CPinMongolia.com is an open access site for my ethnographic study of contemporary post-soviet socialist Mongol culture in Mongolia since 2004.
Autobiographical elements and critical reflection are woven into my narratives. In working with Mongolian and other cultural resources, I seek to reflect the creative practices of the people around the world with whom I have the good fortune to associate.
In terms of background, I have been studying Buddhist philosophical reasoning according to the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa since 1987. I have also attended residential courses in centres and colleges of higher education all over the world. Until recently, these philosophical studies have run in tandem with the demands of a professional working life.
These days (2023) I spend more time studying poetic literatures, as well as creating music with Mongolian valencies. A strong and beautiful Khalkha Mongol voice sings in my heart. In keeping with the principle of life-long learning, I continue to study subjects with specialist tutors in North America and Europe. Articles on this site and my You Tube Channels @cpleteshner and @cpleteshner299 reflect aspects of ongoing educational and artistic collaborations in this context.
The Zava Damdin Medallion, an award
In November 2011, I was very fortunate to have been awarded the Zava Damdin Medallion as recognition of my scholarly contribution to the study of contemporary Mongol culture. I understand that I am the first woman and Australian to have been publicly awarded this honour in Mongolia.
I would like to also acknowledge my friend and colleague Erdenetsogt Sodontogos who was for many years the Mongolian President’s Adviser for International Public Affairs and personal translator, and to thank her for all that she has done and continues to do for so many others. Our scholarly collaboration is without parallel. The Honourable Professor Choirov Khishigtogtokh and Dr Hatagin Gotovin Akim received the same award for their own lifelong and much greater contribution to scholarship at the same official ceremony.
The Zawa Damdin bLo bzang rta dbyangs (1867– ) Medallion
In October 2014 I was honoured with the position of inaugural Research Fellow (Nomadic and Buddhist Philosophies) at the Zava Damdin Institute of Mongolia. Given that I am not an ethnic Mongol, this unexpected appointment is a great honour indeed.
In curating one’s own blog, one has the opportunity to exercise a particularly spacious and judicious freedom: to discern and (re)configure artistically what one considers to be more important in relation to what may be deemed less so. The curatorial aspect of blogging itself is a reflection of a contemporary modernity and its vast array of online discourses that inform, shape and engage trans-cultural diversities in a globalising world.
E-site branching categories are listed below in alphabetical order (A-Z):
The Artefacts page on CPinMongolia.com lists key works associated with my study of contemporary Mongol culture and society in Mongolia since 2004. The completion of each project mentioned has laid foundations for the next. All have required negotiating a labyrinth of intra-cultural and socio-political involvements.
Posts to the Artscapes category of CPinMongolia.com showcase original works by Khalkha Mongol artists in Mongolia as well as other talented and creative people around the world with whom I have the good fortune to associate or collaborate artistically.
For my own works, a post to Artscapes is usually in the form of a short curatorial essay, the purpose of which is to support a cross-cultural interpretation of such image/s as presented. Background stories are at times linked to a composition or performance on CP in Mongolia on You Tube
The You Tube channel hosts exploratory multimedia works at the boundary of scholarly text-based proscriptions. Whilst the background stories reside on this website as posts to Artscapes, Motifs or Soundscapes, the creative works with which they are associated can be found on CP in Mongolia on You Tube. Working with this modality of analysis and expression is not only fun but an ongoing important area of interest and research for me.
This new branch of my website (est. Oct 2022) shares information about relevant contemporary Mongolian art films, music videos, documentaries and other collaborative, multimodal made-in-Mongolia artistic projects using cinematic techniques can be found here.
Here you will find educational resources and articles based on my ‘in the field’ study of Mongolian society and culture since 2004. Whilst the formality of register may vary, the focus is on teaching and learning.
The Index lists these in chronological order (of development and posting) according to their categorial affiliation. Embedded in these, is information about ICTs and plugins and how they may help you with setting up your own WordPress blog. Music and other performing arts continue to be my travelling companions, so you will find expressions of this aspect of my journey too.
Posts to the Landscapes category of CPinMongolia.com offer authentic resources that can be cited by students, observers and other people interested in studying contemporary culture and society with Mongol valencies.
I love creating music. Here you will find the backstory to my compositions for piano on You Tube. CP in Mongolia @cpleteshner (est. 2022) shares examples from a folio of technical etudes I am working on. I work digitally and enjoy noodling around on other instruments too.
The Other Studies page on CPinMongolia.com offers readers an overview of a selection of peer-reviewed and other highlights on previous project-specific journeys. These are not about Mongolia. However they do inform how and what I do now. In considering the arc of my own small life, these artefacts of scholarly production and other formative contributions to research in Australia’s higher education and public sector have been important keystones.
Posts to the Out and About category of CPinMongolia.com share information about important gatherings, educational activities, performances and other cultural events in Australia, Mongolia and other locations around the world.
Posts to the Vignettes branch of CPinMongolia.com belong to a larger collection of short stories. These introduce contemporary Mongol women and aspects of the cultural and social worlds within which they are situated. Essays are grounded in participant-observation fieldwork as well as key informant interviews (2008) with the person upon whom the vignette is based. (Edited extracts from Pleteshner, C. (2011) Nomadic Temple: Daughters of Tsongkhapa in Mongolia. Unpublished manuscript, 365pp). Some are simply in annotated pictorial form. The contributions of other scholars who have made contributions to Mongolian Studies research, people I admire are noted here too.
© 2013-2023. CP in Mongolia. This post is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Posted: 6 January 2014. Last updated: 29 October 2023.