Scientists from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University participated in the international conference of ethnographers at the University of Oxford and established academic cooperation.

From 5 to 12 September 2026, Meruert K. Yegizbayeva, Associate Professor and Researcher at the Department of Archaeology, Ethnology and Museology of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, and N.N. Abdinassir, Senior Lecturer and PhD, undertook a research visit to Oxford and Edinburgh, United Kingdom, within the framework of the grant project AP23490262, “Kazakhs of the Tarbagatai Region: Historical and Ethnographic Research (19th – Early 21st Century).”

As part of their research visit, the scholars participated in the international Oxford Ethnography and Education Conference (OEEC) in Oxford, where they presented their research findings on the relationship between ethnography and education.

At the conference, drawing on research conducted in the Tarbagatai region, the scholars examined the role of family stories in ethnographic education, as well as the relationship between family narratives, intergenerational memory, and ethnographic knowledge. They also exchanged experiences with international colleagues on ethnographic professional training at the Department of Archaeology, Ethnology and Museology of Al-Farabi KazNU, student fieldwork, and contemporary approaches to ethnological education.

An important component of the research visit was the development of academic links with scholars in Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. In this context, the researchers met with Dr Lucy Lowe, Head of Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, Dr Grace Zhou, whose research includes Central Asian anthropology, as well as academic staff members Dr Siobhan Magee and Lee McNeish.

The meetings focused on current issues in Central Asian anthropology and ethnography, research interests and directions, academic exchange, and opportunities for further academic collaboration.