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Associate Professor of History Shoshana Keller participated in a roundtable discussion on "Teaching in and about Eurasia: Methods and Resources for a New Generation of Teachers," at the Central Eurasian Studies Society conference in Seattle on Oct. 19. The roundtable was sponsored by the Social Science Research Council, and concerned a seminar Keller taught in Kyrgyzstan and a new, internet-based teaching resource tool she is developing with SSRC.

Associate Professor of History Shoshana Keller has just returned from a two-week intensive workshop on the Arab-Israeli conflict, sponsored by Tel Aviv University. The 19 participants from seven different countries travelled to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Jewish settlement in the West Bank, the Golan Heights, Haifa, and other locations, listening to people from all parts of the political spectrum and making connections with Israeli and Arab academics.

Associate Professor of History Shoshana Keller has published an article titled "Story, Time and Dependent Nationhood in the Uzbek History Curriculum," in _Slavic Review_ Vol. 66, No. 2 (Summer 2007. Slavic Review is a leading interdisciplinary quarterly of Russian, Eurasian and East European studies.

Associate Professor of History Shoshana Keller gave a lecture at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., on March 29. She was invited by their Central Asian Studies and History programs, and spoke on "Story, Time and Dependent Nationhood in the Uzbek History Curriculum," concerning the creation and teaching of a narrative of Uzbek history to schoolchildren.

The clash between Communism and Islam in the Soviet Union pitted two socio-political systems against one another, each proclaiming ultimate truth. Shoshana Keller, associate professor of history, examines the first decades of the struggle in Central Asia (1917-1941), where an ancient religious tradition faced an aggressive form of secular modernity. The Soviets attempted to break down Muslim culture and remold it on Marxist-Leninist lines. Despite Stalin's totalitarian aims, the Soviet regime in Central Asia was often weak even into the 1930s, and by 1941 the opposing systems had reached a standoff.