NOOR O’NEILL BORBIEVA, Ph.D.
2101 E. Coliseum Blvd., Fort Wayne, IN 46805
260-481-6266; borbievn@ipfw.edu
EDUCATION
Harvard University. 2007. Ph.D. in anthropology. Dissertation title: “Development in the Kyrgyz Republic:
Exchange, Communal Networks, and the Foreign Presence.” Dissertation committee: Steven Caton (cochair), Michael Herzfeld, Engseng Ho (co-chair), Smita Lahiri.
Princeton University. 1996. B.A. (with honors). Religion major.
RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
Thematic: Gender, Islam, anthropology of religion, development, power and subjectivity
Area: Muslim World, Middle East and Central Asia, Former Soviet Union
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. 2009-present. Assistant Professor of Anthropology.
Affiliated faculty: IPFW Women’s Studies Program, Indiana University (Bloomington) Russian and East
European Institute.
University of Notre Dame, Kellogg Institute for International Studies. 2008. Visiting Fellow.
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
In review
“Islam and the International Sector” (revised). Book chapter manuscript (to be included in Islam,
Society, and Politics in Central Asia, edited by Pauline Jones-Luong). In review at University of
Pittsburgh Press.
2013
“Anxiety, order, and the other: Well-being among ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.” Central Asian Survey
32(4): 501-513.
2012
“Empowering Muslim women: Independent religious fellowships in the Kyrgyz Republic.” Slavic Review
71(2): 288-307.
2012
“Foreign faiths and national renewal: Christian conversion among Kyrgyz youth.” Culture and Religion
13(1): 41-63.
2012
“Kidnapping women: Discourses of emotion and social change in the Kyrgyz Republic.”
Anthropological Quarterly 85(1): 141-170.
2012
“Troubled relations: Mobility and exchange in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan.” Ethnology 49(3): 167-184.
Borbieva CV: Spring 2014
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2009
“Islam and the international sector: Negotiations of faith in the Kyrgyz Republic.” Notre Dame Kellogg
Institute Working Papers Series. December. http://kellogg.nd.edu/publications/workingpapers/WPS/
364.pdf.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Development as Cultural Change: Ideologies of Freedom in the Kyrgyz Republic. Book manuscript.
ACTIVE RESEARCH PROTOCOLS
“Development as Cultural Change.” IRB approval since March 2010.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Forthcoming
Book review: “Islam After Communism: Religion and Politics in Central Asia,” second edition, by
Adeeb Khalid. (Journal of the Anthropology of the Contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia)
Forthcoming
Book review: “Ethnographies of Islam: Ritual Performances and Everyday Practices, by Baudouin
Dupret, Thomas Pierret, Paulo G. Pinto and Kathryn Spellman-Poots.” (Review of Middle East Studies)
2013
Book review: “Under Solomon’s Throne: Uzbek Visions of Renewal in Osh by Morgan Liu.” Slavic
Review 72(3). Pages 632-634.
2013
Book review: “The spectacular state: Culture and national identity in Uzbekistan by Laura Adams.”
International Sociology 20(2). Pages 170-173.
2011
Book review: “The genealogical construction of the Kyrgyz Republic: kinship, state, and ‘tribalism’ by
David Gullette.” Nationalities Papers 39(6). Pages 1012-1015.
2011
Encyclopedia entries: “Anna Politkovskaya,” “Ayaan Hirsi Ali,” and “Women Living under Muslim
Laws,” in Sage Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today’s World. Available at
http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book235975#tabview=title.
2010
Book review: “Bruce Grant’s The Captive and the gift: Cultural histories of sovereignty in Russia and
the Caucasus.” Europe-Asia Studies 62(8), pg. 1404-1405.
2009
International Research and Exchange Board report: “Religiosity and the international presence:
Diversification or normalization?” http://www.irex.org/resource/religiosity-and-international-presencekyrgyz-republic-diversification-or-normalization-res.
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CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
(Anticipated) Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies. November, 2014. Paper
presentation: “"Reading between the lines: Kyrgyz activists promote democracy through pedagogy"
Performance and Practice: Undergraduate Student Conference (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Program,
College of William and Mary). April, 2014. Discussant for panels: “Performing Modernity,” “Gendered
Lives,” “Encountering the State,” “Politics of Body, Politics of Place.”
