Past exam papers

2000:

1.) Discuss the politicisation of native elites in pre-Soviet Central Asia.

2.) To what extent did integration into the Tsarist Empire bring about modernisation in Central Asia? Discuss with particular reference to innovations in education.

2001:

1.) Compare Tsarist policies towards religion in the northern and southern tiers of Central Asia; give arguments for the different approaches.

2002:

1.) Discuss Tsarist policies in the Steppe Region, with particular reference to social and economic change.

2.) Evaluate the contribution of the Jadid movement to reform and revolution in Central Asia.

2000:

1.) Examine the reasons for the national delimitation of Central Asia.

2.) Assess the efficacy of the campaign for literacy in Central Asia.

3.) To what extent was the eradication of Islam necessary in order to create new Soviet identities? Discuss with reference to the period 1920-40.

4.) Do you agree that Soviet developmental policies in Central Asia were successful? Discuss, with reference to the arguments put forward by Nove and Newth (in A. Nove and J.A. Newth, The Soviet Middle East: A Model for Development? New York: Praeger, 1967).

5.) To what extent did the Soviet-era movement for female emancipation succeed in altering women’s aspirations in Central Asia?

2001:

1.) Discuss the imperatives for the creation of national territorial units in Central Asia (1924-25) and assess the strengths and weaknesses of this new delimitation of intra-regional borders.

2.) Evaluate Soviet strategies for the construction of new national identities, with particular reference to language planning policies.

3.) Examine the aims and achievements of the Soviet policy of female emancipation in Central Asia.

4.) How consistent were Soviet policies towards Islam? Discuss, with particular emphasis on the period 1940-90.

5.) Discuss the reasons for the high rate of demographic increase in Soviet Central Asia and consider the policy consequences of this trend.

6.) Describe the goals of Soviet social engineering policies, and illustrate your answer with reference to any three campaigns of the 1920s-1930s.

2002:

1.) Discuss the formation of the Soviet Central Asian republics.

2.) To what extent could the eradication of Islam be regarded as a necessary precondition for the creation of new Soviet identities? Discuss, with particular reference to the period 1920-40.

3.) To what extent did the Soviet system succeed in creating a viable model for economic development in Central Asia?

4.) Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet educational system in Central Asia.

5.) Discuss the politics of language planning in Central Asia.

6.) Assess the impact of glasnost and perestroika in Central Asia.

2000:

1.) Discuss the role of Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia.

2.) Evaluate the chief threats to social cohesion in post-Soviet Central Asia.

3.) Discuss the main foreign policy goals in the post-Soviet Central Asian states, with particular reference to ANY TWO of the five states.

2001:

1.) Discuss ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia, with particular reference to Uzbekistan.

2.) Evaluate the strength of security threats, domestic and foreign, to the post-Soviet Central Asian states, with particular reference to any two of these states.

3.) Discuss prospects for the development of the hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian region and the likely social and economic consequences of the realisation (or non-realisation) of current expectations of imminent prosperity.

2002:

1.) Examine the prospects for the development of the hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Sea.

2.) Discuss the role of Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia, with particular reference to Uzbekistan.

3.) Evaluate security challenges, internal and external, to post-Soviet Central Asia.

4.) Compare and contrast the emerging political order in any two of the new Central Asian states.

Please note:

I could not extract any text out of the PDF-file from last year. Nevertheless, it is available online. Have a look here. (SOAS Username and Password required)

Posted by Ben at January 1, 2004 03:55 PM