The Aga Khan Humanities Project
Established in 1997, AKHP was created to explore abiding issues facing the individual and society from a multidisciplinary humanities perspective, and to foster the development of critical thinking and academic writing skills.
Inherited from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in 2007, AKHP maintains an extensive network of regional and international scholars, and has established partnerships with universities in all three founding countries.
Humanities courses at AKHP requires active involvement of students into
educational process through their own presentations, group discussions, role playing, and other forms of active participation. Such methods respond positively to AKHP’s main goal - developing pluralism and critical thinking.AKHP supports the development of an alternative and innovative
undergraduate curriculum in the humanities with several
objectives including: to address the ideological vacuum and
deteriorating quality of education in the post-Soviet educational
context; to promote pluralism and explore the notion of
a diversity of cultures; to share Central Asian culture with the
outside world, and in so doing, help promote a national and
regional identity focused on a “universalistic concern for all
humanity”; and to encourage the development of pedagogy
and critical thinking skills in ethical reflection, cultural interpretation
and aesthetic appreciation.
AKHP’s integrated humanities curriculum draws on Eastern and Western classical texts, as well as the rich oral and written cultures of Central Asia which are organised thematically across eight textbooks:
- Introduction to the Humanities;
- Individual and Society;
- Tradition and Change;
- Identifying Civil Society;
- Seeking Social Justice;
- Negotiating Human Nature;
- Art as Appreciation;
- Rhythm and Movement.
A ninth
volume is an introductory text on Central Asian music that is
being delivered in partnership with the Aga Khan Music Initiative
in Central Asia - an institution created by His Highness
the Aga Khan to support the efforts of Central Asian musicians
and communities to sustain, further develop, and transmit musical
traditions that are a vital part of their cultural heritage. All
texts are available in Russian and English.
In response to Central Asian government requests to revitalise teaching in the region, AKHP provides multi-year faculty development training to Central Asian university instructors using AKHP textbooks in innovative, interactive and modern teaching methods. Over 35 institutions from across Central Asia participate in AKHP programmes, many of which in turn enrich their own courses using AKHP’s learning materials. In 2010, 170 trained faculty from 35 institutions including nine secondary schools used the AKHP curriculum to reach 6,600 students.
To supplement its teaching activities, AKHP provides resource centres with extensive collections of English and Russian books, newspapers, periodicals, journals, and audiovisual materials, as well as Internet access. Public film and lecture series provide further stimulus for discussion and debate for students and the wider community.
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