Ms Elmaz Asan

Supervisor: Professor Rory Finnin

About

Born in exile in Uzbekistan, I am a Crimean Tatar journalist and documentary filmmaker currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Cambridge. My academic and professional work focuses on the history of Crimea, Russian colonialism in Crimea, Crimean Tatar history and cultural heritage, and historical memory.

Before beginning my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge, I worked for the Crimean Tatar television channel ATR as a journalist, television presenter, foreign correspondent, and documentary filmmaker. Through my reporting and documentary projects, I explored questions of identity, historical memory, and cultural survival.

My work has been published in both peer-reviewed academic journals and international media outlets, including Al Jazeera, openDemocracy, Euromaidan Press, Domani, Il Foglio, and Pearls and Irritations.

Research

My doctoral research examines Russian colonial policies in Crimea, British travel writing, and the historical experiences of the Crimean Tatars. It explores how British travellers, diplomats, and military observers documented the transformation of Crimea following the Russian annexation of 1783 and the consequences of imperial rule for the peninsula’s indigenous population.

Particular attention is given to representations of the Crimean Tatars, demographic change, the decline of Islamic institutions, and the destruction of cultural heritage under Russian imperial administration. The project also draws on Ottoman archival materials and Crimean Tatar oral traditions to investigate questions of memory, displacement, cultural survival, and colonial governance in Crimea.

Publications

Asan, Elmaz. “British Travellers on the Russification of Crimea at the Turn of the Eighteenth–Nineteenth Centuries.” Bitig Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 3, no. 5 (2023): 30–47.

Asan, Elmaz. “Elite Culture of the Early Modern Crimean Khanate: Western Travellers’ Perceptions.” Bitig Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 4, no. 7 (2024): 31–42.

Asan, Elmaz. “Ismail Gaspirali – Leader of Modernization of Islamic Enlightenment and Culture in Crimea.” Ukrainian Religious Studies 93 (2021): 87–105.

Selected Media Publications

Asan, Elmaz. “Russia Weaponizes History to Erase Crimean Tatar Identity.” Euromaidan Press, 2024.

Asan, Elmaz. “Ottant’anni di sterminio in Crimea, il genocidio dei tatari continua.” Domani, 2024.

Asan, Elmaz. “Crimea Was Never Russian.” Al Jazeera, 2023.

Asan, Elmaz. “From Genocide to Resilience: The Crimean Tatars’ Struggle for Justice.” Pearls and Irritations, 2023.

Fellowships

N-ost Journalism Fellowship, 2024

Visiting Research Fellowship, University of Cambridge, 2022–2024

Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS), 2022