The 2026 Mongolia Society Annual Meeting and Panels
65TH ANNIVERSARY PROGRAM SCHEDULE
OCTOBER 2-3, 2026
Western Washington University 516 High Street, Bellingham WA 98225
Sponsored by: Western Washington University & Mr. Tony Ettinger
ATTENDANCE FEES
We ask all those attending or presenting at the conference to pay an attendance fee to help the Society defray the cost of organizing the meeting.
Early Registration (before September 1, 2026)
Regular Registration (after September 1, 2026)
Mongolia Society members (in person): $90
Non-members (in person): $140
FREE ZOOM ATTENDANCE!
Thanks to a generous donation, Zoom access to the Annual Meeting will be available free of charge. Registration is required: ZOOM REGISTRATION
*NEW MEMBER DISCOUNT:
The Society is offering a special discounted membership rate when new members join and pay the Annual Meeting Attendance Fee at the same time. See below.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2026 ▪
Western Washington University 516 High Street, Bellingham WA 98225
(All meeting times are on Pacific Daylight Time)
8:30-9:30 am Curated tour of the Western Washington University's library - Holdings on Mongolia and the Mongols, given by Prof. Munkhchimeg (Chimgay) Tserendorj
To register, please contact Susie Drost, monsoc@iu.edu.
10 am-noon Welcome: Amb. (Ret.) Michael Klecheski, Mongolia Society President
Opening Remarks: His Excellency Batbayar Ulziidelger, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mongolia to the USA
Opening Remarks: WWU TBA
10 am-noon Tribute to Prof. Henry G. Schwarz (Chair: Dr. Mark Greenberg, Western Washington University)
Prof. Dr. T. Erdene-Ochir (National University of Mongolia), “Metaphor, Culture, and Social Reality: A Cognitive-Cultural Perspective on Contemporary Mongolian Political Discourse"
Dr. Alicia Campi (Independent scholar), “Conflicting Cultural and Economic Images of Nomads in Democratic Mongolia's Development”
Prof. Christopher Atwood (University of Pennsylvania), “Henry Schwarz and Summer Mongolian in Höhhot” (Virtual)
12:00-1 pm Lunch, provided
1:00-2:00 pm Prof. Henry Schwarz and His Legacy as Bibliographer and Collection Builder (Chair: Prof. Munkhchimeg Tserendorj, Western Washington University)
Mr. David Bade (Independent scholar), “Bibliotheca Mongolica: An Appreciation of Its Significance for Mongolian Studies and Its Place in the History of Bibliography” (Virtual)
Dr. Prof. B. Otgon (Northwest Minzu University, China), “Chinese Translation of Bibliotheca Mongolica: Editing, Publication, and Scholarly Significance”
Prof. Peter K. Marsh (California State University, East Bay), “Building Scholarly Connections: Henry Schwarz and the Afterlife of the Haslund-Christensen Collections”
2:15-3:45 pm Continuing the Schwarz Legacy in Mongolian Studies: Identity, History, and Education (Chair: Prof. Melissa Chakars, St. Joseph’s University)
Mr. U. Ganzorig (Ganzorig Strategy School), “Mongols and the Modern Strategy: The Strategic Character of the Mongols (Монголчуудын стратегич чанар) as Living Traditional Knowledge” (Virtual)
Mrs. Batueva Aryuna (Nutag Mongolian Language School, Japan), “Women's Memory and Buryat-Mongolian Borderland History: Shizue Ooyake's Hailar Photo Album in 1930s Inner Mongolia” (Virtual)
Mrs. L. Tserenchunt (Indiana University), “The Historical Development of Teaching Mongolian as a Foreign Language: Traditions and Institutionalization”
Ms. Maggie Lindrooth (American Center for Mongolian Studies), “The Benefits and Challenges of Independent Field School Programs in Mongolia”
4:00-6:00 pm Reception at Canada House
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2026 ▪
Western Washington University 516 High Street, Bellingham WA 98225
8:00-9:15 am Call to order: Ambassador (Ret.) Michael Klecheski, Mongolia Society President
Welcoming Remarks
Mongolia Society Annual Business Meeting: Ambassador (Ret.) Michael Klecheski, Mongolia Society President
9:30-10:30 am Reinterpreting Mongolian Epics (Chair: Prof. Charlotte D’Evelyn, Skidmore College)
Dr. L. Erdenechimeg (Institute of Mongolian Studies, Mongolian Academy of Social Sciences), “Rahu the Dog: An Anthropocene Reading of King Bodigalav” (Virtual)
Mrs. R. Baygabil (National University of Mongolia), “Comparative Study of the Queens in the Mongolian and Kazakh Heroic Epics; A Case Study of Jangar and Koblandy Batyr”
Mr. Xiriqin (National University of Mongolia), “Sacred Female Power, Ritual Agency, and Narrative Regeneration in the Juunai Version of the Mongolian Epic Khankharangui” (Virtual)
10:40-12 pm Mongolian Music Today (Chair: Prof. Peter K. Marsh, Cal State East Bay)
Prof. Charlotte D’Evelyn, “Redrawing the Map?: Inner Asian Khöömii and Dreams of Global Audibility in Inner Mongolia, China”
Miss Yunna J. Han (New York University), “Gendered Rewriting in Chinese Adaptations of Mongolian Folk Songs”
Mrs. Enkhsanaa Sommers (National University of Mongolia), “One Song, Three Regional Voices: A Comparative Study of Khalkha, Borjigin, and Bayanbaraat Performances of the Mongolian Long Song Dömön”
Dr. Victor Avila-Luvsangenden (Concordia College), “Mongolia’s first operatic “masterpiece”: a brief analysis of pitch, harmony, and leitmotifs in Kh. Bilegjargal’s opera
Tears of the Lama”
12 pm-1 pm Lunch, provided
1:00-3:00 pm Social Issues in Urban and Rural Mongolia (Chair: TBA)
Mrs. Christine Jäggi (Founder and President of Bayasgalant Children’s Aid Mongolia), Presenter, “Education and Protection for Children in a Ger District of Ulaanbaatar” (Virtual)
