On 14 September 2026, the Sh. Sh. Ualikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology hosted a meeting with renowned American historian and University of Maryland professor Sarah Cameron. The event was organised by the Institute’s Council of Young Scholars
Sarah Cameron is a distinguished scholar of Kazakhstan’s history who has made a significant contribution to the study of the famine in the Kazakh steppe. Her book, The Hungry Steppe: Famine, Violence, and the Making of Soviet Kazakhstan, brought the social and political transformations of the Soviet period, as well as the causes and consequences of the 1931–1933 famine in Kazakhstan, to the attention of the international academic community.
The meeting focused on key issues in the history of Kazakhstan, the social and political processes of the first half of the twentieth century, the history of the 1931–1933 famine, new directions in the study of this period, and contemporary approaches to the use of historical sources.
Researchers from the Institute and the American historian exchanged views on research findings, archival work, the use of oral history materials, and the importance of international academic cooperation in examining the most complex periods of Kazakhstan’s history.
Sarah Cameron expressed particular interest in the Institute’s ongoing project to collect memoirs and historical materials related to the famine and to prepare a twenty-volume publication based on these sources.
The participants emphasised the importance of conducting a comprehensive study of historical sources, exchanging academic expertise, and further developing international scholarly ties. They also discussed prospects for jointly preparing articles for academic journals indexed in the Scopus database. In addition, the two institutions agreed to consider signing a memorandum of academic cooperation.
Meetings of this kind strengthen the integration of Kazakhstan’s historical scholarship into the international academic community, expand professional cooperation among researchers, and contribute to a deeper global understanding of Kazakhstan’s history.
