Within the framework of short-term programs, PhD, Professor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (USA) Dilshod Achilov was invited to the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. He deliveres a course of lectures “Countering Religious Radicalism: Comparative Analysis between Middle East and Central Asia” and conducts consultations for students from the contingent of students, undergraduates or postgraduates of doctoral students from December 1 to December 27, 2022 at the Department of Religious Studies and Cultural Studies.

Professor Dilshod Achilov's scientific specializations include comparative and international politics, research methods, democratization, civil society, the relationship between religion and politics (political Islam, social networks, radicalization, counter-terrorism in Central Asia and the Middle East). He was a member of the National Council on American-Arab Relations and a visiting scholar at the Davis Center for Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. His research has been published in several journals including Religion, State & Society, Social Science Quarterly, Democratization, International Political Science Review, Journal of Central Asian Studies, and more. He is co-editor of the upcoming book The Routledge Handbook of Central Asian Politics (Routledge Press).