Eurasian Regions Study Group 

The Eurasian Regions Study Group (ERSG) was created in November 2020

Open to all members of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES), the Eurasian Regions Study Group brings together the considerable expertise among BASEES members on regions which fall within BASEES’ geographical scope but might be deemed peripheral or supplementary to the Society’s dominant interest in European Russia. Such regions include, but are not limited to: the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Baltic States and Siberia.

In part, the ERSG has grown from the Digital Humanities project, Peripheral Histories? https://www.peripheralhistories.co.uk.

Study Group Objectives

The Eurasian Regions Study Group:

  • Brings together scholars working on Eurasian Regions for discussion and research collaboration, particularly within interdisciplinary or comparative frameworks

  • Publicises new research on Eurasian Regions and encourage public engagement

  • Offers special support to postgraduate and early career researchers studying Eurasian Regions

  • Builds foundations for a successful future in this branch of area studies

  • Plays our part in advocating for area studies and the humanities as critical components of public life and democratic debate

Look out for future ERSG panels at the annual BASEES conference, and webinars free to access online.

Past events & activities

In December 2023, the conveners of the Eurasian Regions Study Group spoke to Ab Imperio about our project's inception, evolution, and future in a piece entitled 'Peripheral Histories: Reflections on a Digital History Project in an Evolving Field'. You can read the article here.

We regularly publish thematic series of posts on our website Peripheral Histories? For example, we ran a series of posts on teaching diverse histories of Eurasia, on diversity, ethnicity, and mobility in Central Asia, and on archives and libraries.

Subscription

The Eurasian Regions Study Group will publish a newsletter on its activities once every two months. To subscribe to this newsletter, please email eurasianregions@gmail.com.

You can also follow the activities of the Eurasian Regions Study Group on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.

Membership

The Eurasian Regions Study Group is convened by Dr Catherine Gibson (University of Tartu), Dr Siobhan Hearne (University of Manchester), Dr Jo Laycock (University of Manchester), Dr Alun Thomas (Staffordshire University) Dr Susan Grunewald (Louisiana State University), and Hanna Matt (University of Manchester).

For all enquiries relating to the membership and activities of the ERSG, please contact eurasianregions@gmail.com and Dr Alun Thomas (alun.thomas@staffs.ac.uk) in the first instance.