Central Eurasian Studies Society. October 2013. Panel organizer: “Central Asian Women and Islam: Ancestral
Traditions and Modern Expectations.” Paper presentation: “Debating the Tradition: Men, Women, and
Orthodoxy in Kyrgyz Islam.” Featured participant: “Roundtable: Past, Present and Future of Gender
Studies in Central Asia.”
Ready for Democracy? Religion and Political Culture in the Orthodox and Islamic Worlds (Russian and East
European Institute, IU Bloomington). February 2013. Paper presentation: “Religion and State Power in
the Kyrgyz Republic.” Panelist: “Belief and Bureaucracy, Democracy and Devotion: What Have We
Learned? A Roundtable Discussion.”
Central Eurasian Studies Society. October 2012. Paper presentation: “Idealism and the Lure of the Material:
Well-being in a modern Uzbek mahalla.” Discussant for panel: “Actions and Models of Today’s Political
States”
Midwest Political Science Association. April 2012. “Building a democracy: Civic education and social change.”
American Anthropological Association. November 2011. “Bride kidnapping: Discourses of emotion and social
change in the Kyrgyz Republic.”
American Anthropological Association. November 2010. “Institutions as community, institutions as fieldwork
site.”
The Turks and Islam: An International Conference (IU Bloomington). September 2010. “Parallel worlds: Male
and female Islam in the Central Asian republics
Central States Anthropological Society. April 2010. “Islamic revival in the former Soviet Union:
Diversification or normalization?”
American Anthropological Association. December 2009. “Troubled families: Alliance and exchange in the postsocialist development encounter.”
American Anthropological Association. November 2008. “Development the Turkish way: Lessons for the
occident.”
American Anthropological Association. November 2007. “Religious practice and the development sector in the
Kyrgyz Republic.”
Society for the Anthropology of Religion. April 2007. “Pride and prejudice: Religious tolerance activism in the
Kyrgyz Republic.”
GRANTS AND AWARDS
IPFW Grants-in-aid. 2013. ($2700)
National Council for Eurasian and East European Research Short-Term Travel Grant. 2013. ($3000)
American Philosophical Society Franklin Research Award. 2013. ($2000)
IPFW Summer Faculty Grant. 2012. ($8000)
IPFW Summer Faculty Grant. 2010. ($8000)
Helmke Library Special Needs Grant. 2010. ($3000)
International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). Short-Term Travel Grant. 2009.
Harvard University Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. 2007. ($1500)
Harvard University Graduate Society Dissertation Completion Fellowship. 2006-2007.
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Harvard University Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. Graduate Student Associate. 2006-2007.
Harvard University Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. 2006. ($2000)
Harvard University Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. 2005. ($4000)
Social Sciences Research Council, Louis Dupree Award: “Most Promising Dissertation in Central Asian
Studies.” 2004. ($2500)
Harvard University Summer Research Grant. 2003. ($3000)
Harvard University Summer Research Grant. 2002. ($3000)
I.I.E. Fulbright Student Fellowship to Kyrgyzstan. Thirteen month grant. 2003-2004. ($24,520)
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship to study Uzbek. Harvard University. 2002-03.
($25,000)
FLAS Fellowship to study Uzbek. Indiana University, Bloomington. Summer 2001. ($6000)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
E105: “Culture and Society” (Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012,
Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014)
E313: “Anthropology of the Muslim World” (Spring 2011)
E348: “Peoples and Cultures of Russia, the Ukraine, and the Newly Independent States” (Spring 2013)
E398: “Peoples and Cultures of Central Asia” (Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Spring 2014)
E402: “Gender in Cross-cultural Perspective” (Fall 2010, Fall 2013)
E455: “Anthropology of Religion” (Fall 2009, Fall 2012)
University of Notre Dame
“Anthropology of the Muslim World” (Fall 2008)
Harvard University, Department of Anthropology and Core Curriculum
Teaching Fellow, “Cultures of Southern Europe” (taught by Michael Herzfeld) (Spring 2006)
Harvard University Extension School
Teaching Fellow, “Anthropology and Human Rights” (taught by Theodore Macdonald) (Fall 2005)
Harvard University, Department of Religion
Teaching Fellow, “Globalization and Human Values” (taught by Brian Palmer) (Spring 2003)
United States Peace Corps: Volunteer, Kyrgyz Republic, English as a foreign language (1997-1999)
ADVISING EXPERIENCE
2014. Member, Chris Gunderson’s LGBT Certificate Portfolio Evaluation Committee.
2013-present: Faculty advisor to Anthropology Club.
