Biography

Dr. Mukaram Toktogulova is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), where she has been teaching since 1999. She has extensive experience in teaching, research, and curriculum development in the fields of anthropology, culture, and language studies.

She has held various academic roles at AUCA, including Assistant Professor, Acting Associate Professor, and Coordinator of the Kyrgyz Ethnology Programme. Her teaching portfolio includes courses on ethnographic research methods, Kyrgyz culture and literature, Islam in Central Asia, and Manas studies.

Dr. Toktogulova holds a PhD (Candidate of Sciences) in Philology. Her academic work focuses on the intersection of religion, culture, and society in Central Asia, with particular attention to Islam, identity, and cultural practices in Kyrgyzstan.

She has been a recipient of several international fellowships, including the Fulbright Fellowship (University of Pittsburgh), as well as research fellowships at Harvard University, Indiana University, and EHESS (France).

Her research has been widely published in academic journals and edited volumes, and she actively participates in international conferences and scholarly networks on Central Asian studies.

Selected Publications

Goat humanity: housing and Islamic aid in small-town Kyrgyzstan
Till Mostowlansky and Mukaram Toktogulova.2026.   In the book. Humanitarianism from below. https://uclpress.co.uk/book/humanitarianism-from-below/

• (2023) From Hate Speech to Nonviolent Communication, Bishkek
• (2023) Female, Veiled, Active (with M. Stephan-Emmrich), International Quarterly for Asian Studies
• (2024) Representation of Islam and Muslims in Kyrgyz Media, Lexington Books
• (2020) Islam in the Context of Nation Building in Kyrgyzstan, The Muslim World
• (2017) The Localization of the Transnational Tablighi Jama’at Network in Kyrgyzstan, University of Pittsburgh Press