The Ecology of Everyday Life: Local Food Practices in the Face of Environmental Threats in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti Region
2026-04-07 17:00 - 18:00 (Asia/Dubai)
On April 7 at 17:00, the Anthropology Research Centre and the Doctoral Programme in Social and Cultural Anthropology invite you to an online seminar by Dr. Natallia Paulovich: “The Ecology of Everyday Life: Local Food Practices in the Face of Environmental Threats in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti Region.”

Abstract:
This presentation outlines the conceptual foundations of the emerging research project “The ecology of everyday life: Local food practices in the face of environmental threats in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region”. The future study will investigate how communities living in an arsenic-affected area of northern Georgia navigate environmental uncertainty in their daily lives, with particular attention to food sourcing, preparation, and consumption. Although geological, environmental and medical researchers have extensively documented arsenic contamination stemming from abandoned processing facilities, the social dimensions of this ecological crisis remain largely unexamined. Little is known about how residents understand contamination, how risk knowledge circulates within households and communities, or how longstanding culinary traditions are re-interpreted in light of perceived threats. Building on Mary Douglas’s insight that purity and pollution operate as both symbolic and social classifications, the project approaches toxicity not only as a measurable chemical hazard but also as a lived condition embedded in everyday practices. The presentation maps the conceptual terrain that guides this ethnographic inquiry, drawing on scholarship in environmental anthropology and studies of foodways under conditions of degradation, and comparative research on community responses to industrial pollution. It introduces the proposed methodological framework—long-term participant observation, semi-structured interviews, household food mapping, and interdisciplinary collaboration with environmental scientists—designed to trace the interplay between ecological risk and domestic life. By outlining the theoretical rationale and research design, this presentation sets the stage for a broader investigation into how rural communities in Georgia interpret, negotiate, and accommodate environmental threats in their everyday ecologies. The goal is to articulate the analytical questions that will drive the fieldwork and to situate the project within ongoing environmental debates.
Bio
Dr. Natallia Paulovich is an Assistant Professor at The Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw, Poland, specialising in gender studies, food anthropology sociology, and Eastern European studies. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2018, and holds a master’s degree in History. Dr. Paulovich has conducted extensive fieldwork in Georgia and Belarus, focusing on issues of gender, social identity, and post-Soviet transformations. Her work has been published in journals such as Slavic Review and Anthropology of the Contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia. Her first book called ‘The Taste of Agency: Cooking, Gender, and Social Change in Georgia’ appeared in 2025 in Palgrave MacMillan.

The Agency and Materiality of Sacred Texts in Armenian Christianity
2026-03-31 17:00 - 18:00
The Anthropology Research Center of Ilia State University, together with the PhD Program in Social and Cultural Anthropology, invites you to a seminar by Konrad Siekierski on March 31 at 17:00: “The Agency and Materiality of Sacred Texts in Armenian Christianity”.
The seminar will take place at Ilia State University, Room A103 32 Ilia Chavchavadze Avenue.
This lecture will discuss the social lives of Armenian Christian books and scrolls, which act as sacred thing-beings endowed with supernatural power and agency, having life histories and personalities. Drawing on literature on material religion and ethnographic examples from my research, I will ask what these texts are, what they do, and how they relate to people. To respond to these questions, I will examine the phenomenon of ‘home saints’ venerated in unoﬃcial shrines across several regions of Armenia and in Armenian-populated parts of Georgia, where they aﬀord the Armenian Christians the experience of a ‘radical presence or realness’ (Orsi 2008: 14) of the sacred. Then, I will turn to the Matenadaran (the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts) in Yerevan. In this state repository, research centre, and museum, Armenian religious texts have been protected, renovated, studied, and displayed as precious pieces of tangible national heritage. However, some of these manuscripts have resisted secularisation while preserving the traditional roles of powerful thing-beings which/who attract not only visitors but also pilgrims to the Matenadaran.
Konrad Siekierski holds a PhD in social anthropology from the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King’s College London. Konrad is a co-editor of Armenia: A Modern Culture from an Anthropological Perspective (2014), Armenians in Post-Socialist Europe (2016), and a special issue of the Entangled Religions journal on “Religion and Pandemic” (2022).

Nana Iashvili's online lecture “Collateralized lives”: Home, debt, and financialization in the Republic of Georgia
2026-03-24 17:00 - 18:00
Tuesday, 24 March at 17:00 PM Nana Iashvili will deliver an online lecture “Collateralized lives”: Home, debt, and financialization in the Republic of Georgia.
In this talk, Nana will present framework and preliminary findings for her PhD project that investigates credit-debt arrangements in Georgia where individuals use their homes to borrow large sums of money. Examining the roles of creditors ranging from banks to informal moneylenders, to ‘Giravnoba’, her work delves into the transformation of housing into a financial asset, subsequent displacements and dispossessions and how these processes affect households and people’s daily lives.
Nana holds an MA in Sociology and Social Anthropology from Central European University. Currently, at the Social and Cultural Anthropology department at the University of Vienna, Nana’s PhD research centers on housing-related debts in Georgia. Nana is a member of the Landscapes of Extraction: Capital, Violence and City team and a fellow at the Challenge of the Urban Futures Platform.
Working language: English
Format: online — for details contact mariam.darchiashvili@iliauni.edu.ge
Time: 24 March 2026, 17:00 Tbilisi time
Free to attend.

