Focus: SHSS Magazine

Issue #1 May 2013

Daniel Pugh My dogs have passports

focus

SHSS Magazine

Gultas Kurmanbay I wanted to become a doctor LOLITA "My sin, my soul.

Lo-lee-ta" Not sure where to work out in Astana?

We will show you how to get fit and save your money

AROUND ASTANA ENACTUS student club

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Professors Bon Appetite

pp.4-12 p.13

Discovering Clubs

pp.14-15

Entertainment

pp.16-17

Creativity Column

p.18

Movie Review

pp.19-21

Book Review

pp.22-23

Lifestyle

pp.24-25

Technology

pp.26-27

Around Astana

pp.28-29

Academic Experiment

pp.30-32

SHSS Research

pp.33-35

Photogallery

pp.35-36

Contents: Interview with Professors

Regina KASSENOVA

Crazy Food Experiment

Nazerke SADYKOVA

Enactus Club

Aikerim KARGAZHANOVA

Attraction of Theatre

Assem SMAGULOVA

Short Story & Poem

Ed. Valentina VINOKUROVA

Movie Review

Assel ZHAMBEKOVA

Lolita by V.Nabokov

Yekaterina BASKAKOVA

Vegetarian Diet on Campus

Dana DYUSSEMBAYEVA

Google Glass: Future is here

Rudolf AIRAPETYAN

Fitness Clubs

Aidana KASSYMOVA

Student's Behavior is Shocking Society Inkar BAZARBAYEVA What is Gender?

Life of SHSS: Nauryz

Dina SULEYMENOVA

Professor Daniel Pugh “Life is too short to be upset, so I am going to enjoy as much of it as I possibly can�

The always smiling and warm Daniel Pugh reveals some information about his personal life, beliefs, feelings and background. What was his dream when he was a child? What are the ideal people for him? How did he decide to become an anthropologist? How he decided to come to Kazakhstan? All of these questions are answered in this interview.

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Childhood What kind of a kid were you in school years?

I was always a little bit bored with school. I found that sometimes the things that we had to do did not interest me, so sometimes I wouldn’t prepare much. Really, if you asked my parents about me as a child, they would tell you that I was the most disorganized and messy person that you would ever meet. I had terrible handwriting, I was always getting notes from teachers like: “Little Daniel has made a mess in class and his desk is destroyed and we can’t read his hand-writing”.

But I was interested in reading things, being social, meeting other people.

Have you ever done anything ‘naughty’ at school?

Never. Never. I was perfect (laughing).

What was your favorite subject in school?

Definitely history. I like thinking about how people were different and how things got to be the way they were. I find the period of the American Revolution very interesting because it was a critical period for founding the nation, the key role in which was played by philosophers. So it’s a period of time when there were some very important philosophical debates going on that had a very real consequence for the world.

Did you know at school that you will have anthropology major?

No, when I went to university I wasn’t exactly sure about what I wanted to do. I wasn’t even sure whether I wanted to go to the university.

My parents convinced me that I should if I ever wanted to travel. I got there and I thought for a while about studying art history, so I took lots of courses on art history. I also for a while thought that I was going to be an African studies major, and I took some classes of African studies.

And what I found was that parts of African studies that I liked were anthropology: they were studying culture and how people lived and sort of how we can understand that. So because of that I decided starting classes on anthropology. Firstly, I thought that I wanted to study cultural anthropology, but there was one archeologist who really took me in and was

mentoring with me. They took me in my second year of the university to an excavation project.

It was there that I really started to be interested in archeology so I can play in the dirt and be messy. So I became an archeologist with an interest in Kansas, my home state.

Did you experience any funny or embarrassing situations when you were at school or university?

Regina KASSENOVA

Well, the most embarrassing situation was on my first day of university. What I remember is I had a bicycle and I rode my bike all over the campus.

As I was riding to my first class, I messed up and almost crashed my bike. I felt like “Oh here I am. My first class in front of the first building and I made great interest by crashing my bike”.

So that was embarrassing. But I don’t think anybody except me noticed it.

Personal Life and Family How did you meet your wife?

My wife is also an archeologist. She graduated from the University of Michigan at the time when I was beginning graduate school. She stayed for the next 2 years to get some more work experience before she went to graduate school… We went on an archeological project as teaching assistants and that’s where we became a couple. When we came back to Michigan, we decided to start dating.

How did you propose?

It was not very romantic. I took her out to Italian food for dinner. That part was good. She likes ice-cream, so I wanted to take her to an icecream restaurant, but it didn’t work out, and I made her to walk with me. It started to rain, so I had to propose in a car park. It was actually unromantic, cold and wet. For some reason she said “Yes!”.

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to take them anywhere else. When I was offered this job the first question was: “Can I bring dogs?” and if the answer was “No” I would not come.

NU How did you decide to leave your homeland?

It was a hard decision, since I love my home but I also love to travel. I had never imagined living so far from home. In 2011 I had a temporary job in an American university and I was trying to find a permanent one. When I saw the advertisement for this position, I knew very little about Kazakhstan. One of my friends enlightened me, and I thought that it was a good idea. So I looked up Astana, read about it, and found it really cool. I loved everything about the project of creating a new city and a new university, new kind of economy and education system. The opportunity seemed attractive because I love to be involved in everything new. So I thought “Why not?”

What is the most important thing in your life?

Family is very important to me. I think we should try to create less suffering in the world and ease the suffering whenever we can do so.

The most intriguing question for everybody is how did you manage to bring your dogs here?

Well, my dogs have passports. They have little microchips at the back of their necks that send radio frequency signals, so that information about them can be scanned. To bring them here we had to have the certification by the American Department of Agriculture that they are not livestock and the certification by veterinary that they don’t have any diseases. And then we put them on the airplane. I felt very bad for them.

Every time we stopped (we flew from Chicago to New York, to Kiev then here) we had to make them get out and then get in. But they seemed to react very well when we arrived to Astana. I don’t want to do it again, though, so I hope that we are here for long enough and will not have

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Is there any difference between the students of American universities and NU students?

Yes, there is a huge difference. The students here are completely dedicated to being at university: everybody… almost everybody wants to be here. In the USA, there were a number of students who entered the university because they were supposed to do it: when you graduate high school, you should go to university. They didn’t have any real purpose. Also, American students tend to be a little bit more independent.

We work a lot more with Kazakhstani students on getting to class on time, getting homework turned in - doing things that in an American university we just assume students will do without anybody saying anything to them. That is a little bit of a challenge. So what we are doing here is developing this ‘independence’ as a part of the system.

Let’s now talk about the ideal model of a class for you. What annoys you in class?

Things that are distracting annoy me: whispering, text messaging - those kinds of things. Certainly, if you are talking to somebody else in class to help each other understand that’s useful. But I don’t like things that compete for the attention from the other students.

Some teachers have their favorite students.

What about you?

I try not to have favorites and least favorites. But of course I have students that are closer to a ‘model’ student. They are engaged, they think about the material, participate in discussions, stay after class to ask questions - that’s what I want to see. I love students who are in class because they want to learn. That’s a ‘model’ student for me. But also students must come to class everyday on time, and turn their homework in regularly (smiling).

