Visiting Scholars in Residence
Tcholpon Akmatalieva, PhD
Kyrgyzstan
Dr. Akmatalieva received her Doctorate in social philosophy at Moscow State University in Moscow, Russia and also received a certificate from the College of Strategic Studies and Defense Economy in Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany. She has written a variety of publications on the women’s movement and has taught political science classes at different universities in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Dr. Akmatalieva is currently studying the role of national traditions in the change in status of women in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. Since Kyrgyzstan became an independent democratic State, the expected progressive changes have not occurred. Rather, the position of women has noticeably deteriorated leaving them in poverty and more frequently victims of violence, bride kidnappings, and polygamy. Dr. Akmatalieva is analyzing the basis of these problems in terms of the complex interactions between economic, political, and social factors.