Sholpan Kozhamkulova

Sholpan Kozhamkulova is a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Her doctoral research, titled “Reimagining a Nation: Resonance of Kazakhstani Strategic Narratives in the Domestic and U.S. Media,” explores the interplay between Kazakhstan’s three images: desired, actual and a “foreign gaze,” and investigates how media, both domestic and American, construct and shape the image of the emerging nation of Kazakhstan. The study examines how the Kazakh/stani state narrates national identity via projecting the desired image of what it means to be Kazakhstani. Building on the framework of strategic narratives, Kozhamkulova’s analysis compares and contrasts critical gaps between this nation’s desired and actual national narratives.

Kozhamkulova is a journalism scholar from Kazakhstan. She teaches skills, theory and special topics courses in the media and communication realm at KIMEP University.

Areas of Interest

• Strategic narratives, media and nation-building
• News media in Kazakhstan and Central Asia
• Visual media, nation-branding and AI
• Multimedia storytelling
• News engagement

Education

• B.A., Al Faraby Kazakh National University (Kazakhstan)
• M.A., American University
• Ph.D., Al Faraby Kazakh National University (Kazakhstan)

CV