The Research Center for Social and Cultural Anthropology and the Doctoral Program of Ilia State University invite you to the 2026-2027 seminar series.
The meeting will be held in G106, Ilia State University. The language of the presentation is English, and attendance is free.
Time: 17:00 Tbilisi time
November 17th
Jessica Zappalà, Cagliari University (Sardinia, Italy)
Position: PhD Student
Title: “Dwelling and reclaiming contaminated space: an ethnographic research project in Ch’iatura, Georgia”
Short biography
Jessica Zappalà received her Bachelor’s degree in European, Euro-American, and Oriental Languages and Cultures from the University of Catania in 2018. In 2022, she obtained a Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology, and Anthropological Linguistics from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where she completed a thesis entitled “A City Without Hearth: Everyday Ethnography, Manganese Contamination, and Perceptions of Risk in Chiatura, Georgia.” In 2017-2018, she was awarded an Erasmus+ Partner Countries scholarship, which enabled her to spend one academic year at the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow, Russia. In 2021, she received an Erasmus KA+ scholarship for a semester at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Cagliari, where her research focuses on coexistence with toxic materials in mining contexts, with particular attention to the social and everyday dimensions of environmental contamination in Georgia.
Abstract
The proposed presentation aims to share and discuss Jessica Zappalà’s current PhD research project entitled “Dwelling and reclaiming contaminated space: ethnography of risk in Ch’iatura, Georgia”. From a socio-anthropological perspective, the project investigates the social, environmental, and public health implications of manganese extraction in the municipality of Ch’iatura (Imereti, Georgia). The project offers a reflection on the relationship between economic vulnerability, produced by a mining industry, and ecological disaster, exploring the strategies through which the local population reappropriates space and claims the right to live in a contaminated environment. The project aims to contribute to the contemporary anthropological debate on the anthropology of mining with a particular focus on forms of coexistence with toxic ecology and the possibilities for action by the population. During the seminar, she will present the project’s topic, the methodologies used, her previous experience in the field, and her plans for her upcoming field research in November 2026.
