The purpose of this study is to analyze the current characteristics of organizational culture and climate in Kazakhstani higher educational institutions during the COVID-19 crisis. Materials for the study were collected from interviews and online discussions published on the website of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. In addition, results from the social monitoring systems of the university’s educational activities as well as an official survey have been used. The study offers details of how Kazakhstani universities dealt with the crisis by presenting (...) KazNU case study. The paper presents the responsible actions developed at the university as well as the problems faced by students and teachers. One important lesson to be learnt is that educational organization needs to be more comprehensive, caring for appropriate technical equipment, helping develop skills for staff and students, and include vulnerable groups of the population. (shrink)

This paper intends to highlight how the Kazakhs, the indigenous ethnic group that emerged as the leading subject of society in Kazakhstan after independence from the former Soviet Union, reclassify and remodel their self-culture in the new socio-political context. Despite the craving for resuscitating the Islamic tradition, shrunk under colonial domination, rather the indigenous folklorized Islam came to be classified as a pure national tradition under the fear of radical Islamism, causing the exclusion of the orthodox Muslims. This paper looks (...) at hijabed Muslim women, considered to be outside the reclassified boundary of national tradition, and efficiently controlled and marginalized by the discourse produced by the ruling powers. The authors include field research and interviews from a number of participants, making visible the strategies of exclusion and the political narratives constructed around what people should remember and learn. These narratives recollect forms of imperialism which continue to be, in one way or another. (shrink)

This paper investigates microcultural imperialism upon Eastern cultural heritage. In particular, it exposes the loss of Korean cultural artifacts during wars, and also during imperial cultural expeditions, visits of scholarly research groups, and diplomatic encournters. The paper argues that imperialist domination is sometimes concealed in the name of Oriental Studies projects and the assumed superiority of certain nations in terms of knowledge and technology.