Please join CSEEES, the East Asian Studies Center, the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, the Department of History and the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures for a guest lecture with Zarina Kakenova on Competing Education Networks: China’s Rising Influence in Kazakhstan.
Amid intensifying global competition over educational networks, Kazakhstan has emerged as an important site of engagement for external powers. China’s expanding academic partnerships, student mobility programs, and institutional collaborations have become a significant component of this evolving landscape. These initiatives unfold within Kazakhstan’s multivector foreign policy, which seeks to diversify international ties while advancing national development objectives. By analyzing patterns of collaboration, training programs, and transnational academic linkages, the talk explores how China’s expanding presence contributes to Kazakhstan’s education internationalization agenda in an increasingly competitive global environment.
Speaker Biography:
Dr. Zarina Kakenova is faculty in the field of International Relations, based at the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Astana, Kazakhstan. She earned her PhD in International Relations from the same university in 2017, following her Master's and Bachelor's degrees in the field. Kakenova has held various academic roles, including Acting Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer, contributing extensively to the academic community through numerous publications and conference participations. Her work primarily focuses on geopolitical dynamics, with notable publications on the strategic relationships between Central Asia and major world powers.
If you have any questions about accessibility or wish to request accommodations, please contact CSEEES at cseees@osu.edu. Typically, a two weeks' notice will allow us to provide access, but we will try to accommodate requests that come in after the two week mark.