Prof. Hilary Schwandt (Western Washington University), “Painful Abortions in Rural Mongolia”
Mrs. A. Gerelmaa (University of Canberra, Australia), “Self-Regulated Learning of Mongolian Nomadic Herder Children: Bridging Home-Based Early Childhood Education and Mandatory Primary Education” (Virtual)
Dr. Candace Kaye (Mongolian National University of Education) Primary presenter and Co-Presenters Dr. B. Javzandulam (Mongolian National Institute for Educational Research) and Dr. Ch. Zayasuren (Institute of Language and Literature, Mongolian Academy of Sciences), “Playing with Stones as a Tool for Cultural Transmission among Children of Herder Families in Mongolia: A Collaborative Study” (Virtual)
3:15-3:55 pm Agriculture and Mongolian History (Chair: TBA)
Mr. Chao Bo (State University of New York), “Agricultural Vocabulary across Mongolian Dialects: Language Contact and Cultural Change”
Dr. Prof. Zhilin Shi (Lanzhou University, China), “Agricultural & Pastoral Development and Its Influencing Factors in the Hei River Basin of the Hexi Corridor, Northwestern China, during the W Xia & Yuan Periods” (Virtual)
4:00-5:30 pm Mongolian Language and Literature (Chair: TBA)
Miss Wei Linhua (National University of Mongolia), “The Obscured Literary Dimension: Multilingual and Text-Image Literary Works of Toin Jambaldorj in the Qing Period” (Virtual)
Prof. Aoyun-Chimuge (Hohhot Minzu College, China) and Prof. Shaozeng Zhang (Oregon State University), Presenter, “Cross-Border Scripts: Language Identity and Cultural Entanglements of Mongolian Students at Universities in Inner Mongolia, China” (Virtual)
Prof. Kh. Narmandakh (Mongolian National University of Education), “Platform-Dependent Communication Styles in Social Media: A Comparative Linguistic Analysis of Facebook and Twitter Usage Among Mongolian University Students” (Virtual)
Dr. R. Bigermaa (Mongolian University of Science and Technology), “From the Representation of Nature to Ecological Ethics: Expressions of Nomadic Cultural Values in the Poetry of B. Yavuukhulan” (Virtual)
8:00 pm Iron Winter, movie at the Pickford Film Center ($14 tickets)
Pickford Film Center, 1318 Bay St., Bellingham, WA 98225
In Mongolia’s coldest valley, horses mean life. But in the Iron Winter, nothing can survive alone. For countless generations, the herders of the Tsakhir Valley have protected their horses from ferocious arctic storms by amassing a giant winter herd, nominating their bravest young men to protect it. The daring tradition served as a brutal coming of age ritual, until five years ago, when under increasing environmental pressure, it abruptly ended. Fearful about the loss of culture, elders soon vowed to revive it. And two young friends were handed the daunting responsibility to not only protect the valley’s herd — but to save its most sacred practice. For four months, the boys battle Mongolia’s deadliest winter on record, testing friendship and faith in a fight to keep 2000 horses alive, and preserve an ancient way of life.
Mini Exhibition: Khutughtu and Lattimore: Legacy Beyond Borders
The American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS), in partnership with Western Washington University, will host a mini exhibition of selected photographs from the recent ACMS exhibition Khutughtu and Lattimore: Legacy Beyond Borders. The mini exhibition at the Mongolia Society Annual Meeting will feature selected photographs donated to ACMS in fall 2024 by Anne Lattimore Price, the granddaughter of Owen Lattimore. Most of these photos, which are from Owen Lattimore’s visits to Mongolia in the 1930s-1960s, are previously unpublished and portray Owen’s son David as a child, the Dilowa Khutughtu, and the visit of U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace to Mongolia in 1944.
*NEW MEMBER DISCOUNT:
The Society is offering a special discounted membership rate when new members join and pay the Annual Meeting Attendance Fee at the same time.
Before September 1, 2026, It will cost only $100 for new U.S. members, $80 for new US student members, $110 for new foreign members and $90 for new foreign student members to both join the Society and attend the Annual Meeting and Panels;
After September 1, 2026, it will cost $115 for new US members, $100 for new US student members, $125 for new foreign members and $110 for new foreign student members to both join the Society and attend the Annual Meetings and panels.
NEW MEMBER SPECIAL RATES:
New members who join The Mongolia Society and pay the Annual Meeting Attendance Fee at the same time qualify for a discounted combined rate.
Before September 1, 2026:
Regular U.S. membership + conference registration: $100 (Pay Online)
Student or U.S.-based ethnic Mongol membership + conference registration: $90 (Pay Online)
International membership + conference registration: $110 (Pay Online)
After September 1, 2026:
Regular U.S. membership + conference registration: $115
Student or U.S.-based ethnic Mongol membership + conference registration: $100
International membership + conference registration: $125
Additional Links
Information about staying in and traveling to Bellingham is available on our Accommodations & Travel page
Hotel Accommodations Hotel Leo, 1224 Cornwall Ave Bellingham, WA 98225. A block of rooms has been put on hold for the meeting until September 1, 2026.
To reserve a room, please state Mongolian Studies Conference when reserving a room. booking@thehotelleo.com 360-746-9097
Zoom registration is available on our Zoom Registration page