Do you miss teaching? What can you say about “teaching versus administration”?

I really do love teaching, interacting with students in that way, sort of presenting ideas and helping people to understand them. There is certain kind of stress that comes from teaching that I don’t miss. Also there is a lot of responsibility, if I teach something incorrectly I am letting down the whole group of people. So I worry about that. I also really don’t like marking papers. It is a lot of work, but mostly I get very defensive of my students. If I see they did something wrong, I don’t like to take points away and so I start sort of explaining to myself what they might have meant. And it takes a lot longer than it should.

I don’t miss that part at all. But I do miss the actual interacting and teaching.

I am also very fond of the administrative job I have now. It’s a very different kind of work. I like

that I still have a lot of contact with students, doing some advising and work one-on-one with students than I did before. And I like to be sort of in the middle of things. And one of the things I love about Nazarbayev University in terms of working here is that everything is new.

Everybody has an opportunity to contribute. In my administrative role I get to be involved in sort of creating new policies, working on new ideas.

And that’s very fun. I don’t know which I like more.

Do you think our university is more focused on technicial specialties?

I think that it’s a misperception. This is a research university and it has a heavy technology focus.

But the President has been very clear in his speech in the atrium this year that he wants Nazarbayaev University to create leaders and people who would go on to government and

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economics jobs.

And yet there is strong tension between so called ‘soft and hard’ sciences among students.

For example, some students of SST or Engineering schools arrogantly perceive SHSS students as students of unimportant professions.

What can you say to both sides of this issue?

It is a really important topic and I think it’s unfortunate that such perception is there because I believe it is completely wrong. In terms of relative importance of disciplines, you know, there has never been a society completely created by engineers. Engineers are important but we must have people to sell their products, and most of CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) of the world’s largest corporations have degrees in Social Sciences and Humanities. We must have people to organize and lead and most of the politicians of the world are not engineers.

I also think nobody wants to live in a society without beauty. Things like literature, poetry, philosophy are crucial. So as Kazakhstan develops, as it becomes more wealthy and more important on the world’s stage and the standard of living rises for everyone across the nation there are going to be some major social issues that faces these country: problems like income gap, issues like what to do with the wealth of the nation, issues like how to educate the next generation of children, issues like how to relate to other nations who want a piece of Kazakhstan’s wealth. Those questions can’t be answered by engineers. They are answered by SHSS students. What I am very confident about knowing our students, very excellent students and very driven, is that you guys are going to demonstrate to the nation the importance of the social sciences and the humanities.

What are your political views?

I believe very strongly in fundamental equality of all people. I believe the political systems should protect all people equally, which means that there should not be institutions discriminating people based on race, ethnicity, sex/gender or almost any other characteristics. I believe that the government is to be very active in preventing discrimination and abuse. So I believe that an economic system, for example, should be well-

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regulated to make sure that people at the top are not able to take advantage of the people at the bottom. I believe strongly that the government should regulate economy.

Finally, and most importantly: how do you manage to smile every minute of every day?

That’s a really good question. First of all, that does not mean that I don’t have any problems (smiling). I have lots of problems like everybody, but I have more things to be happy about. One of the fundamental philosophies of my life is that unless it is a very serious problem such as threat to my life or the lives of my loved ones, it’s not worth getting really stressed about it. Most of the problems that I have at work are important, but they will pass. Life is too short to be upset.

We are only here for a little while, so I am going to enjoy as much of it as I possibly can. I do get stressed out sometimes, but I try to remind myself that overall I have a very fortunate life and I have so many things to be happy about in the world.

Құрманбай Гүлтас Сайынқызы Педагогика ғылымдарының докторы, НУ профессоры, қазақ тілі мен әдебиет және мәдениет кафедрасының меңгерушісі. Жамбыл облысы, Жуалы ауданы, Күреңбел ауылында туған Гүлтас апайдың арманы туралы, жанұясы туралы және тағы басқа пікірлері туралы осы сұхбатта оқыңыздар.

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Гүлтас апай, сіздің ата аналарыңыз туралы айтып беріңізші.

– Әкемнің аты – Сайын, қарапайым еңбек адамы, әкесі 5 жасында қайтыс болып, анасы, бауыры үшеуі ТАҒДЫР сынақтарынан сүрінбей өткен. Сол заманда мектеп 7 жылдық және 10 жылдық болған. Әкем 7 жылдық мектепті үздік бітірген. Бірақ ары қарай оқымай, колхоз жұмысына түскен. Оның себебі анасына қамқор болу керек, әрі інісін оқыту мақсаты болған. Анамның есімі – Ұлбөбек, үй шаруасындағы әйел. Олардың сізге берген тәрбиесі мен ықпалы туралы не айта аласыз?

– Адал болуға, еңбекті сүюге, үлкендерді сыйлауға тәрбиеледі. Ал жалпы жанұяңызда сізге қойылған қандай да бір тәртіп немесе жүйе болды ма (демалыста баратын жеріңіз т.с.с)?

– Ата-ананы құрметтеу, үй шаруасындағы жұмыстарды толық атқару. «Менің қолым тимейді» деген әңгіме айтпау. Көршілерге әрдайым көмекке келу. Демалыста пионер лагерлеріне баратын едік. Себебі онда жақсы оқитын оқушыларды жіберетін. Барлық баланың арманы «Артек» лагері болды. Ол менің де арманым болды. Бірақ ... Орындалмаған арман болып қала берді. Сіздің балалық шағыңыздағы саяси жағдай қандай болған? Оның сіздің өміріңізге тиген ықпалы қандай болды?

– Бір қызығы біз тәуелді еліміз деген санамызда болған жоқ. Себебі біз үлкен саясатты естімей, білмей өстік. Кеңес заманында «барлығы жақсы, Ленин деген бабамыз өзіміздің атамыздан да жақын сияқты. Москва – Отанымыздың жүрегі» т.с.с. сенім-нанымдар болды. Мектепте оқығанда, өзіңіздің болашақта кім болатынын білдіңіз бе? Немесе «кім боламын» деген арманыңыз болды ма?

– Мен дәрігер болғым келді. Керемет армандайтынмын. Алматыға дәрігердің

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оқуына тапсырдым. Абитуриент болып, пәтер жалдап бір апайдың үйінде досым Зафира екеуміз тұрып жаттық. Бір күні ауруханадан үйдегі апайдың інісі шықты. Қатты ауырады екен. Бізбен көп әңгімелесті. Дәрігерлердің қызметі туралы, қиындығы туралы біз шошитындай әңгімелер айтты. Досым тез-ақ келісті, құжаттарын ертеңіне алып, КазМУ-ге тапсыратын болды. Мен көнбедім. Ақ халатты абзал жан болғым келген арманыммен қалай теп-тез қоштаса саламын. Дегенмен, досымның бағытын өзгертуі, «қарсы әңгімелердің дауылды әсері» менің оқуға деген шабытымды әлсіреткені анық болды. Ең соңғы емтиханнан «ұшып» кеттім. Келесі жылы КазМУ-ге тапсырып, филолог тағдырдың қамытын басыма кидім. Мектепте оқығанда, жаман қылықтарыңызды еске түсіріп айта аласыз ба? Немесе кейін өзіңізді ыңғайсыз сезіндірген жағдайлар болды ма?