2010-2011: Advised senior honors thesis, “Called to Witness: Ethnography of an Evangelical Christian Camp,”
by Hiu Hin (Alan) Tse.
2010-present: Served as primary academic advisor for fifteen department majors.
INVITED TALKS AND WORKSHOPS
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Program, College of William and Mary. April 2014. “Teaching the Tradition:
Islamic Piety and the Central Asian State.”
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Muslims in Global Context Mini-course (University of Pittsburgh, Global Studies Center). March 2014.
“Gender and Social Change in Central Asia: Women Encounter Development.”
Indiana University, Bloomington. February 2011. “Cosmopolitan longing and foreign faiths: Conversion among
Kyrgyz young people.” Central Eurasian Studies Colloquium.
Michigan State University, Asian Studies Center. East Lansington. September 2009. “Bride kidnapping in the
Kyrgyz Republic: Anthropological reflections on a popular practice.” “Women and Gender Politics in Asia”
Colloquium.
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. February 2009. “Islam and the international sector:
Negotiations of faith in the Kyrgyz Republic.” Anthropology Club Noon Lecture Series.
University of Notre Dame, Kellogg Institute. March 2008. “Examining secularism: Religious practice and
development in Central Asia.”
Harvard University. Guest lecturer for John Schoeberlein’s course, “Culture Wars in Eurasia.” Fall 2007.
IREX (International Research and Exchanges Board) Asia Regional Policy Symposium. Chesapeake Beach,
Maryland. April 2005. “Development and ideological struggle in Kyrgyzstan.”
SSRC Dissertation Development Workshop on Central Asia and the Caucuses. Ann Arbor, Michigan. April
2003. “Power, place, and mobility: Transnational religious movements in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan.”
TEACHING AWARDS AND QUALIFICATIONS
University of Michigan Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies. Post-Secondary Curriculum
Development Program grant. June 2012.
IPFW Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. Jamaica Kincaid Learning Activity Grant. February 2010.
($200)
IPFW Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. Safe Zone coordinator.
Purdue University Collaborative IRB Training Initiative
Human Research Curriculum and Responsible Conduct of Research Curriculum—Completed 2010.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Indiana University
Member, Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center Advisory Board
IPFW
Interviewer, Chapman and Summit Scholars Programs. 2014.
COAS Social Sciences Representative on the Senate Academic Computing and Information Technology
Subcommittee: August 2013-present
Member, Faculty Senate Budgetary Affairs Subcommittee: August 2013-present
Member, Planning Group for Muslim Journeys Grant: February 2013-present
College of Arts and Sciences
Student Affairs Committee
Member: Spring 2012
Chair: Fall 2012-Spring 2013
LGBT Certificate Advisory Committee (Member): 2012-present
Department of Anthropology
Department Promotion and Tenure Committee (Member): Fall 2012-present
Paul Provost Scholarship Selection Committee (Member): 2010-present
Curriculum Committee (Member): 2009-present
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Assessment Committee (Member): 2009-present
Program Review Committee (Member): 2009-present
Library Committee (Chair): 2009-2012
Women’s Studies Program
“Looking at Global Girlhood From an Interdisciplinary Perspective.” Panelist. March, 2014.
Program Committee (Member): 2010-present
Assessment Planning Subcommittee (Member): Fall 2012
Ad Hoc Awards Subcommittee (Member): Intermittent, 2012-present
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
2014
Muslim Journeys book discussion: A Quiet Revolution. Expert speaker. March.
