By Ingrid Nooijens
Action was taken and in 1985 the First European Seminar on Central
Asian Studies was held at Utrecht, the Netherlands. About thirty
scholars from "East" and "West" assembled to exchange their views
and to share the results of their research on different aspects of
Central Asian civilization and culture. Three more Seminars
followed, held respectively at London, Paris, and Bamberg.
In these first years the character of ESCAS was informal; there
were no official members or regulations; it was a gathering of
souls interested in the same geographical area. An area that was
fast developing in a separate field of study.
The year 1995, the year of ESCAS V, held at Copenhagen, marked a
change. The unheard of results of the hectic developments in the
"East" led to the conclusion that time had come to grant the ESCAS
a formal status. Ten years after the first meeting the ESCAS was
transformed from a Seminar into an official Society for Central
Asian Studies.
A first board has been elected, with seven members, all from
different European countries. The board has to be a European
enterprise but any scholar in the field of Central Asian Studies
can join the ESCAS as a member. The first elected president of the
Society is E. Chylinski from The Nordic Institute for Asian
Studies, Denmark, the vice-president is V. Fourniau from L'Ecole
des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, and the secretary is
T. Atabaki from the Department of Oriental Studies, Utrecht, the
Netherlands. The ESCAS has lots of good intentions: the
organization of an European conference on Central Asian studies at
least every third year, publication of a guide on Central Asian
studies, workshops, a newsletter ...
The ESCAS is planning for the future; undoubtedly we'll be hearing
from them!
Further information on ESCAS can be obtained from the
secretariat:
T. Atabaki
Department of Oriental Studies
Drift 15
3512 BR Utrecht
The Netherlands
Fax: +31-30-2536138
E-mail: Turaj.Atabaki@Let.Ruu.nl
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