Dr. Frank Maracchione on "Central Asia beyond the Sino-European Silk Road"

Dear NU Community,

The Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Public Policy is pleased to invite you to an insightful research seminar:

Central Asia beyond the Sino-European Silk Road: Emancipatory Policymaking from Connectivity to Liberation 

Speaker: Dr. Frank Maracchione 

About the Speaker

Dr Frank Maracchione is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent. At Kent, he works on a project led by Dr Jamie Gruffydd-Jones focusing on knowledge production about China in Global Majority countries. He is also affiliated with the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) and the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs.

He holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Sheffield, funded by an ESRC White Rose Pathway Award. His doctoral thesis, titled “Amir Timur in Shanghai: Locating Agency in Uzbekistan–China Relations”, critiques the top-down assumptions in Chinese normative power by highlighting Uzbekistan’s agency in its interactions with the People’s Republic of China.

Dr. Maracchione’s broader research interests include:

• Normative power and agency of Global South actors

• South–South cooperation (particularly China–Central Asia relations)

• Computational political communication, with a focus on Structural Topic Models (STMs)

We look forward to welcoming you to what promises to be a compelling and timely discussion.

Kind regards,Graduate School of Public Policy Team