– Мен ұлдармен бірге асық ойнадым, футбол ойнадым, ләңгі тептім... Ойын болған соң балалар төбелеспей тұрмайды. Сонда ұлдармен де төбелесіп, біраз ұлдарға шынтағым батыпты... Кейін 25 жылдық кездесуде біреу басындағы, бірі қолындағы шрамдарын менің жолдасыма көрсетіпті. «Гүлтаспен қорықпай қалай бірге тұрып жатырсың? О сұмдық күшті болатын» депті. Сондай-сондай істерім үшін ұяламын. Қазіргі мамандығыңызды таңдауға қалай жеттіңіз? Ықпал тигізген адам болды ма? Немесе қарсы болған адам?

– Бірінші жылы оқудан құлап ауылға бардым, бір күні мектеп директоры көшеде көріп қалып мектепке шақырды. Мені тәрбиеші етіп жұмысқа алды. Содан қай пәннің мұғалімі ауырып, не басқа себептермен жұмысқа шықпай қалса, мен сабақ бере беремін. Әсіресе 9-10 сыныптарға жақсы беремін. Сәл қайталап қарап алсам болды. Бір күні сондай сабақтан шығып, мұғалімдер бөлмесіне келсем, барлық мұғалімдер мені құттықтап жатыр. «Керемет сабақ беріпсің» дейді. Түсінсем бұйырмасын. Сөйтсем, мектептің оқу ісінің меңгерушісі Сәбит

Дүйсебаев ағай есікті сәл ашып қойып, 45 минут бойы менің сабағымды сырттан тыңдап, көріп тұрыпты. Содан мұғалімдер бөлмесіне қуанып келіп: «Гүлтас тумысынан ұстаз болып туған адам екен. Сабағы керемет болды» депті де, шаруаларымен шығып кетіпті. Содан не керек, сол сөз маған жақты ғой деймін. Ақ халат арманмен қоштаса бердім. Университет кезіңізден сізде қандай естеліктер бар?

– Әл-Фараби атындағы Қазақ ұлттық университеті сол заманда №1 оқу орны болатын. Ректоры айтулы ірі ғалым Өмірбек Жолдасбеков деген кісі болды. Керемет адам болатын. Университет оның жаны еді. Нағыз ғалым адам. Ал біздің ұстаздарымыз да Мұхтар Әуезовтің шәкірті академик Зейнолла Қабдолов, профессорлар: Тұрсынбек Кәкішев, Ы.Нұрғалиев, Кәкен Аханов, Мархаббат Томанов, А.Дербісәлиев, Мырзатай Жолдасбеков, Рақыш Әміров, Рахманқұл Бердібаев, Талғат Сайранбаев, т.б мықты ұстаздардан дәріс тыңдап, білім алдық. Енді сіздің жолдасыңыз туралы әңгімелесек. Жарыңыз кім? Балаларыңыз ше?

– Отбасымның отағасы – Ербол Райысов 54 жаста, мамандығы құрылыс инженері, қызымыз Шынар -31 жаста, мамандығы халықаралық құқық, магистр. ұлымыз Саят -25 жаста, мамандығы инженер-геолог (ҚБТУ), магистр ( МВА) Өз балаларыңызға әрдайым қандай кеңес айтасыз?

– Таза болыңдар, адал болыңдар, алған шаруаны аяғына жеткізіңдер, өтірік айтпаңдар. Өміріңізде қандай бағытты ұстанасыз?

– Алға ғана қарау, өткенге өкіне бермеу. Ең қымбаттар: асыл әжем, ата-анам, бауырарым,балаларым, немерелерім, жалпы

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өзімді жақсы көргендердің бәрін мен де жақсы көремін. Сізде бес ірі тарихи немесе саяси немесе әйгілі (шоу бизнес тұлғалары) адамдарды шай ішуге шақыратын мүмкіндігіңіз бар деп көз алдына елесетуіңізді сұраймын (шақыратын адамдар тірі болуға міндетті емес). Қандай адамадарды шақырар едіңіз? Неліктен? Олармен не туралы сөйлесер едіңіз?

– Абай, Мұқағали, әжем, Шыңғыс Айтматов, Нұрсұлтан Назарбаев. Олармен ұрпақ тағдыры туралы сөйлесер едім. Нені көбірек ұнатасыз: студенттерге сабақ беру ме әлде әкімшілік іспен айналысу ма?

– Сабақ беруді жақсы көремін. Сізді сыныпта мазасыздандыратын студенттердің қылықтары...

– Ой қосуға ерініп отырғандары, тіл, ұлт туралы ертең ойлаудың әрекет жасаудың қажеті жоқ. Бүгін әрекет жаса, бүгін қазақша сөйле, қазақша деген сенің ең жақын адамдарыңның тілі, арманы мұраты... Сен содан үзіліп кетіп қандай ұт болмақшысың? Қазақтан, қазақшадан жиренетіндей, сөйлемейтіндей сендерге ата-бабаларың не істеді? Несімен кінәлі? Сендерді ұрпақ етіп қалдырғаны үшін кінәлі ме? Сол ептеп жүректі ауыртады... Сіз үшін ең ізгі (идеалды) сынып қандай сынып (оқушылар қандай болу керек?)

– Өзіне өзгелердің маскаларын кимеген, табиғи адамдарды ұнатамын. Студенттерге айтатын ақылыңыз, батаңыз деген бар ма?

– Өзіңнен басқа өзіңді ешкім де жақсы білмейді. Өзіңді дамыт, өзіңді тексер, өзіңе өзің ақыл айт, өз жүрегіңді тыңда, өзіңнен қашпа! Қазіргі кезде, әсіресе біздің университетімізде, «нақты ғылым»

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(физика, математика, биология, химия) мен «гуманитарлық немесе әлеуметтік ғылым» (социология, экономика, антропология, т.б.) деген бөлу етек алған. Әсіресе студенттердің арасында, нақты ғылым оқтатын мектептердің (SST мен инженерия) оқушылары SHSS студенттерін жақтырмайтыны бар себебі «гуманитарлар тек қана сөйлеу біледі». Осы бұрыннан келе жатқан «ғылымдар қайшылықтарына» өзіңіздің көз қарасыңыз қандай?

– Адамның адамдығы ғылымды терең меңгергенде емес, адамгершілікте. Ғылыммен жасаған қару қырып сауы мүмкін, адам жылы сөзімен, адами қарымқатынасымен қаншама адамдарға өмір сыйлайды. Әуелі СӨЗ боған. Жаратқанның жанды лебізі – Сөз. Абай дананың: «Өнер алды – қызыл тіл» дегені тегін емес. Техникалық «қатты ғылымдарға» гуманитарлық ізгілік қажет екенін ұмытпаған абзал. Сұрғылттау дүниені жарық ететін ғылымдар бар. Ол – гуманитарлық ғылымдар.

