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Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus

Centre Members

Chair of Centre

Professor Deniz Kandiyoti

Centres and Programmes Office:
Office Manager

Ms Jane Savory

Executive Officer

Ms Rahima Begum

Academic Staff

Bhavna Davé
Member, Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus
Bhavna Dave

Kazakhstan: politics of language, ethnicity and nationalism in post-Soviet countries

  • Tel: 020 7898 4734
  • Email: bd4@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 221
  • Office Hours: Tues. 3 - 4 / Thurs. 4 - 5
Jonathan Goodhand
Member, Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus
Jonathan Goodhand

South and Central Asia; complex political emergencies, humanitarian aid; NGO capacity building, aid, conflict and development

  • Tel: 020 7898 4483
  • Email: jg27@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 296
  • Office Hours: Tuesday 2-4pm
Rachel Harris
Member, Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus
Rachel Harris

Ethnomusicology; musics of China and Central Asia, especially Uyghur; recorded music; music and ritual, music, identity and politics

B George Hewitt
Member, Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus
George Hewitt

Caucasian languages (especially South and North-West Caucasian) and linguistics; language work

Deniz Kandiyoti
Member, CCCAC
Deniz Kandiyoti

Middle East and Central Asia: gender and development; the state and social policy; feminist theory

  • Tel: 020 7898 4488
  • Email: dk1@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 291
  • Office Hours: Thursday 11-1
Magnus Marsden
Member, Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus
Magnus Marsden

Social anthropology of Pakistan, Central Asia and the Middle East; anthropology of religion (especially Islam), the interaction between religious and political transformations within and beyond South Asia and the Muslim world, as well as the study of transnational identity formations.

Scott Newton
Member, Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus
Staff Silhouette

On leave in 2009-10
Legal and institutional reform in Central Asia; role of law in post-socialist transition; law, markets, and globalisation in developing and transitional states; law, governance, and post-conflict reconstruction; human rights

  • Tel: 020 7898 4658
  • Email: sn21@soas.ac.uk
  • On Sabbatical:On Sabbatical Terms 1 & 2 2009-10
Paolo Novak
Member, Centre of Contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus
Paolo Novak

Convenor of the course Globalisation, Borders and Development and Admission Tutor for the MSc Globalisation and Development.

  • Tel: 020 7898 4214
  • Email: pn4@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 368
  • Office Hours: Tuesday 10 - 12
Ceri Oeppen
Member, Centre of Contemporary Central Asia & the Caucasus
Staff Silhouette

South and Central Asia, particularly Afghanistan; Migrant transnationalism and integration, and the relationship between them; Migration and development; Refugees and forced migrants; Remittances; Return migration; Diasporas; Social research methods.

  • Tel: 0207 898 4690
  • Email: co13@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 298
  • Office Hours: Thursday 1-3

External Members

Alisher Ilkhamov
Research Associate
Alisher Ilkhamov

Islamic movements, Nationalism and National Identity, Nation-State Building in Central Asia

Meltem Dayioglu
Research Associate
Staff Silhouette

Labour economics; child labour in Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan

Daniel Stevens
Research Associate
Staff Silhouette

Development aid, civil society and governance in Central Asia

Anna Zelkina
Research Associate
Staff Silhouette

Islamic studies, with special reference to Islam in the Caucasus and Central Asia, Islamic mysticism in the 13-20 century AD (the history of the Naqshbandi and Qadiri Sufi orders), social and political history of the Northern Caucasus, Post-Soviet transformation in the Caucasus and Central Asia