Category: Events

Seminar on the restoration of Georgia’s statehood

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This year marks 30 years since the 1991 referendum on the restoration Georgia’s statehood and the following declaration of independence. The years 1988-91 were a period of profound changes in the republics of the Soviet Union, subsequently leading up to the dissolution of the USSR at the end of 1991. In the RUCARR seminar on April 9 the presenters Merab Chukhua and Tina Tskhovrebadze approach and discuss the process of restoration of Georgia’s statehood from two perspectives:

Merab Chukhua

From the 9th of April to the 9th of  April – a brief glance

Dr. Merab Chukhua was active in the national movement in Soviet Georgia during the last years of the Soviet Union and is currently Professor of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Department of Caucasiology, and also Director of the Circassian Culture Center (Tbilisi).

Tina Tskhovrebadze

Politics of Memory in the Process of Georgian Statehood Restoration

Tina Tskhovrebadze is a PhD Candidate at the Dept of Political Science Tbilisi State University and currently working as a research assistant in the project Politics of Memory in Georgia in 1988-1991 at the Institute of Political Science. She a former visiting PhD Candidate to Caucasus Studies, Malmö University.

When:  April 9 13.15–15.00 (Zoom, CET, Swedish time).

Special thanks to Chargé d’affaires Levan Machavariani of the Embassy of  the Republic of Georgia to Sweden for his kind contribution in the organisation of this event and introduction to the seminar.

Merab Chukhua: From the 9th of April to the 9th of  April – a brief glance

Tina Tskhovrebadze: Politics of Memory in the Process of Georgian Statehood Restoration

Seminar with Thornike Metreveli

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Welcome to the RUCARR zoom seminar on February 9, 15.15.

Dr. Tornike Metreveli (Postdoctoral Researcher on Christianity, Nationalism, and Populism in Lund University) will present his new book Orthodox Christianity and the Politics of Transition: Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia (Routledge, 2021).

Contact rucarr@mau.se for the zoom link.

The book Orthodox Christianity and the Politics of Transition: Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia discusses in detail how Orthodox Christianity was involved in and influenced political transition in Ukraine, Serbia, and Georgia after the collapse of communism. Based on original research, including extensive interviews with clergy and parishioners as well as historical, legal, and policy analysis, the book argues that the nature of the involvement of churches in post-communist politics depended on whether the interests of the church (for example, in education, the legal system or economic activity) were accommodated or threatened: if accommodated, churches confined themselves to the sacred domain; if threatened, they engaged in daily politics. If churches competed with each other for organizational interests, they evoked the support of nationalism while remaining within the religious domain.

Bio

Tornike Metreveli is a sociologist of religion focusing on Orthodox Christianity’s interaction with secular politics and nationalism. Before joining Lund, he had various research fellowships at the University of St. Gallen, Harvard, and London School of Economics. His recent book Orthodox Christianity and the Politics of Transition: Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia (Routledge, 2021) focuses on the comparative-historical church-state interactions, giving a grassroots and institutional account of counterintuitive secularization agendas, church involvement in public policies and revolutions, as well as interdenominational competition for the status of the national church.

Seminar – The Caucasus in the Post-Covid Multi-Polar World

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You are invited to attend the online seminar on October 6  The Caucasus in the Post-Covid Multi-Polar World with Dr. Lincoln Mitchell, affiliated to Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University (bio below).

When: October 6, 3.15-5.00 pm (Swedish time)
Where: Zoom platform
The seminar is open to staff and students as well as other interested. Welcome to sign-up at rucarr@mau.se.

Abstract

Dr. Lincoln Mitchell

One of the results of the mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic by the American government has been to accelerate the movement towards a truly multi-polar world. Instead of controlling the pandemic within its own borders and offering assistance to the rest of the world, the US suffered more loss of life and greater damage to its economy that most countries. One of the effects of this has been to damage not just America’s standing in the world, but also limit its ability to impact political events in the rest of the world. This development will be felt acutely in the Caucasus.

The three South Caucasus countries as well as the Russian regions in the North Caucasus have long had to navigate a path between major political powers, but the nature of that challenge began to change in 2017, when Donald Trump became President of the US, and has accelerated in recent months. These polities now find themselves in a very different world, one where the American footprint will be lighter and China’s almost certainly heavier. Additionally, the possibility of the world becoming less globally integrated will have major impact on a region that has long been a crossroads between different regions. These developments will have an impact on the domestic politics of the countries in the region on issues ranging from democracy and human rights to domestic stability as well as their relations with each other and the rest of the world including with regards to questions of trade, fighting terrorism and national security.

