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, Mongolian American Cultural Association, & 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)
Mongolia Society members (in person): $75 (Pay Online)
Non-members (in person): $125 (Pay Online)
Students and international attendees (in person): $60 (Pay Online)
Regular Registration (after September 1, 2026)
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
Resources: Campus map and Walking map
(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
Please meet at the Wilson Library main door near the information desk;
The Wilson Library is located within the University Library at 516 High St, Bellingham, on the main campus of Western Washington University. It forms the eastern half of the central library complex and is directly connected to Haggard Hall by a prominent second-floor skybridge over High Street.
To register, please contact Susie Drost, monsoc@iu.edu.
Meeting Location: Viking Union, room 462
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: Dr. Brad Johnson, Provost and Executive Vice President, Western Washington University
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)
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”
4:00-6:00 pm Reception at Canada House, Western Washington University campus (Campus map)
Food and drinks with entertainment by Urtnasan Gantulga, professional Mongolian morin khuur performer and teacher based in Seattle, Washington.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2026
Western Washington University
Meeting Location: Viking Union, room 462
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
Book presentation to WWU library
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)
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: Mr. William Bikales, Independent Scholar and Associate, LSE IDEAS China Foresight Project)
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: Prof. Sondra Cuban (Western Washington University)
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: Prof. Sondra Cuban)
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)
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 ($10 for MonSoc Members / $14 for non-members)
Pickford Film Center, 1318 Bay St., Bellingham, WA 98225
The link to buy tickets goes live on September 29th at 1 pm EST and tickets will sell out quickly: https://www.pickfordfilmcenter.org/movie/iron-winter
The discount code is MongoliaPFC to buy the tickets for $10 each.
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.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the planned Lattimore Mini-Exhibition has unfortunately been cancelled.
*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 (Pay Online)
Student or U.S.-based ethnic Mongol membership + conference registration: $100 (Pay Online)
International membership + conference registration: $125 (Pay Online)
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. 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
