Fascination Caucasus 2024 – Culture, Society, and Politics
News
Ilia State University is inviting students from Germany to participate in the Winter School “Fascination Caucasus – Culture, Society, and Politics”. The School is organized with the support from The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the framework of the project “Go East”. The School has a tradition. It was founded 2009 by Prof. David Aprasidze as a Summer School and it has been led by Prof. Ketevan Gurchiani for many years. In 2024 the Summer School was transformed to a Winter School with the similar content.
The aim of the Winter School is to help the understanding of Caucasus as the phenomenon in the European academic space and with this to participate in the process of bringing closer European and Caucasus countries culturally and politically. The participants of the Winter School will have an opportunity to become aware of the important aspects of Caucasus culture and politics not only theoretically in the seminars, but also practically through direct contact with Georgian everyday life. The knowledge and cross-cultural competences acquired during the Winter School will establish the basis for the enhancement of Caucasus Studies in Germany and for a future collaboration.
The duration of the Winter School is two weeks (16.02.2024 – 01.03.2024) and it includes seminars, lectures and a language course (Georgian language for starters). The seminars will be facilitated by Prof. Levan Tsagareli (Ilia State University). The lectures will be held by local and international professors representing various fields of study and research. In terms of content, the Winter School will examine various aspects of politics, society, culture and history of Georgia and Caucasus. The lectures and seminars will be held in German and English. Upon finishing the School participants will be granted certificates (3 ECTS). The precondition for getting a certificate is a paper on a topic agreed in advance. A topic list as well as the corresponding bibliography will be made available timely.
The lectures and seminars will be complemented by a cultural programme. The participants of the Winter Scholl will visit German and International institutions and organizations in order to inform themselves about their activities in the region. Furthermore, the participants will have opportunity to meet with a Georgian artist, writer or politician, to visit a museum, a film evening, a theatre performance, a concert, an exhibition, the market of Tbilisi or the sulfur bath. On both of the weekends there are excursions scheduled, once to the ancient capital Mtskheta and the cave town Uplistsikhe, and once time to Eastern Georgia (Sighnaghi).
The Winter School is primarily arranged for those students of German universities who study humanities and social sciences. However, the school has become increasingly international in the recent years, so the scholarship holders of diverse foundations as well as self-funded participants are welcome to apply. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) usually provides funding for 10 students. The applications should be submitted directly on the portal of DAAD (see here). The partial scholarship of DAAD covers living expenses, travel costs and the participation fee. Additionally, there are 5 places available for the applicants with other sources of funding (by other foundations or self-funding). Priority will be given to those applicants whose study and research interests are connected to the themes of the Winter School and whose motivation letters state clearly how they are going to apply the knowledge gained at the Winter School in their future. Furthermore, 3-5 students of Ilia State University will have opportunity to join the group and take part in the seminar discussions as well as the cultural programme.
The attendance fee for the holders of the DAAD-scholarship amounts currently to 600 Euro; the self-funded and those with other funding sources will have to pay 300 Euro only. A complete fee has to be transferred to the account of the Ilia State University before the start of the Winter School. All the possible transfer fees must be covered by the participants themselves. The participants have to arrange their accommodation in Tbilisi (AirBnB, Booking.com) themselves. If requested the organizer of the Winter School might provide assistance with the search of hostels, apartments and host families. The participants bear the costs for board and lodging. The Winter School does not offer any insurance.
A complete application in English or in German consisting of a CV, a motivation letter and a recommendation of a lecturer has to be sent until December the 1st 2023 to the organizer of the Winter School, Prof. Levan Tsagareli (levan_tsagareli@iliauni.edu.ge).
The results of the competition will be announced not later than January the 1st 2024. For additional information please contact professor Levan Tsagareli.
2023