Central Asia Master Class – cancelled
Due to the university shutdown at AMU and a suspension of international events because of the Covid-19 outbreak, the planned Central Asia Master Class (17-26 April 2020) was cancelled. For a while, the EISCAS organizers came up with an alternative plan, and decided to move some core activities of the CAMC (like the workshop session and key lectures) to December, and link up with the activities of the international conference, called “Beyond Europe, planned at AMU in December.
Together with the conference organizers we wanted to make one of the leading conference topics Central Asia (as it has been before in a previous edition) and organize some additional workshops for students, allowing them to take part in the conference and EISCAS-related events on other days. This would be a mini-version of the CAMC, lasting only 4-5 days, instead of the planned 10 days, allowing us to offer at least a limited training program and exchange skills and knowledge through workshops and round tables (beside the obvious lectures).
Regrettably, the Covid-19 pandemic did not relent and the Mini-Master Class (December 2020) had to be cancelled as well.
The current Covid-19 pandemic forces AMU to adhere to national health authority guidelines and only online events and distance learning are be allowed in the 2020 Winter semester. However, holding this five-day event online would defeat its purpose of face-to-face intellectual exchange, networking, getting detailed feedback on lectures, and exchanging best practices.
The only light is that the conference “Beyond Europe” – the two-day conference that agreed to provide a venue for some of our planned activities, will continue online. It will thus be possible for participants to present your current research at this conference despite the pandemic.
Regrettably, EU funding does not extend to two-day events, so EISCAS is not able to cover the conference fee, which has been adjusted to reflect the online nature of the event.
As organizers, we really regret this turn of events. With our EISCAS team we tried to find flexible solutions and address issues with a tailor-made approach, it is sad to see that these efforts have not paid off as we hoped.
We thank all CAMC applicants for your interest and effort in preparing the application, and the prospective teachers and invited guest speakers for their willingness to partake in both planned events.