Bon Appetite!

The April Fool’s day or April itself is a marvelous reason and incentive to organize a hilarious little feast for your friends. Spring inspires to be a bit ridiculous and lighthearted. Using this, it is recommended to prepare humorous or even utterly idiotic but creative foods, so that no one could dare to condemn the host or hostess for inability to .arrange a dazzling dinner

Horrible but scrumptious.

A Hairy Sausage would be an amazing starter. A new dish became extremely popular among some Russian bloggers lately.

How to?

Take some hard spaghetti sticks and pin uncooked sausage with them. Then boil this all together for 7 minutes and get your haired sausage ready! My friends' opinions broke apart as I served my dish. Some found it similar to sea urchins or caterpillars, while others named it a contemporary art object.

Nazerke SADYKOVA A mysterious neon soup with stars.

A wrong Compote (stewed fruit)

In order to impress our guests, second course (soup) had to be strange. For instance, of a neon color. By the way, colorful soups, like the one of Bridget Jones’ with celery and a blue string, are quite famous.

While your guests are looking at you with suspicion, trying to guess what else can astonish them; announce them that there will be a mixed dessert.

Ingredients: chicken meat; star-shaped noodles; one carrot; salt; pepper; neon food-coloring.

Boil the chicken and prepare a broth. When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the stock and allow it to cool off and then cut it into thin pieces.

Then use the broth to cook the star-shaped noodles and carrot. Firstly, cut the carrot into star-shaped pieces. Then put it into the bouillon; then after 3 minutes put the noodles, salt and food coloring.

Serve and do not forget to smile!

Ingredients: any colored compote (I used cherry compote); gelatin.

By following the instructions on the package, prepare a jelly from gelatin and compote. Before it congeals, pour it into cocktail glasses and put cocktail straws. Refrigerate inclining its slope by 135 degrees. Amaze your guests by a blatant violation of the laws of physics.

If after such an extraordinary dinner you still have friends, you are lucky to have them! Bon apetite!

SHSS Magazine

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Aikerim KARGAZHANOVA

en•act•us entrepreneurial—having the perspective to see an opportunity and the talent to create value from that opportunity; action—the willingness to do something and the commitment to see it through even when the outcome is not guaranteed; us—a group of people who see themselves connected in some important way; individuals that are part of a greater whole.

“Enactus is an international non-profit organization that brings together student, academic and business leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need”.

For more information visit Enactus.org and contact Enactus@nu.edu.kz

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Do you feel yourself in the tour d’ivoire (detached from daily reality in academic illusions) sometimes? Reading the book after book in our cozy library, do you wonder about the life challenges of a neigbour village? Walking to the bus stop, are you afflicted by all the wrappers on the ground? If your answer is yes and practical side of education is missing in your life, then as Barney Stinson would say, I'm gonna give you three words to live by: ENtrepreneurial! ACTion! US! “We really want to involve as many active and creative students as possible into the newly founded ENACTUS student club”, - says its initiator Nazerke Moldakyn, the first year SHSS student majoring in IR. At the 8th grade Nazerke with her team won the second place in the republican competition organized by ENACTUS (formerly SIFE) for their Smoothie Project. Since then she was ‘infected’ by entrepreneurial virus of the organization that was established in the United States by Texas lawyer Robert T. Davis in 1975, on behalf of the National Leadership Institute. Its initial purpose of involving students into solving their community problems has remained, while the scope has expanded from the regional to global level of 1,600 universities in 39 countries with 62 000 students and representatives of more than 440 international corporations and organizations such as KPMG, Wall Mart, Unilever, Dell, HSBC, Coca-Cola and many more. And now, the first student entrepreneurial team at NU is established. What are their activities, goals, membership benefits? Let’s find out this with Nazerke.

Who helps you to run the club?

Each Enactus team has its own faculty adviser and the board of business advisers to help supervise the activities and projects. Our Enactus NU Team is lucky to operate under the wise guidance of faculty adviser - Vice-Dean of SHSS Daniel Pugh (without whom our registration would not have been possible) and the competent direction of the first business advisor Ulan Karadjigitov, one of the founders of BFF.kz, an authorized re-seller of “Apple” products. Among our ‘big’ plans is also inviting the Dean of the Graduate Business School to assist us with the business part of projects.

What are your current projects?

The really fun one is producing paper woven baskets. You know how much newspapers are thrown away, while they can be used as materials for new products. Our baskets serve socially responsible purposes, such as recycling, providing job, and building relations with local businesses – potential customers for the baskets.

Five advantages of joining ENACTUS Self-development Social change Real-life experience Network Career start

What is your mission?

The main mission of Enactus NU is to empower people in need, and improve the quality and standard of living in Kazakhstan by implementation of innovative projects.

Are you going to take part in the National Competition?

We work hardly on full realization of our current project to present NU at the republican level.

Main values of the club Teamwork Proactivity Leadership Imagination Partnership Problem Solving Courage

What are you long term aspirations?

In case of victory in the National Competition, the team has an opportunity to participate in the World Cup, where the strongest teams from all over the world demonstrate their projects, and share experiences and cultural values. This autumn it will take place in Mexican Cancun. The World Cup is the competition held at the highest professional level, so our team has room for improvement until we get there. However, it is our dream and goal.

SHSS Magazine

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Attraction

Асем CМАГУЛОВА Ты стоишь. Делаешь шаг вперед. Поднимаешься по ступенькам вверх. Ты на сцене. Перед твоим лицом тяжелая ткань кулисного занавеса. От него немного пахнет пылью и тайной. Аккуратным движением руки ты отодвигаешь ткань. Она так приятна на ощупь. Тяжелая кулиса не сразу поддается, но приложив немного усилий, тебе удается пройти за нее. По ту сторону занавеса. И вдруг перед тобой открывается совершенно иной мир. Это мир загадочных метаморфоз, ярких образов, невероятных событий. Ты стоишь как завороженный и уже никогда не будешь прежним. Потому что ты попал сюда. В мир волшебства и искусства. Ты попал в театр. Искусство, творчество, шум, таланты, костюмы, пьесы, люди, песни, слезы и невероятный спектр человеческих эмоций. И вот ты уже плачешь вместе с героями, смеешься, когда им весело и переживаешь, когда им угрожает опасность. Все как в кино. Но это круче.

