PhD defence K. (Kim-Chi)Tran

Below is a brief summary of the dissertation: 

This thesis examines how the convergence of pastoralism, schooling and digital ICT development shapes the education and future aspirations of Mongolian herders’ children. My research shows that Mongolian herders’ children become education nomads by straddling the herder and schooled urbanite communities of practice. I use education nomads as a generational identity to bring attention to Mongolian rural youths’ concurrent participation in herding, schooling, and digital practices. This straddling enables herders’ children to orient towards urban professional aspirations while also building their capacity to navigate Mongolia’s rural-urban continuum for multiple futures.