Advancing Research on Central Asian Modern History and Asian Diasporic Foodscapes
January 15, 2025 | Ruby Wang
After launching the Summer International Collaboration Research Grant in 2023, the Institute awarded SICR grants to associate professors Eren Tasar and Ji-Yeon Jo (FFP ’24) to conduct research in Austria and South Korea in summer 2024. Tasar used the grant to diversify the study of Islam in central Asia, while Jo’s grant supported her research on global foodscapes and gastronomic diasporas.
The SICR grant provides funding to faculty to travel abroad and establish new collaborative research projects or continue existing ones. Faculty members receive $20,000 to use for up to five years.
Uncovering Central Asian history

In his first summer of using the grant, Tasar attended “Russian Colonialism: Comparative perspectives,” a workshop hosted by the Commission for the Study of Islam in Central Eurasia in Vienna. The conference invited scholars to explore the characteristics of Russian colonialism and compare it to other forms of colonialism in the world.
At the workshop, Tasar discussed the religious, political, cultural and environmental landscape of Russia’s imperial expansion with other scholars. “[We] analyzed how Russia’s imperial expansion differed from the more widely studied European colonial models, emphasizing the role of Russian and Central Asian Islam, Orthodox Christianity, the integration of local elites, and the adaptation of Russian imperial practices in relation to diverse ethnic and religious groups,” Tasar explained.
The sociopolitical influences of Russian imperial practices directly relate to a research gap Tasar has identified in his work on Central Asian Islam. Various languages are used in the region, but scholars typically focus on sources in Russian. Thus, many primary sources related to Central Asian history in non-Russian languages remain untapped.
The gap in sources used for research contributes to what Tasar described as “a myth religious ‘poverty,’ manifested in a belief that Central Asians practice an ‘inferior’ version of Islam, and that Islam, along with religion in general, disappeared in the USSR.”
With its emphasis on collaboration, the SICR grant allows Tasar to respond to these issues. The conference Tasar attended included scholars from European countries, Russia, Central Asia and the United States to discuss the reliance on Russian language sources. Further, Tasar has been strategizing with the commission’s chairman, Paolo Sartori on ways to comprehensively research Central Asian history. “[We] envision a series of workshops tackling it from different angles.”
Research on ‘global foodscapes’

While Tasar ruminated on Central Asian history in Vienna, Jo was in South Korea to collect data and materials for a paper she will present at a workshop at the National University of Singapore this March. Her paper, “From Gourmet Delicacy to Everyday Staple: Migration, Colonialism, and the Rebranding of a Culinary Icon, Busan Eomuk” includes findings from interviews, archival and media research. It examines the evolution of the brand “Busan Eomuk (Fishcakes)” within the broader framework of modern Korean history, focusing on migration, colonialism, and post-colonial nationalism.
“I illuminate the local, national, and global politics involved in the production and consumption of eomuk, as well as the diverse affective responses surrounding the fishcakes,” Jo described. Her field research articulates how gastropolitics and gastroaffect have shaped the city’s culinary culture in relation to the transnational pathways of production, supply-distribution, and consumption.
The grant extends beyond the field work conducted in this initial summer. Jo will use remaining funds to conduct additional archival and field research in South Korea and Japan, along with participating in the workshop she is co-organizing, “Global Foodscapes: Transnational Pathways of Food and Migration In and Out of Asia,” or GloFood.
The grant allows Jo to connect with scholars at the National University of Singapore and Carolina, strengthening institutional linkages with NUS, a UNC’s strategic partner located in Asia. To solicit presenters for GloFood, Jo worked with Singaporean academic and geographer Brenda Yeoh to open a call for papers, attracting over 100 submissions from scholars all over the world. A total of 17 invited and selected papers will be presented at the workshop. On campus, Jo works closely with Conghe Song (ALP ’17), Christian Lentz (FFP ’16), Michelle King (FFP ’23), and other faculty members to execute the final steps of the GloFood Workshop.
Following the GloFood workshop in March, Jo aspires to extend collaboration and research on trans-Asia foodscapes. For Jo’s individual research, she plans to conduct another diasporic food project, this time focusing on the grilled meat called yakiniku in Japanese. “This dish is a diasporic adaptation of a Korean-style grilled meat by Zainichi Koreans (Koreans in Japan), who began grilling pig or cow offal discarded by the Japanese to overcome food insecurity during the post-WWII period. Today, yakiniku has been popularized as a Japanese ‘national’ cuisine.”
The Institute is currently accepting applications for the SICR grant, which will provide $20,000 of ongoing funding for international projects beginning in 2025. Applications are due Feb. 13.
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