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IARO Alumni Conduct Research on Religion and Women's Issues in Central Asia

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David Montgomery, 2004-05 IARO, conducting field
research on religion and culture among the Uzbek
and Kyrgyz populations.

2004-05 Individual Advanced Research Opportunities (IARO) alumni David Montgomery and Robin Haarr recently concluded their grant periods in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan where they conducted research on US foreign policy relevant topics.

Returning on the heels of the Tulip Revolution, alumnus David Montgomery, predoctoral candidate in the Department of Religion and Society at Boston University, spent nine months in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan where he researched religious knowledge and its transmission among the Uzbek and Kyrgyz populations throughout both countries. Through interviews, surveys, and ethnographic observations, Montgomery examined how people learned what they claimed to know about religion and culture and how this influenced the way they practiced religion and expressed their culture. As a result, explanations of how people shift their religious practice along a liberal to conservative spectrum are provided as well as the differences in religious practices among Uzbeks and Kyrgyz throughout both countries. “The IARO grant afforded me the opportunity to devote my time fully to conducting ethnographic research on the transmission of religious and cultural knowledge, and how knowledge influences practice. Allowing me the freedom and flexibility to pursue leads and developments as they arose and appeared relevant, my field experience was successful in large part because of IREX and the IARO fellowship.” Since his return, Montgomery has shared his experience and findings at various policy forums and plans to continue his involvement with religious communities in Central Asia and to further collaborate with local scholars working on religion in the region. Montgomery was witness to Kyrgyz leader Askar Akayev’s ejection following the March 2005 protests over contested elections as well as the July special election while in Kyrgyzstan under his IARO grant period.

Alumna Dr. Robin Haarr, associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Arizona State University, conducted ground-breaking and pivotal research in Tajikistan while under her four-month IARO grant period. Dr. Haarr examined wife abuse in Tajikistan and female suicide through means of self-emulation and poisoning. With little prior research conducted on this subject in Tajikistan, Haarr’s findings will fill a gap in the cross-cultural literature on wife abuse and the experiences of females in post-Soviet Central Asia. Her research will also contribute significantly to efforts of local nongovernmental organizations and international organizations to document problems of violence against women, develop programs to work with female victims of violence, advocate for a domestic violence law, and develop protocols for medical doctors, police and prosecutors to handle these cases. Following the completion of her IARO grant, Dr. Haarr decided to remain in Tajikistan for the year and continue her field research and development work on violence against women and female suicide in Tajikistan. She is currently working with various international organizations to assist with promoting changes in social policy to respond to cases of violence against children, girls, and women. "The IREX IARO grant provided me with the opportunity to research the phenomenon of violence against girls and women in the family, and the internal cultural constraints and external structural barriers that abused girls and women confront, and which contribute to the problem of female suicide through their dilberate silence, unresponsiveness or active participation in blaming the victim. During the course of my grant, I recognized there was great value in remaining in Tajikistan to continue my research and share my academic knowledge and skills with international organizations working to conducting more comprehensive studies of violence against women and children, develop capacities of crisis counselors working with female victims, develop protocols for health care workers and militia to work with female victims of violence, and play an active role in developing social policy and promoting legislative reforms in the areas of violence against women and children. I can honestly say that the IARO grant has had a significant impact on my career."