From the issue dated December 19, 2003
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Duke Sets Up Institute for Study of Afghanistan
Duke University recently established an institute to encourage the study of Afghanistan and to promote research within the country, especially among graduate and postdoctoral students. The American Institute of Afghanistan Studies is a private organization with 24 institutional members, including Harvard and New York Universities. "We want to gather together visitors who come through Kabul and have them give lectures and seminars to help create a focused intellectual life in Afghanistan," said John Richards, a history professor at Duke and the institute's president. "We would also like to get academics from Kabul University involved." Money to create the institute came from Duke. The main operating support is provided by the U.S. State Department, which is interested in fostering research in Afghanistan. The institute operates out of a house in Kabul that Mr. Richards hopes will become a center for the study of Afghanistan's history and culture. Members are assembling a multilingual library there and seeking to provide access to Duke's extensive online databases. Mr. Richards and his colleagues are looking forward to eventually playing host to up to three researchers at a time in the institute's residential facility. http://chronicle.com Section: International Volume 50, Issue 17, Page A40 |
Copyright © 2003 by The Chronicle of Higher Education