Assistant Professor Jennifer Murtazashvili was elected by the members of the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) for a three-year term on the Board of that organization. CESS is an international organization for scholars concerned with the Central Eurasian region, which includes the former Soviet Republics of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, as well as Russia and China. The Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) seeks to promote high standards of research and teaching, to foster communication among scholars of Central Eurasia through meetings, publications, and networking, and to facilitate interaction among scholars at different stages in their career and in different places around the world.

For the past year, she served on the CESS Fieldwork Safety Taskforce, which was created to address increasing threats to scholars working in the region. The Taskforce produced a report that included a set of recommendations for scholars. She is currently a member of the 2016 Book Award committee, which will provide an award to the best book in social science published on the region over the past two years.

She will be inaugurated at the Central Eurasian Studies Society annual meeting, which will be held in November at Princeton University.