On Septembder 12 Märta-Lisa Magnusson, aenior lecturer in Caucasus Studies at Malmö University, was invited to Rotary, Arvika to give a lecture. The topic of the lecture was: ”Conflicts in the Caucasus: Causes, consequenses and possible? Solutions” (in Swedish). 
Author: imkava
New publication on mega events
Professors Bo Petersson and Karina Vamling (Malmö University) are the authors of the chapter “Vanished in the Haze: White Elephants, Environmental Degradation and Circassian Marginalization in Post-Olympics Sochi” that recently appeared in a topical volume on mega-events in the series Mega Event Planning.
As the text on the cover states: “The edited volume explains why sport mega events can be discusssed from the viewpoint of politics and power, and what this discussion can add to the existing scholarship on political regimes, international norms, national identities, and cultural narratives.”
Editors of the book Megaevents in Post-Soviet Eurasia. Shifting Borderlines of Inclusion and Exclusion (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) are Andrey Makarychev (Tartu University, Estonia) and Alexandra Yatsyk (Kazan University, Russia). More info about the book.
Tamar Lomadze defended PhD thesis
Congratulations to Tamar Lomadze on the successful defense of her PhD thesis. Tamar spent the period August 2014 – February 2016 as an exchange PhD candidate (Erasmus Mundus) at the Section for Caucasus Studies in Malmö.
The title of Tamar Lomadze’s thesis is: “Cognitive Aspects of Communicative Influence on Public Opinion.”
The dissertation was defended at the Department of Kartvelology and Sociolinguistics, School of Humanities of Saint Andrews Georgian University (Tbilisi, Georgia) on June 27.
Opponent was Prof. Teimuraz Gvantseladze (photo to the right) and supervisor Prof. Manana Tabidze. Second supervisor was Prof. Karina Vamling (Malmö University).
The thesis was defended and passed with distinction by the decision of the dissertation committee.
PART TWO
Of course, this gave good reason and time to celebrate with Tamar and her colleagues, friends and family…
Prof. Tariel Putkaradze (standing, photo to the left), was chairing the dissertation procedure and continued now in the capacity of tamada or toastmaster.
The new PhD. Tamar Lomadze (to the right) with her two proud supervisors Manana Tabidze (center) and Karina Vamling at the dissertation supra: 
At the end of the event, Tamar’s friend, Georgian-Swedish singer-song-writer Sabina Chantouria performed some of her songs.
Research portrait of Märta-Lisa Magnusson
The Swedish newspaper Arvika Nyheter (2016-07-04) has published a portrait of Märta-Lisa Magnusson, senior lecturer of Caucasus Studies at Malmö University, describing how her interest in Russia started and evolved, and how it later gradually shifted to also include the Caucasus. 
Currently she is one of the lecturers of the online courses in Caucasus Studies, offered at the Section for Caucasus Studies in Malmö. Photo: A selection of Märta-Lisa Magnusson’s many publications on Russia and the Caucasus (https://mah.academia.edu/MartaLisaMagnusson)
During the collapse of the Soviet Union she took an interest in the country’s minority groups.
– The Soviet Union was a multinational state. Russians were the largest group, of course, but 20 percent were not Russians. How did these peoples think and react to the ongoing processes at that time?
In that way Märta-Lisa found herself engaged in the Caucasus and became interested in Chechya, among other things. In the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s together she undertook fieldwork and organized study visits for researchers and journalists to the regions that were dominated by non-Russian population.
Read the whole article (in Swedish): http://nwt.se/arvika/2016/07/04/med-fokus-pa-ryssland?refresh=true
Photo by Anton Eriksson
Summer time and exchange PhD candidates
Summer has begun and this means saying goodbye to our exchange PhD candidates: Maka Tetradze (from Tbilisi State University; Erasmus Mundus program) and Natallia Paulovich (from Polish Academy of Sciences; Swedish Institute scholarship program).
Here we are gathered on the rooftop garden of the faculty building Niagara. It has been great having you at the Section for Caucasus Studies!
Participating in international seminar in Tbilisi
International Seminar on Russian and Caucasus Studies
Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, June 22, 2016
11:00-11:10, Prof. Tamar Dolbaia, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Georgia.11:10-11:30, Prof. Bo Petersson (left). “Frail Grounds: Charismatic Legitimacy, Political Myth and the Specter of Regime Succession in Russia.” Malmo University, Sweden.
11:40-12:00, Prof. Alexandre Kukhianidze. “Russia after the USSR: From Professional to Political Organized Crime?” Tbilisi State University, Georgia.
12:10-12:30, Prof. Stephen Jones. “Georgia, Russia, and the Limitations of Geography.” Mount Holyoke College, USA.
12:40-13:00, Prof. Korneli Kakachia. “South Caucasus: Between Russia and the West.” Tbilisi State University, Georgia.
13:10-13:30, Prof. Karina Vamling (right). “On RUCARR initiative.” Malmo University, Sweden.
Visiting Circassian Center
Prof. Bo Petersson, Malmö University, visited the Circassian Cultural Center in Tbilisi together with Prof. Karina Vamling.
At the meeting with Director of the Circassian Center, prof Merab Chukhua they discussed recent pubications and prospects for future workshops and other activities.
Read more:
Сегодня в ЧКЦ состоялась встреча с Бо Петерсоном
http://circassiancenter.org/index.php?news=31258
New research platform on Russia and the Caucasus
The research platform “Russia and the Caucasus Regional Research” (RUCARR) has been established at the Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö University (Sweden).
Activities will start in the fall.
Read more: http://mah.se/…/New-Research-Platform-about-Russia-and-Cau…/
Caucasus Student Film Festival
We invite you to the Caucasus Student Film Festival organised by Caucasus Studies.
FREE ENTRANCE
PROGRAM
May 26
14.00–16.00, Gäddan8, 104
Roots (Georgia)
Discussion
18.00–20.30, Niagara
Introduction
The Other Bank (Georgia)
Discussion
May 27
13.30–16.30, Gäddan8, 104
Yikbi (Azerbaijan)
Four Seasons (Armenia)
Discussion
Circassian conference in Ankara
The conference Gelenek ve Gelecek. Türkiye Çerekeslerinin Günsel Sorunlari (Tradition and Future) was organized by Kafkas Dernekleri Federasyonu in Ankara on May 13. 
The second session focused on Circassian linguistic issues and how to teach Circassian and other minority languages in Turkey. This includes the development of study materials for the teaching of Circassian as an elective school subject (photo to the right).
On the photo above, Prof. Karina Vamling, Section for Caucasus Studies, Malmö University, together with co-panelists Assist. Prof. Dr. Yasemin Oral (above, to the left), Istanbul University Hasan Ali Yucel, and Ass. Prof. Sinem Vatanartiran (above, to the right), Bahçeşehir University. Photo below: preparing for the panel. 
The time in Ankara included a visit together with Muhittin Unal and Erol Taymaz to the head-quarters of the organisation Kafkas Dernekleri Federasyonu, that had recently moved to a new address in the picturesque old town.
The centre holds an impressive library with Circassian and other North Caucasian books on different topics and in many languages. 