above are the CESSI students, instructors, and staff who gathered together to celebrate the successful 8-week program.

Our CESSI 2024 Lecture Series concluded August 6 with a fascinating lecture by George Washington University Professor Eric Schluessel on "A Colonial Muslim History of China and the World" (pictured bottom left). While on campus for his lecture, Professor Schluessel, who directs GW's Sigur Center for Asian Studies, was kind enough to offer a reading workshop for our Uyghur students and instructors before he left Madison. (Pictured below.) We're grateful to Professor Schluessel and to all of this year's guest speakers including Nargis Kassenova, John Riordan, Theresa Sabonis-Helf, and Caroline Savage. Thank you!

Applications will open this fall for the opportunity to study Kazakh, Tajik, Uyghur, and Uzbek during CESSI 2025 (languages and  levels contingent upon sufficient enrollment). Once again, generous funding opportunities will be available including Title VIII Fellowships supported by the U.S. Department of State including full tuition and stipend, Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships supported by the U.S. Department of Education including full tuition and stipend, CESSI Tuition Remission Scholarships of up to $4,000, and WISLI Tuition Remission Scholarships covering 50% of tuition. You may wish to consider taking the CESSI Funding Quiz sooner than later to determine which funding awards you are eligible for before the beginning your CESSI application!

Established in 1974, the Luce Scholars Program is a nationally competitive fellowship that offers early career leaders immersive, professional experiences in Asia. The program aims to forge stronger, more informed, more compassionate relationships across geographic borders by creating opportunities for young Americans across diverse sectors and interests to deepen their ties and understanding of the countries, cultures, and people of Asia. The program is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are graduating seniors, recent graduates, or young professionals and who have had limited exposure to Asia.

Application Deadline: October 1, 2024. To learn more about the Luce Scholars Program and register for an upcoming webinar, please visit https://go.wisc.edu/luce

Title VIII programs are fully funded opportunities to conduct research and language training abroad for three to nine months. Research and training can be conducted in the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. For more information and to apply, see www.studyabroad.americancouncils.org/research-abroad

Adam Kerznar joined CREECA as CESSI project assistant late last summer. Whether behind the scenes helping to prepare marketing promotions, drafting reports, and organizing applications and other data, or ahead of and during CESSI, CREECA, and WISLI events, Adam has been a cheerful and helpful member of our team. We wish him the very best as he finishes his master's degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis with a focus on Global Higher Education this semester. Thank you, Adam, and good luck!

The Central Eurasian Studies Summer Institute was founded in 2011 by a consortium of international and area studies centers at major U.S. universities. We're grateful for the support of these current consortium member institutions: Columbia University's Harriman Institute, Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian & Eurasian Studies, Michigan State University's Asian Studies Center and Center for European, Russian, & Eurasian Studies, The Ohio State University's East Asian Studies Center and Center for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Stanford University's Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, University of California-Berkeley's Institute of Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies, and Tang Center for Silk Road Studies, University of Kansas' Center for East Asian Studies and Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, University of Pittsburgh's Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, University of Washington's Center for Global Studies and East Asia Center, and University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Russia, East Europe, & Central Asia and Center for East Asian Studies.