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Дело в том, что в театре все дело в сиюминутных ощущениях. Они никогда не повторятся. Эта непередаваемость богатства чувств и объясняется тем, что ты существуешь здесь и сейчас, ровно как и все эти актеры на сцене. Ты вместе с ними переживаешь их боль, счастье, утраты и победы. Ты дышишь одним ритмом. Ты чувствуешь их. Фишка театра в ощущениях с одного единственного просмотра, его

не надо снимать на камеру и оставлять на будущее. То, что единственно, то неповторимо. Оно прекрасно. И мир театра не так далек, как кажется. Далекий в своем волшебстве и мерцающих словно маятники прожекторах,

of T heatre театр здесь. Он рядом. На расстоянии пары остановок. А после первого в твоей жизни раза он уже навсегда с тобой. На расстоянии ладони, приложенной к сердцу. Первый раз я попала в Аттракцион осенью прошлого года, когда моя подруга пригласила на премьеру мюзикла Чикаго. Наверняка, почти все слышали о нем. Америка 20-30х годов, гангстеры, перестрелки и джаз. Незаурядная история полная смешных сцен и жестких убийств, звучных песен и коротких юбок. То впечатление, которое у меня осталось после первого раза не променять ни на что. Я ходила по городу и расстреливала прохожих из бутылки колы как из автомата, издавая при этом соответствующие звуки автоматной очереди. Эмоции не описать. Ты сидел в зале театра, а казалось, что ты попал в прошлое, причем в Америку ровно век назад. Это экстаз.

талантливых ребят. Они сами шьют костюмы, мастерят декорации, поют песни. Они живут в том мире, за которым мы наблюдаем с замиранием сердца (или живота, когда надрываешься от смеха), сидя впереди сцены, покинув разум и питаясь чувствами. Ребят,

честно, это безумно круто! Несколько наших студентов сходили на постановку комедии Том, Дик и Гарри, и я без преувеличения скажу, что живот замирал у всех :) ТАК я не смеялась уже давно. Актерская игра и талант студентов-артистов просто

поражает. Они могут сыграть всех: живо, интересно и естественно. Игра напоминало реалити-шоу, ребята словно просто делали, что делают в своих собственных жизнях. Им веришь. Сейчас у каждого есть возможность попасть прямо в сказу, потому что в Аттракционе показывают мюзикл "Красавица и Чудовище". Сказка нашего детства повторяется на сцене театра с Люмьеромподсвечником, Клоксвудом, Метлой и, конечно же, Beauty and the Beast. Костюмы, сшитые девочками-актрисами, далеко не профессионалками, бумажные декорации (как и везде) нисколько не умаляют ощущения присутствия. Ты и правда там. Ты чувствуешь как никогда себя частью этого волшебства. Вот она, вся суть театра. Ты забываешь, кто ты. Это как книга, только другое. Хм, перечитала статью и подумала, что слишком уж она похожа на рекламу. Но нет. Аттракцион мне не платит и все, что написано здесь - это искренний восторг. Хотелось поделиться театральным чудом из своего сердца. Берите! И получайте удовольствие.

Театр Аттракцион основал студент Евразийского Унивеситета три года назад. Театр, который на данный момент стал невероятно популярным в Астане, организовала группа

SHSS Magazine

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Creativity Column The winner of the SHSS Short Story Contest:

The Parable of the Fly in Love

then, the Fly

There was a Fly, who used to be an ordinary fly, until it fell in love with a Girl. Since

changed. So

then, the Fly wanted to become a Man. It ate human food and drank human wine,

y. Hence, the

but nothing changed. So it understood that the only difference between men and

with a rolled

flies is that men cannot fly. Hence, the Fly decided never ever to fly again. And it didn’t. Even when the Girl threatened it with a rolled newspaper…

Yekaterina BASKAKOVA

Любовь. Что может быть нежней,

Ведь миг любви подобен озарению

Таинственней, прекрасней?

И просветлению души и пробуждению

Пусть не всегда она взаимна

Всех самых добрых чувств.

И не всегда приносит радость

И потому найдя её храни,

И длиться вечно может не всегда,

Как если бы хранил дневник От чуждого вторжения

Но можно ли найти счастливее того, В чьем сердце поселяется она?

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В сокровения твои.

E.L.

Assel ZHAMBEKOVA

Drama, History, Thriller Imdb: 8.0 Kinopoisk: 7.9 Director: Ben Affleck

Writer: Chris Terrio, Tony Mendez, Joshuah Bearman Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, ‌

Argo (2012) In 1979 The Revolution in Iran reaches its pick, Islamists storm the US Embassy in Teheran and take hostage of 52 Americans. Six people manage to escape and find refuge in the house of Canadian Ambassador. Realizing that their detection and, most likely, the murder - just a matter of time Tony Mendez, a CIA expert, offers a risky plan of evacuation. His plan is so unbelievable that it can only work out in a movie.

The film deservedly won the Academy Awards in the three categories out of four nominated: best pictures, adapted screenplay and film editing. The emphasis was made on the accuracy of historical events. All the scenes were made with absolute precision, starting in the beginning where furious crowd captured the embassy. Every moment in the film makes you empathize with the main characters. Until the last minute the atmosphere of panic and tension holds the audience in anxiety.

9 out of 10

SHSS Magazine

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Les Miserables (2012) Drama, Musical, Romance Imdb: 7.9 Kinopoisk: 8.3 Director: Tom Hooper Writers: William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron, …

The movie takes place at the beginning of the 19th century in France. After almost twenty years of imprisonment Jean Valjean is finally released; feeling the hatred to everyone in the world for his unjust destiny, he again commits another crime by stealing silverware from the bishop of Digne, Myriel. However, the bishop saves him by claiming that the silverware was not stolen but was a gift. Myriel’s kind treatment of Jean Valjean changes his life forever …

This film resulted in contradictory response from critics: some found that acting and musical components of the film perfect, while others’ expectations were not justified by Hooper’s innovative approach to the musical adaptation of the great French novel. From my

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point of view, Tom Hooper perfectly met the challenge.

The most apparent advantage of the musical is the impressive star cast. Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean demonstrated a high level of acting and vocal performance. Anne Hathaway as Fantine, put on no less of a stunning performance, and her song ‘I dreamed a dream’ was the most memorable in the whole movie.

All in all, if you are prepared to spend more than two hours listening to good music, then this film is made for you.

8 out of 10

Django Unchained (2012) Adventure, Drama, Western Imdb: 8.6 Kinopoisk: 8.7 Director: Quentin Tarantino Writer: Quentin Tarantino Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, …

An eccentric bounty hunter, also known as the dentist Dr. King Schultz, is engaged in shooting the most dangerous criminals in the Wild West.

He buys the freedom of a slave, Django and together they search for his wife who is under the power of tyrannical plantation owner from the Mississippi, Calvin Candie.

enjoyed watching bloody slave fight and kept his slaves in inhumane conditions.

Movie ‘Django Unchained is made in a brutal and bloody fashion. The main characters show the whole spectrum of different personalities.

Doctor Schultz seems to be driven by the profit considerations but also having a sense of justice and moral code. Django, who fights for his love and wants to retrieve his happiness, seeks revenge. Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio was the worst character and the most contemptible person as he

Generally, almost for three hours, you will contemplate the mixture of brutal bloody scenes and good humor presented in the Tarantino’s style. If you like all his previous works then undoubtedly this one is the best of all to fulfill your expectations.

Humor and music made the film a masterpiece.

