AUCA has received official licenses for its Master’s programs in sociology and anthropology from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic. Only a few universities in the Kyrgyz Republic have a license for a Master’s program in sociology, and no other university has a license for a Master’s degree in anthropology.

On April 21, 2016, at precisely 12:10, a group of AUCA students and staff members opened their books and began to read in the Forum while famous quotes from writers about books and reading were screened on the main LED display. The flash mob was held in complete silence, only interrupted by the ticking of the clock. And after exactly five minutes, people closed their books and went back to their offices and classrooms.

The Student Intellectual Life Committee (SILC) supports student-initiated projects, professional development opportunities, and student research. It awards small grants every month to AUCA students. Gulnora Iskandarova, a senior student of Anthropology department, told us about her SILC experience.

Earlier this month [add link to article], AUCA Professor of Anthropology Cholpon Chotaeva gave a presentation on her newly published lecture book the History of Kyrgyzstan, written in English for an English-speaking audience. Professor Chotaeva, a Doctor of Historical Sciences, is the Coordinator of the Anthropology and Sociology Departments at AUCA.

Manon Mazuir, an exchange student from Sciences Po in France, tells us about her exchange experience at American University of Central Asia (AUCA).

On April 23, exactly four hundred years ago, William Shakespeare, the world-famous English poet and one of the best playwrights in the world, died in 1616. Since 1996, April 23 has been celebrated as World Book and Copyright day. In honor of so many memorable dates, AUCA held “Shakespeare in Our Time,” a commemorative poetry recitation and discussion.

On April 9-10, 2016 the Department of International and Comparative Politics held one of its annual crisis games where on a chosen topic student play roles of various decision makers trying to achieve objectives of countries they represent. Around 40 students from various departments of AUCA as well as students from other universities took part in the game which focused this time on the Syrian crisis.

Aselia Biialieva, a junior in the Economics department, told us about her SILC grant. SILC supports student-initiated projects, professional development opportunities, and student research. It awards small grants every month to AUCA students.

AUCA invites all interested high school students in 10th or 11th grade to participate in our annual spring Math Competition organized by the division of science. The Math Competition will be held at 10:00 AM on April 24, 2016.

On April 12, 2016, a group of AUCA students in "Different tastes: evolution of human diet," a course taught by Aida Abdykanova, visited Riha's local sausage and meat processing facilities. Vanessa Graf, a student on the trip, spoke with us about her experience.