Workshop - Academic Writing and Publishing in the Postplagiarism Era
2026-03-19 08:00 - 17:00
This workshop is part of the project “Addressing Academic Misconduct and Integrity in Georgia,” funded with the support of the Center for Governance and Culture in Europe (GCE-HSG) at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland.
This workshop is designed for early-career researchers and doctoral students and focuses on academic integrity, generative AI, and scholarly writing and publishing in the digital age. It explores how AI tools are reshaping research practices, authorship, and scholarly responsibility, with particular attention to ethical use, transparency, and integrity. Participants will engage in practical discussions on responsible AI-supported writing, avoiding academic misconduct and navigating emerging institutional and journal policies. The workshop also provides guidance on developing a strong academic voice and maintaining rigor while working with digital tools. Through interactive sessions and real-world examples, participants will gain concrete strategies for ethical, confident, and future-oriented academic practice, including insights into publishing in leading international journals.
The workshop will be led by PD Dr. Elena Denisova-Schmidt, Privatdozentin at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and Research Fellow at the Boston College Center for International Higher Education, and Dr. Tatiana Sitchinava, Assistant Researcher at the Institute of Demography and Sociology, Ilia State University.
The workshop will be held on 25 May 2026 at 11:00, at Ilia State University.
The working language of the workshop is English.
For submission, please fill in the Google Form: Blank Quiz – Google Forms
The deadline for submission is 30 April 2026.
Selected candidates will be contacted by email in early May.

Mohammad Golshan’s Lecture JUDEO-PERSIAN IN THE HISTORY OF IRAN AND AS A LANGUAGE OF RECOMPILING MEDICINE
2025-12-25 16:00 - 17:00
About the Presenter
Mohammad Golshan is currently pursuing a joint double-program PhD in Iranian Studies at the University of Göttingen in Germany and in Terrains, textes, interdisciplinarité (2TI) at EHESS in France. His main focus is on the history of medical science in the early modern global history. Currently, He is working on the feminine body in Indo-Persian medical and occult texts of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Along with Judeo-Persian codicology, he is also interested in Judeo-Persian medical writings, folk medicine, divination, and magic in Iran and Central Asia, specifically in texts from the 15th to the 19th century in Iran and Bukhara.
Annotation
The medical texts that were recompiled in Judeo-Persian are among the sources that have not received the attention they truly merit. A significant collection of Judeo-Persian medical manuscripts, which are recompilations of medieval Persian medical texts, is housed in the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. While there may be similarities in their codicological features, it is essential to examine them as discrete cases. This lecture proposes a general examination of one of these sources in The Library of JTS, Kifāyat-i Manṣūrī, along with a practice of reading some excerpts of the text as an interactive learning endeavor. This lecture will encompass two primary components as well: an exposition of the sources stored in the Library of JTS and a historical background of writing in Judeo-Persian in Persianate world context.
Working language: English
Time: December 25, 16:00
Location: Ilia State University, 201/202 meeting hall of Building S, Acad. G. Tsereteli Street N3
Attendance is free.

International Workshop Jewishness in Georgian and European Literatures
2025-11-28 16:00 - 17:00
Ilia State University, Institute of Comparative Literature
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
International Workshop
Jewishness in Georgian and European Literatures
Friday, 28 November 2025
Book Store Ligamus
Ilia State University
Ilia Chavcahvadze av. 32, Tbilisi, Georgia
The objective of the workshop is to examine the literary representations of Jewishness in Georgian and European literatures from 1850 until the present. Drawing upon a transnational and intermedial perspective, the aim is to explore artistic, literary, musical and cinematographic examples in the context of the politico-racial anti-Semitism that emerged during the 19th century: the Dreyfus Affair and its resonance in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, followed by the rise of fascisms, Nazism and the rupture introduced by the Shoah, as well as the state anti-Semitism of the Soviet Stalinist regime.
The fundamental question that this workshop seeks to address pertains to the manner in which literature, in its broadest sense, encompassing its manifold forms of representation, portrays Jewishness within diverse social and national contexts. This raises the question of the response or capability of writing to respond to the rise of anti-Semitism through diverse historical circumstances, including our contemporary world. The objective of this workshop is to (re)examine questions on a vast subject that is still very under-explored in certain areas and from particular perspectives, such as minor literature and forgotten writers.
The primary research topics encompass, but are not limited to, the following:

Jewishness in literary history: an examination of both national and transnational contexts;
The body in the marginalised space;
Spaces of exclusion;
Representation of Jewishness in an intermedial perspective;
(Co)inhabiting common spaces;
Examination of alternative forms of exclusion and marginalisation (for example, racial, social and gender-based) and their literary and artistic manifestations.