The most astonishing thing is that the creators were not afraid to show all the cruelty of slaveowning America in that time period.

7.5 out of 10

SHSS Magazine

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Lolita

by Vladimir Nabokov

Yekaterina BASKAKOVA

is the most famous and the most controversial novel of Vladimir Nabokov. It is a story about an aging literature professor Humbert Humbert, who is so obsessed with a 12-year-old ‘nymphet’, Dolores Haze, that he adopts and seduces her.

Today, Humbert has become the symbol of pedophilia, and the novel - one of the most debated books of all time. It is regarded as an erotic, even pornographic, novel despite the fact that there are no scenes with pornographic content, in the general meaning of the term.

Nevertheless, Lolita has been listed as one of The 100 Best Books of All Time.

So why did this ‘amoral’ book get such a high mark of prestige? And is it ‘amoral’ in the first place? From the perspective of many eastern cultures and the general views of that time, the answer is “no”: 12-year-old girls were considered perfectly suitable for marrying men even older than Humbert Humbert.

But, even if still seen as immoral and pervert, Lolita deserves the attention of those who admire the beauty of language: Nabokov skillfully uses wordplay, epithets, and metaphors. The reader will plunge into the world of melancholic beauty and understand the meaning of the expression: ‘the gift for words’, if only he dares to read this controversial book.

Why should I read Lolita?

-To form your own opinion of the novel and its specifics, and make a brilliant display of eloquence in a conversation with the cream of the society; -To improve your vocabulary, no matter what language you choose to read it in; -To know what ‘nymphet’ means; -To understand the origins of numerous fashion styles, such as ‘Gothic Lolita’, connected to the novel; -To simply become more intelligent.

What do I need to know before reading Lolita?

-Although there are no openly pornographic scenes, several hints at sexual engagements appear in the novel -Yes, Humbert Humbert is a pedophile -Yes, there are other pedophiles in the novel -If you enjoy the book and openly declare this fact, there WILL be people who will think you are amoral

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The irony of Nabokov’s Lolita is that it is a work of astonishing verbal genius that presents verbal genius as a kind of pathology. “My sin, my soul. Lo-leeta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.,” says Humbert Humbert, and seems to find his words so distractingly beautiful that he can ignore the fact he pinned his fantasy to a human girl.

Literature, so the story goes, teaches us to see the human in others; in Lolita, Nabokov reminds us that the opposite might also be true.

Gabriel McGuire A middle-aged pedophile tells us about his obsession with an under-aged girl, and he does so in some of the most beautiful prose ever written in the English language.

James Nikopoulos

Over-rated. If your interests are literary, better to spend your time with Pale Fire, Speak, Memory, or, best yet, Lectures on Russian Literature. Should your concerns be more prurient, I still cannot recommend this playful rendition of a pedophilic rapist’s foibles written by an admitted misogynist.

Sudeepto Mukherji

SHSS Magazine

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Vegetarian Diet on Campus

Dana DYUSSEMBAYEVA

It is no secret that Kazakh people love meat. Typically, Kazakhs prefer eating horseflesh and mutton; however there is no place for pork in Kazakh traditional cuisine. The recipes are usually boring: they consist of cooked meat with little (or no) flavors, and very limited range of meat processing. I, personally, think that this kind of food is too fat and bad for the digestion system.

In my view, there are many more types of food processing in other cuisines. The experiment was conducted in order to refute the stereotype that a vegetarian lifestyle will lead to no good; I decided to try a vegetarian diet.

I have never been fan of eating red meat, not because of my ethical norms, but just because I did not like it. This, however, does not mean that I did not like all other sorts of meat, like seafood, but for this experiment I had refused myself of any kind of meat. Before trying the diet I decided to do some research, in order to get all the necessary nutritious elements and vitamins.

fatty acids from the walnuts, which are also very nutritious.

So, the vegetarian diet is healthy and contains all the necessary elements.

The Vegetarian diet is based on the refusal of consumption of red meat, poultry, and seafood.

It does not, however, restrict one from eating eggs, dairy products and yogurt as the vegan diet does.

Meat contains proteins and iron, which are highly important to human organism. So, one who wants to try a vegetarian diet should not forget to eat milk, eggs and yogurts to receive necessary proteins. To enrich the organism with the iron, which we usually consume from meat, I ate beans, cabbage and oatmeal, which are easily accessible in the supermarkets of Astana. I received omega

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I live in the campus dormitory and usually eat in the university cafeteria. So, I had to buy extra products as beans, milk, yogurt, vegetables and fruits myself.

My daily ration consisted from bananas, eggs, oatmeal, and salads. Each Sunday I tried to eat out and try new vegetarian dishes, which helped me to widen my taste horizons. I found out that the food cooked without any meat (including poultry and seafood) can be as tasty as that

which was cooked with meat.

There many websites on the internet, where you can learn how vegetables can be cooked differently to give the dish a distinct taste. For those who have a sweet tooth, there are vegetarian cakes and cupcakes!

This diet shows how one can cook the same vegetables, fruits or nuts differently to get unforgettable experience of eating something healthy and tasty. For people who cannot stop eating meat at once, the diet can be implemented steadily, week by week reducing the amount of meat in the ration.

I tried this diet for about a month, and I decided that I don’t want to be 100% vegetarian. This, however, was not because of the health issues, but rather because sometimes I want to eat food that contains meat or seafood.

I plan to stick to the limited amount of meat in my ration for the moments when I want to eat some meat.

SHSS Magazine

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Technology preview Google Glass Future is here!

Take a look at the robots replacing humans at factories, driverless cars with implemented 3D mapping systems driving on the street and on the glasses allowing hands-free interactions with internet.

GOOGLE is one of the leading companies which are responsible for such disruptive technologies and innovations that could create a new market of future technology. Appropriate example of such technology is Google Glass – augmented reality glasses.

Rudolf AIRAPETYAN

The chief idea was, as Google’s officials stated, to bridge the gap between humans and technology and make it more useful or, in other words, to implement technology into real life. As Steve Lee, Glass’s product director, thinks it is all about brining technology closer to your senses.

The way it works: When Glass is activated small screen in the upper-right hand of your field of vision appears. To start the system you can either touch the right side of Glass where touchpad is or slightly lift your head up. Then, screen with clocks and phrase ‘ok glass’ pops up.

Tech Specs: • • • •

Head-mounted display 720 mp camera Wi-Fi 3G & 4G

+ Live-language translations, live video streaming, facial recognition, photo and video shooting, live access to Google+ and Google Search, and other Google services

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Functions: Commands could be selected using the touchpad via scrolling through the list of commands or using your voice. Touchpad recognizes intuitive gestures like swiping and tapping. Alternatively, voice commands commonly start with ‘ok glass’. Glass could answer your questions such as ‘how long is the Brooklyn bridge’ in the form of colorful pop up. It can navigate you through the city, provide you a weather forecast or send a message on the go. Also, it shoots awesome first person videos and pictures or could share live video captured by Glass’s cam. And this list is not complete.

