Contemporary Mongolia’s Utilization of Language and Script for Political Purposes
Dr. Alicia Campi
Saturday, May 9, 3-5 pm. Free parking is available. Admission is free. Parking passes available onsite.
Directions: City of College Park City Hall Council Chambers 4500 Knox Rd, College Park, MD 20740
The Mongolian language and original Uighur script, developed at the time of Chinggis Khan in the 13th century, are not well-known outside of Mongolian Studies, but their use for political purposes by the Mongolian, Chinese, and Russian governments during the last two centuries is a fascinating and at times tragic story. Historical and cultural disputes resulted in alternative Tibetan-influenced (Phagspa and soyombo) and then Stalin-era (cyrillic) scripts which reflected a larger struggle over the national identity of the Mongol-speaking peoples. Dr. Campi will explain how such concerns continue today as independent Mongolia tries to connect with the globalized world.
Dr. Alicia Campi has been researching all aspects of Mongolian Studies, Northeast Asia, and Sino-U.S. relations for over 35 years. She has an A.B. from Smith College, a M.A. from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from Indiana University. In her 14 year diplomatic career with the U.S. government, she was posted in Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, UN Mission in NYC, and Ulaanbaatar. In the mid-1980s in Tokyo she conducted preliminary negotiations leading to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Mongolia. Presently, she is an adjunct professor at the Reischauer Center at SAIS/Johns Hopkins University teaching about Mongolia’s energy resources and integration into Northeast Asia and is a business consultant and writer for journals and on-line publications about the Sino-Mongolian region. Among her numerous publications is her book on The Impact of China and Russia on United States-Mongolian Political Relations in the Twentieth Century (2009).
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