Dr. Begaiym Esenkulova is an Associate Professor in the International and Business Law department and LL.M. Program at the American University of Central Asia. She holds a Doctor of Juridical Science degree (summa cum laude) (2016, Hungary) and a Master of Laws degree from Central European University (2009, Hungary). She received a Bachelor of Arts in Law, summa cum laude (2008, Kyrgyzstan) and a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from the American University of Central Asia (2007, Kyrgyzstan).
Dr. Esenkulova joined 69ɫ in 2009 and serves as a member of the 69ɫ Institutional Review Board and an OSUN student Mobility Steering Committee member. During her years of work at 69ɫ, she served as a member of the Academic Senate, a member of the Faculty Ad Hoc Committee on Quality Assurance, and a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Student Assistant Policy. She was a visiting postdoctoral scholar at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law (2018, USA), a visiting doctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (2015, Germany), a visiting doctoral research scholar at the International Investment Law Centre Cologne at the University of Cologne (2015, Germany), and a visiting scholar at Columbia Law School and Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (2013, USA).
Dr. Esenkulova served as a member of the Public Council of the State Agency on Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic. She has numerous publications related to her research interests in the USA, Europe, and Central Asia. She has presented her research in public lectures and seminars at Harvard University, Columbia University, Bard College, Indiana University, George Washington University, University of Cologne, University of Siegen, London School of Economics and Political Science, and other universities and research centers.
- Winner, Bill Newton-Smith Distinguished Teaching Award, American University of Central Asia, 2023
- Award Recipient, Mathew Nimetz Award for Research Excellence, American University of Central Asia, 2020, 2021, 2022
- Full scholarship recipient, The Global Scholars Academy, the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard Law School in collaboration with the Graduate Institute, Geneva, 2022
- Winner, Open Society University Network (OSUN) Competition on Innovative Assignment Design for the Connecter Learning Environment, 2020
- Doctor of Juridical Science, summa cum laude, 2016, Hungary/US
- The Best Graduate Award, Master of Laws (LL.M.), summa cum laude, 2009, Hungary/US
- The Best Graduate Award, BA in Law, summa cum laude, 2008, Kyrgyzstan
- Valedictorian of the Class of 2007, BA in American Studies, summa cum laude, American University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, 2007
- International Environmental Law
- International Investment Law
- Investment Law and Climate Change
- International Investment Dispute Settlement
- Investment Law and Environmental Protection
- Sustainable development and law
Below are select publications. The full list of publications may be provided upon request.
- “International Investment Agreements and Sustainable Environmental Development:
The Case of the Kyrgyz Republic's Mining Sector,” in Global Values and International Trade Law (Routledge, 2021).
- “Investment Protection and Sustainable Development in International Investment Agreements: Building Bridges instead of Walls”, in World Trade and Local Public Interest, 205- 243 (Springer, 2020).
- “Balancing Investor Protection and Sustainable Development in Investment Arbitration – Trying to Square the Circle?” in Investment Arbitration and National Interest, 13-37 (in co-authorship) (Council on International Law and Politics, USA, 2019).
- “Why Can’t We Be Friends? Protecting Investors while also Protecting Legitimate Public Interests and the Sustainable Development of Host Countries in Investor-State Arbitration” (in co-authorship), 48-FALL Texas Journal of Business Law (2019).
- “The Law and Politics of Keeping a Constitutional Order: Balance of Powers and Constitutional Courts through Kyrgyzstan’s Cautionary Story”// Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, volume 7, issue 2, 263-282, 2015 (in co-authorship).
- “On Select Issues of Correlation between International and National Law”// The Collection of Scholarly Articles as part of an International conference on “Humanities and Modernization of Legal System: Russian and International Practices,” Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk and branch of St. Petersburg Institute of External Economic Affairs, Economics and Law in Novosibirsk, 296-304, 2012.
- “Select Problems of Applicability of the Principle of Universal Jurisdiction in International Law,” University of Lviv Herald, Ukraine, 208-219, 2011.
- Comparative Law in a Changing World
- Extractive Industries Law, Environmental Protection, and Sustainability
- History and Philosophy of Law
- Human Rights and Environmental Law
- Investment Law and Sustainable Development
- International Investment Dispute Settlement
- International Environmental Law and Sustainable Development
- Legal Terminology and Research
- Legal Analysis, Reasoning, and Conclusion
- Thesis Research Seminar I and II