Indiana Center for Middle East Peace. Presentation: “Putin Hosts the Olympics: An American Viewer’s
Guide to Sochi 2014.” January.
2013
Muslim Journeys film screenings: “Koran by Heart.” Moderator. IPFW campus, November.
IPFW Anthropology Club Noon Lecture Series. Presentation: “Teaching the Tradition: Growth of an Islamic
Piety Movement in the Kyrgyz Republic,” IPFW campus, October.
Princeton Alumni Schools Committee. Interviewed local high school students as part of their Princeton
application.
2012
Whitney Young Early Childhood Education Center. Fort Wayne, IN. Gave a presentation on Kyrgyzstan to a
pre-K class.
Fort Wayne International Affairs Forum. Presentation: “Democratic Pedagogies: Citizenship and
Subjectivity in Formerly Soviet Kyrgyzstan.”
Elite Ladies (meeting of female IPFW faculty). Presentation: “Development in the Kyrgyz Republic:
Education as Cultural Change.”
Canterbury School. Fort Wayne, IN. Served as an outsider reader on review committee for Celeste Herr’s
independent project: “The Treatment of Women in Saudi Arabia: The Influence of Radical Islam.”
Required Viewing: Trends in Current Events, Episode 7, “Faculty Spotlight” featured guest. Air date:
February 28, 2012. Available at http://collections.lib.ipfw.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT
=/lu_mdc_adp&CISOPTR=217&CISOBOX=1&REC=7.
Princeton Alumni Schools Committee. Interviewed local high school students as part of their Princeton
application.
2011
IPFW Anthropology Club Noon Lecture Series. Presentation: “Modern desires and foreign faiths: Religious
conversion in Central Asia.”
Member, Seed of Common Ground, Interfaith group. Fort Wayne, IN.
Princeton Alumni Schools Committee. Interviewed local high school students as part of their Princeton
application.
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2010
Fort Wayne International Affairs Forum. Presentation: “Revolution or more of the same? The elusiveness of
stability in the Kyrgyz Republic.”
Pen and Inkpot Foundation, “A Taste of Ramadan,” community dinner. Fort Wayne, IN. Presentation:
“Ramadan across cultures: Renewing the spirit, purifying the heart.”
IPFW Anthropology Club Noon Lecture Series. January 2010. Presentation: “Bride kidnapping: Function,
symbol, and power in Central Asian marriage.”
Princeton University Alumni Schools Committee. 2010-present. Interviewed and evaluated Princeton
applicants from local high schools.
2001
Anthropology of the Middle East Workshop. Harvard University. Helped develop the Workshop’s Website,
Souq, and contributed the posting “History.” http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~mideast/
souk/.
MISCELLANEOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Peer reviews: Central Asian Survey, Kellogg Institute Working Papers
Kellogg Institute, University of Notre Dame. 2008. Evaluated applications for Dissertation Year Fellowships
and Seed Money Grants.
IREX and the U.S. Department of State. 2005. Member, Interview Committee. Eurasian Undergraduate
Exchange Program. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Interviewed and evaluated candidates in the final round of the
college exchange program competition.
ACCELS (American Council for International Education). 2004. Bishkek. Interviewed and evaluated candidates
in the final round of an English exchange program competition for English teachers.
ACCELS. 2003. Bishkek. Evaluated applications for a junior faculty development/exchange program.
Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University. 2000-2002. Managing Editor, Harvard Middle Eastern
and Islamic Review.
United States Peace Corps. Volunteer, Kyrgyz Republic. 1997-1999. Taught English as a Foreign Language at a
secondary school.
LANGUAGES
English. (native speaker)
Kyrgyz. Reading and speaking: Excellent. Writing: good.
Uzbek. Reading, speaking, and writing: good.
German. Reading, speaking, and writing: good.
Spanish. Reading and writing: good. Speaking: fair.
Russian. Reading, speaking, and writing: fair.
Arabic. Reading: fair.
Borbieva CV: Spring 2014
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PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies
American Anthropological Association
Association for Feminist Anthropology
Section for Cultural Anthropology
Society for the Anthropology of Religion
Central Eurasian Studies Society
Lambda Alpha Theta, Anthropological Honors Society