Existing problems: Glass is a new product and thus, there are still problems that need to be solved. According to Joshua Topolsky, theverge’s journalist, who was lucky to try the device, the common and obvious problem is that Glass sometimes is not able to recognize what you are saying or simply misinterprets your words.

Moreover, since Glass is strongly tied to wireless networks via WiFi or your smartphone it requires good data signal – something that is hard to ensure especially outside of the city. It is worth mentioning that poor signal leads to the almost usefulness of Glass. Another possible problem

After all: is privacy issue. Who would like to be recognized by a Google Glass recognition system at any time? Or to be recorded in the unexpected place? This could lead to the huge number of lawsuits due to the infringement of person’s privacy and will damage the public image of Glass.

Is device ready for general public? No. Is there still enormous amount of work to do? Sure. But what Google’s team has done so far is amazing! They still have time until the official release which is scheduled on the end of the year. Until that time they will have to solve defects of voice system and fix the signals. However, the very first thing that they will have to do is to convince the public that they really do need this futuristic glasses-like device.

If they succeed the world could not imagine a life without Google Glass.

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Fitness Clubs exercises, swimming pool, and SPA. Not all the fitnesscenters have a complete package of facilities, but you should find one that fits your requirements and expectations.

Aidana KASSYMOVA According to the calendar, summer is coming closer and it means that time for shorts, skirts and adorable swimwear is getting on. In order to prepare yourself for the beach season and stay healthy&active we should workout. Stop just looking at pictures of perfect ABS and go to fitness! Let’s take a look at fitness-clubs around Astana.

Group exercises include muscle-building exercises, dancing, yoga, pilates, cycle and other. Usually they last no longer than an hour.

A number of fitness centers can be found in Astana: different in size, facilities, and price-list. Since all of us are attached to university, I looked primarily at location of fitness clubs. Ideally, fitness clubs should have gym, group

Make a decision on fitnessclub that suits you and visit it. Don’t forget to eat healthy food and be in a cheerful mood!

The first fitness-club that I looked at is “Fitness First” located in “Asia Park” shopping mall. The location is very beneficial for us, moreover, after working out you can go to cinema or go shopping. The “Fitness First” offers gym, group exercises, and sauna. A good point is that they have a doctor, but weird thing is that rent for towels is chargeable. For additional charge you can also go to massage and use phyto-bar with fresh juice and sport nutrition. Except prices provided below, “Fitness First” offers day-time membership for lower prices. Day-time membership means that you can attend club from 7.00 to 17.00.

Another fitness-center is “Alau” which is located in a

well-known skating stadium.

It has gym, group exercises, sauna, and special program for kids. Advantages of being a member of “Alau” are free entrance to ice rink and to open-air aqua-center. What is more, the fitness-club offers a discount for NU staff and students for one-year membership! It has a cozy atmosphere with a welcoming staff.

Fitness-center “Saryarka” is also located near NU in the Republican Cycle Track Stadium. It has a swimming pool, sauna and gym. It seems that those who would like to build muscles should certainly go there. “Saryarka” is focused on its workout room with a variety of equipment. It also differs in pricing policy: you pay not for month/year, but for number of visits. For example, you pay for 12 visits and can use it within three months. Moreover, it has a 50% discount for students.

Other fitness-clubs that can interest you are “Fitness Palace” near Khan-Shatyr shopping mall, “Life Fitness” on Turkestan street, and “Svoi Fitness” on Syganak street near “Beijing Palace Soluxe” hotel. All of them have swimming pool, gym, and group exercises.

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Name

Sary-Arka

Price for 1 month 33,600 KZT (12 visits - 3 months) 16,800 KZT (for students)

Price for 6 months

Price for 1 year

Contacts

144,000 KZT (72 visits - 9 months) 72,000 KZT (for students)

201,600 KZT (144 visits - 12 months) 100,800 KZT (for students)

8 (7172) 707 149

8 (7172) 706 759

8 (7172) 978 777

Alau

20,000 KZT

82,000 KZT

135,000 KZT 85,000 KZT(for NU)

Fitness First

35,000 KZT

80,000 KZT

130,000 KZT

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Students’ beHavior

Inkar BAZARBAYEVA

Luckily or unluckily, SHSS is the only school at Nazarbayev University where students do not conduct experiments in laboratories. Natural sciences’ students spend many ours in labs testing the reaction of one chemical with another or measuring electron mass-to-charge ratio. Of course, discovering the secrets how nature works or the qualities of matter that surround us is extremely important. Nevertheless, isn’t it also necessary to study human behavior and social patterns? For example, have you ever wondered why Social Norms exist and what will happen if somebody breaks them? Aiming to answer this question, students from Professor McEvoy’s “Introduction to sociology” class conducted live experiments in public places. There was no necessity in expensive equipment for social experiments. The only things they needed for research were: Camera, Notebook, Courage, and, of course, Creativity.

Interested in how SHSS students violated social norms?

Read further Dear Professor McEvoy, can you tell us about the project in general? What was it about? Its aim?

The project is called “Social norm violation”.

The idea is that individuals in any society are controlled by social norms (i.e., unwritten rules that guide our behavior). For instance, the way we interact with each other, how we behave in public places, and even how we eat are framed by certain standards. The idea behind the experiment is try to make these unwritten morals more evident to students. In other words, to show that they do exist.

Can you describe the assignment that was set to students?

I let them to work either in pairs or in groups of three. They were supposed to violate social norms through extraordinary behavior such as standing inside the building with an open umbrella or tasting food from random stranger’s plate without permission, shoot it and then make general conclusions about the reaction of people.

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is Shocking Society “Yoga everywhere” Answers of J. Smith to the questionnaire: About the project: My task was to do yoga in Azia Park. I chose yoga because I thought that it will amaze the public.

Challenge: Security guards prohibited us to do yoga in Keruen, where we initially planned the experiment. Thus, we decided to go to Azia Park.

Reaction of people: Generally, the reaction was poor.

Mostly, the passersby just stared at me for a while, and kept walking... Some pretended as if they did not see me.

However, there were some people who purposely stopped for one or two minutes to look at me. They whispered to one another, probably, asking what was going on. Fortunately, nobody took photos of me, as it is common nowadays.

Your impression: It was not challenging for me to do exercises in public place, because I like attention. I enjoyed the process, and we had a lot of fun. In addition to that, I will have something crazy to remember when I get old.

“First pregnant man in Kazakhstan” Answers of Mister Z to the questionnaire: About the project: Our group decided that I will “play” the role of a pregnant man standing at the main hall of the maternity hospital. We thought that this idea will definitely shock people. My “belly” was made from a jacket to give it a more natural shape. With the jacket inside my jersey I looked like a person on the 9th month of pregnancy.

Challenge: It was a little bit shameful for me to perform this experiment, especially when representatives of male population strangely looked at me.

Reaction of people: The reaction of the population was not tempestuous as we expected. In general, women paid more attention to me, some of them laughing or pointing at me, while others simply staring. Men of older age, mostly, looked at me as if I am an “idiot”.

