The American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) will hold its Annual Meeting on Friday March 28, 2003 from 1:00pm-1:45pm in the Green Room on the 4th Floor of the Hilton New York Hotel at 1335 Avenue of the Americas in Rockefeller Center in NYC. (tel: 212-586-7000).

This meeting will highlight the achievements of the ACMS during its inaugural year 2002-2003, and the plans for the future. It is being held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the Mongolia Society and the AAS. Following the business meeting, a seminar presentation on Mongolian Media: The Challenges of Post-Soviet Journalism will occur in the same room from 2:00-4:00pm. The panel participants and their topics are listed below.

The American Center for Mongolian Studies seeks to promote academic research and academic exchange in Mongolia and Inner Asia. It plans to open an office in Ulaanbaatar in 2004 to support international academic work in Mongolia.

More information on the ACMS is available at the new web site listed below. The website offers information on joining the ACMS and its member institutions, ongoing academic research projects in Mongolia, study opportunities related to Mongolia, and announcements of events and publications related to Mongolian Studies.

Mongolian Media: The Challenges of Post-Soviet Journalism
Friday, 28 March 2003 2:00-4:00pm
Green Room, Fourth Floor, Hilton New York Hotel at 1335 Avenue of the Americas

This roundtable discussion will be chaired by Leah Kohlenberg, a journalist and former Knight Foundation grantee in Mongolia. It will include discussion and audio and slide presentations on journalism in contemporary Mongolia.

Roundtable participants include:

• Bill Siemering, a co-founder of National Public Radio in the United States. Mr. Siemering recently returned from Mongolia where he spent several months working to established independent radio stations in the Gobi and other rural areas.
• Oyungerel Avirmed, former journalist and chief trainer at the Mongolian Press Institute. Oyungerel completed a Masters degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri.
• Mark Stibich, Johns Hopkins University, "Audio Paper on Radio in Mongolia."

Discussions of other journalism projects, such as the three-year project of cooperation and training between the journalism schools at the University of Missouri and Mongolian National University and coverage of recent events in Mongolia such as the farmers strike in fall 2002 will also be included.

AAS Membership is not required to attend the ACMS Annual Meeting and the panel on Journalism in Contemporary Mongolia. Both are free and open to the public.