This seminar will explore these questions and probe how the Caucasus will be changed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bio

Lincoln Mitchell is a political analyst, pundit and writer based in New York City and San Francisco. Lincoln works on democracy and governance related issues in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. He also works with businesses and NGOs globally, particularly in the former Soviet Union. Lincoln was on the faculty of Columbia University’s School of International Affairs from 2006-2013. He retains an affiliation with Columbia’s Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and teaches in the political science department as well. In addition, he worked for years as a political consultant advising and managing domestic political campaigns. […] Continue reading: http://lincolnmitchell.com/about

Seminar on May 7 with Guranda Bursulaia

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Silence as a Narrator: The Case of the Georgian History Textbooks

Guranda Bursulaia, PhD Candidate at Free University in Tbilisi (Georgia) and Swedish Institute visiting researcher at Caucasus Studies, Malmö University, will give the presentation: “Silence as a Narrator: The Case of the Georgian History Textbooks” at the Caucasus Studies web & campus seminar on May 7.

Welcome!

Where: Glocal Classroom C0502 (http://bit.ly/2UKX1fg), 5th floor, Niagara Building. Please, write to caucasus.studies@mau.se in case you are interested in following the seminar online.
When: 15.15–17.00, May 7.

The seminar is about the construction of collective memory about the 1992-1993 war in Abkhazia in the Georgian school history textbooks. Guranda will discuss the transformation of the textbooks throughout the last 25 years marked with major political and social changes in the country. Besides, silencing, as an instrument of major narrative formation, and masterminds behind it will be analyzed using the example of the Georgian textbooks.

 

 

Roundtable discussion on translating Georgian and Swedish literature

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A roundtable discussion with translators of Georgian literature into Swedish and Swedish literature into Georgian was organized on March 7. Panel participants:

  • Dr. Manana Kock Kobaidze, Senior lecturer in Georgian, Malmö University, and also translator and writer
  • Dimitri Gogolashvili, based in Tbilisi and working as a translator in Swedish/Georgian
  • Tamara Tchikovani, based in Sweden and working as a translator in Swedish/Georgian, specializing on children’s literature and Astrid Lindgren
  • Kristian Carlsson, publisher (at publishing house Smockadoll) and writer, translator English/Swedish and also working on translations from Georgian into Swedish.

The discussion was moderted by Teresa Tomasevic, Malmö University

Seminar on Georgian literature

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Welcome to a seminar on Georgian literature –
Due to unforeseen circumstances the first part of the seminar has been rescheduled to March 6:

– March 6, 15.00-16.00
Part I Kakhaber Loria’s guest lecture
– March 7, 15.15-16.30
Part II Roundtable on Georgian/Swedish literary translations

Prof. Kakhaber Loria, Tbilisi Sate University, will give a guest lecture on central lines of development in the Georgian literature from earlier periods up to today,  followed by a round-table discussion with translators of Georgian literature into Swedish and Swedish literature into Georgian (the seminar will be held in Swedish/Norwegian).

(1)  Gästföreläsning med Prof. Kakhaber Loria. Hovedlinjer i den georgiske literaere prossesen fra de eldste tider til og med dagens literatur. Kakhaber Loria är professor i litteraturvetenskap och ledare av Centret för skandinaviska studier vid Tbilisis statliga universitetet (TSU)

(2)  Rundabordssamtal kring georgisk litteratur i Sverige och svensk litteratur i Georgien.
I samtalet deltager Dimitri Gogolashvili, Manana Kock Kobaidze, Tamara Tchikovani och Kristian Carlsson, alla verksamma som översättare av skönlitteratur mellan georgiska och svenska. Samtalet kommer att hållas på svenska/norska. Moderator: Teresa Tomasevic.

  • Dr. Manana Kock Kobaidze, universitetslektor i georgiska vid Malmö universitet, författare och översättare 
  • Dimitri Gogolashvili, verksam som översättare mellan bl a svenska/georgiska
  • Tamara Tchikovani, verksam som översättare mellan svenska/georgiska
  • Kristian Carlsson, förläggare och verksam som översättare mellan bl a svenska/georgiska

Plats: Niagara vån 10, C1029 (Nordenskiöldsgatan 1)
Tid: Del 1. mars 6, 15.00-16.00
Tid: Del 2. mars 7, 15.15-16.30 (externa deltagare: 15.00 vid Receptionen på bottenvån)
Anmälan till Teresa Tomasevic senast mars 6 kl 12 (teresa.tomasevic@mau.se)

Evenemangen ordnas i samband med lärarutbyte inom ett Linnaeus-Palme-projekt för samarbete mellan Centret för skandinaviska studier vid Tbilisiuniversitetet och Svenska som andraspråk samt Kaukasusstudier vid Malmö universitet (projektledare Teresa Tomasevic).

International Dialogue and Protecting Cultural Heritage in the Caucasus

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Thank you to all participants at the conference ‘Promoting International Dialogue and Protecting Cultural Heritage in the Caucasus’ December 5-6 at the research platform Russia and the Caucasus Regional Research (RUCARR), Malmö University. It has been two days of most interesting presentations and engaging discussions and comments with participants from all parts of the Caucasus! And many thanks to the Swedish Institute for making this event possible.

Programme

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