People of younger age reacted more emotionally to my “appearance”.

Your impression: Despite I was slightly ashamed to act as a “pregnant man”, I really enjoyed this experience.

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“A barking human” Answer of Selene Ray to the questionnaire: About the project: I am good at imitating the sounds of animals such as dogs or cats. When we were given this assignment by our professor, my friend advised me to bark and meow in crowd. The public place that we chose to go was Keruen. My mission was to squat down while I am on escalator and start barking. On the photo it is difficult to see me, because I was sitting.

Challenge: The greatest challenge was that reaction of two men behind made me upset, since they looked at me as if my actions are immoral.

Reaction of people: It was a funny coincidence that the person who stood before me on the escalator was a woman with a little child in her hands. The front of that child was turned to me. When I suddenly sat and started barking loudly the child’s mother laughed at me, because she thought that I was playing with the baby. Therefore, the reaction of people standing ahead of the woman was also positive. However, two men standing behind looked at me slightly contemptuously… Other people, whom we observed, were indifferent.

Your impression: It was interesting to observe how people react to extraordinary behavior.

(Interview with Professor McEvoy, continued) What were students' main conclusions after they conducted the experiment?

They were surprised that most of the people were indifferent or they had much less reaction than it was expected by students. One of my students told me that his friends who study in Western universities did similar projects. They observed that people from West express their emotions more openly than Kazakhstanis. The main conclusions of students were that Kazakhstani people do not respond much, because they are not very emotional, and do not prefer to express feelings publicly. *We would like to express gratitude to Gwen McEvoy, and three students (J. Smith, Selene Ray and Mister Z) for sharing their experiences.

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What is ge nd er?

How could Napoleon say this – exclaims my friend while reading the history book –“women are machines for reproduction”?! The immediate response in my head is that it was

Dina SULEYMENOVA

two centuries ago, and since then we have made a great progress.

True, the two genders seem to become more equal now, but this change also shows how gender is socially constructed. It is not whether I “am” a girl, but rather whether I “do the girl” fitting to society structure.

Open recognition of a separate Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) identity in the 20th century is not conformable with the traditional gender relations and perceptions are one indication of a shift in our consciousness. Striving for universal rights for the LGBT community can be considered new trend and it might be curious to look at NU position in the global stream.

Gender is neither natural, nor simple. Suzanne J. Kessler and Wendy McKenna divide our gender status into 5 parts.

Gender assignment – we are declared to be a boy or a girl in most of the world and mostly at birth by the doctor.

Gender identity – our sense of where we belong, which is rarely questioned and therefore seems natural. Not only individual perception of self but outside forces like peer pressure and media nowadays shape this identity and leave us no choice but to sign up either for girls or boys camp.

Gender attribution – set of physical, behavioural, textual, mythic and other cues used to attribute gender to another person.

Gender role –the role you play in society through your occupation, hobbies and chores.

Gender role identity – the role you think is yours.

Adding more distinctions, even if biological sex exists, we make sense of it ourselves and turn it into gender. This process is gradual and seems to be natural.

Studiyng LGBT issue is worth it if it helps at least some readers to use gender terms more accurately and sensitively in the future. The next time you think about gender try to be more specific, otherwise, this word will not mean a lot. The gender approach was chosen for this article because the term LGBT and their minority status arise from our understanding of gender, which I would prefer to question and rethink.

It is important to understand the extent to which our gender is ourselves and not the product of social order.

“Studies of prejudice, including prejudice against gay people, consistently show that prejudice declines when members of the majority group interact with members of a minority group. In keeping with this general pattern, one of the most powerful influences on heterosexuals’ acceptance of gay people is having personal contact with an openly gay person.”

Copyright © 2008 American Psychological Association. Visit www.apa.org

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Results of NU students’ survey (56 participants, 48% - male, 48% - female, 4% - no answer) “Homosexuality per se is not a mental disorder (APA, 1975). Since 1974, the American Psychological Association (APA) has opposed stigma, prejudice, discrimination, and violence on the basis of sexual orientation and has taken a leadership role in supporting the equal rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals (APA, 2005).”

SHSS partner, the University of WisconsinMadison, has its own LGBT center supporting LGBT and Queer students and running identity, leadership, and mentor programs. Visit www.lgbt.wisc.edu

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Aigul Dyussembayeva, Psychologyst Are gay people homosexual from the very birth? Or is their homosexuality acquired after, perhaps, abuse or something similar to it?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a person’s sexual orientation manifests early in childhood. At the same time, the process of sexual orientation awareness lasts and changes during lifetime. Perhaps, that led to the change of LGBT abbreviation to LGBTQIA with inclusion of queer, intersex and asexual people. There is no scientific proof for the influence of upbringing, sexual abuse, or other adverse life circumstances on the development of sexual orientation. It has already been established that sexual orientation is not chosen and is the result of complex interactions of genetic and hormonal changes early in the prenatal period (The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2007).

How do you see the situation of LGBT acceptance in Kazakhstan?

Kazakhstan, in my view, is not yet among the states with a tolerant attitude towards homosexuality. I assume that this is due to the Soviet past, when the Criminal Code contained an article for sodomy, and homosexuality was considered a psychiatric illness. Moreover, it seems dangerous for me to reveal one’s homosexual nature in our country because of the high degree of public rejection and homophobia. Awareness of one’s sexual orientation, in my opinion, is a very personal process. It is important to choose carefully with whom you can share your experiences.

Gwen McEvoy, Sociology Professor Which social forces might affect the attitude to LGBT people at NU and Kazakhstan?

Kazakhstan is a young country, trying to establish its reputation internationally; "bad" press in the form uppity gays and lesbians is probably not going to be tolerated by those in charge. The state is also trying to solidify and strengthen the "Kazakh nation," and that includes pro-fertility and pro-family policies, which may lead to the state going as far as denying that gays and lesbians even exist here - and making it as difficult as possible for those who are here to live openly in any way. The fact that Kazakhstanis are very conformist (as evidenced by the social norm violation experiments) also makes it, I imagine, for anyone to "deviate" from the expectation of a heterosexual lifestyle.

Is it individual or social issue?

This is a social issue, rather than an individual issue, I believe. I think that with time and the increasing influence of other cultures - especially as President Nazarbayev wants the country to become more internationally connected and recognized - Kazakhstani society will be forced to deal more directly with the issue. Unfortunately, such a process may follow the course that it has taken in other countries (such as Russia, for example, or the US, or any number of countries) with some openness, followed by increased repression, followed eventually by more legal protections and gradual public acceptance.

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Credits: Chief Editor: Darya TARISHKINA Chief Designer: Akzhan RYMZHANOV Photographers: Yekaterina PAK Azhar SAPARGALIYEVA Alen ASKAR Editors: Regina KASSENOVA Assel ZHAMBEKOVA Alibek NURKESH Valentina VINOKUROVA Dina SULEYMENOVA Designers: Aizhan SAPAR Aida ZHUMABEKOVA Darya TARISHKINA Supervisors: Emin ASKEROV Malavika JAGANNATHAN

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