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William Fierman
Spouse: Harriet Levi
Phone Number: 812.332.5433
E mail Address: wfierman@indiana.edu
Present Occupation: Professor, Indiana University
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Life and Family: Harriet (my wife) and I have been married for 35 years. Harriet is a former music teacher has
been working in university administration for the last few decades. She continues actively playing her horn in
various amateur groups. Our daughter, Deanna is 28. She is in grad school and works in Colorado. I am a
professor in Indiana University’s Central Eurasian Studies Department. My field is contemporary Central Asia, so
much of my time is devoted to research and teaching about the ‘stans (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan). My specialty is the creation of national identities in the republics that became
independent when the USSR collapsed in 1991; I have written extensively on the status of their national
languages, particularly as they have been promoted to replace Russian in many functions. My research has
allowed me to travel a lot, especially in Central Asia. I have always enjoyed languages, and after majoring in
Russian and Chinese, it was a logical “jump” to study the languages of some of the areas sandwiched between
Russia and China. I go to Kazakhstan frequently, and as one of the few foreign professionals with a degree of
fluency in Kazakh, it is fun to surprise people by speaking their language: my presentations often make me a
media star, if only briefly. I also speak Uzbek (and also Portuguese and Czech), but for a variety of reasons—
including the current political regime in Uzbekistan—I go to that country infrequently. It has been remarkable to
observe the change of Central Asia from Soviet times to the present. It was inhospitable in the “old” days for an
American because of US-Soviet relations and because so few Americans the region. Some countries are much
more open and accessible today, but there is still a residue of suspicion among many people! That said, instead
of sending letters that took weeks in each direction in the "old" days, today I pick up the phone or send e-mails,
and supplement the reading of controlled newspapers with unofficial websites and blogs.
Next 10 Years: Next 10 years? Dunno. I recently stepped down after a stint of more than a decade as director
of Indiana University’s Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center. At the moment it feels like semi-retirement
to be “just” a professor and researcher, not bureaucrat. I imagine continuing to teach and do more research, and I’
d like to learn some more languages. I’d also like to travel to places I have never been. For all the “exotic” places I
have seen, I have never been to Scandinavia or such European countries as the UK, Italy, or Greece, nor, for that
matter, to the northwest of the US (I don’t think Kansas City or Minnesota count!!)
Favorite Memories: Support and encouragement from devoted teachers. In this connection I especially
remember Mrs. Rosenbaum and her Russian class and Mrs. Slack, advisor to the Esperanto Club. Mrs. Slack
even helped me put together money to be able to go abroad for the first time (to Brazil) on the Experiment in
International Living.
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