To participate in the workshop
You are invited to submit your proposal by October 20, 2025. The proposal should include: Title, Abstract of the paper (250 words) and short biography (250 words).
The proposal should be sent: tina_mamatsashvili@iliauni.edu.ge,bela_tsipuria@iliauni.edu.ge
Working Languages: Georgian, English, French
Format: Hybrid
Organising committee

Ilia State University: Atinati Mamatsashvili, Bela Tsipuria
Vrije Universiteit Brussel: Arvi Sepp

Scientific committee

Mzaro Dokhtourishvili (Ilia State University)
Atinati Mamatsashvili (Ilia State University)
Arvi Sepp (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Nino Pirtskhalava (Ilia State University)
Bela Tsipuria (Ilia State University)

2025

Harutyun Khudanyan’s lecture “The Origin and the Process of Formation of the Armenian People in the Light of Recent Studies”
2025-10-02 16:00 - 17:00
Harutyun Khudanyan, a researcher at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, will deliver a lecture “The Origin and the Process of Formation of the Armenian People in the Light of Recent Studies” within the permanent seminar of the Institute in the 201/202 meeting hall of Building S of Ilia State University on October 2.
Lecture annotation
The speaker presents views on the origins of the Armenian people, taking into account the latest genetic research. Modern Armenians represent a distinct, enduring lineage shaped in antiquity and preserved through history.
About the speaker
Harutyun Khudanyan is a researcher at the Department of Ancient History of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. His academic interests focus on Oriental and ancient sources, Armenian-Georgian relations, the ancient history of the Armenian people and the region, particularly the history and culture of Urartu. Among his publications, it is worth citing: “New Unpublished Materials from the Personal Funds of Georgian Prominent Urartologist Giorgi Melikishvili: G. Melikishvili and Armenology.” Scientia (Tbilisi), No. 2 (2021), “From the History of Armenian-Georgian Academic Relations: A Newly Discovered Letter by A. Kalantari from the Personal Fonds of L. Mushkelishvili.” Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, 2022), “The Urartian Collection of the Georgian National Museum.” In: Museum and Globalization, Materials from the International Conference (2021).
Working language: English
Time: October 2, 16:00
Location: Ilia State University, 201/202 meeting hall of Building S, G. Tsereteli Street N3
Attendance is free.
2025

Public Lecture by Professor Sergey Sharov: “Inclusive Voices: Artificial Intelligence for Deliberative Democracy”
2025-06-23 18:00 - 19:00
On June 23rd at 18:00, in Room S507 at Ilia State University, Professor Sergey Sharov from the School of Languages, Cultures, and Societies at the University of Leeds will give a lecture titled “Inclusive Voices: Artificial Intelligence for Deliberative Democracy.”
Professor Sharov will discuss the approaches and outcomes of the iDem project, funded through the EU Horizon program. The project aims to support the participation of marginalised groups—including the elderly, migrants, and individuals with mental health conditions—in democratic processes by addressing linguistic barriers.
The speaker will explore how Artificial Intelligence can enhance the participation of marginalized groups in inclusive democratic processes by overcoming linguistic barriers. While deliberative democracy emphasizes mutual understanding among diverse stakeholders, complex institutional language often excludes the elderly, migrants, and individuals with mental health conditions from meaningful engagement in civic platforms and online spaces. For this reason, the project, developed in collaboration with the City Council of Barcelona, Cibervoluntarios, PIM, and ANFFAS, focuses on three case studies involving these communities and aims to identify and address complex linguistic phenomena in Catalan, Italian, and Spanish to make deliberative processes more accessible. Drawing on Systemic-Functional Linguistics, the speaker will discuss how differences between language users (e.g., socio-demographic factors) and language use (e.g., communicative functions) influence participation in AI-mediated deliberation.
At the end of the lecture, Professor Sharov will reflect on two risks: on the one hand, overclaiming – creating overly optimistic expectations, and on the other hand, underclaiming – the risk of overlooking the potential of Artificial Intelligence to foster inclusive dialogue.
Working language: English
Date & Time: June 23, 18:00
Location: Room S507, Ilia State University, 3 G. Tsereteli Street
Everyone interested is welcome to attend.

Tergdaleulebi and the Revival of Georgian National Identity
2025-06-13 18:00 - 19:00
On June 13, at Ligamus Book House, join us for a thought-provoking discussion on: Tergdaleulebi and the Revival of Georgian National Identity
Event Overview
This event will examine the mission, work, and legacy of the Tergdaleulebi—a generation of 19th-century Georgian intellectuals and public figures like Ilia Chavchavadze who were determined to spark a national revival and civic consciousness in the country. The discussion will explore the principles that guided them, how they understood Georgian national identity, and what steps and strategy they believed were needed to renew and protect it, both from external threats and internal weaknesses of Georgian society. The conversation will also address internal tensions within the movement, its eventual decline, and what we can learn from the movement to better understand the challenges of Georgia today.
Panellists: Dr. Ghia Nodia and Dr. Bela Tsipuria, Professors of Ilia State University
Moderator: Valerian Sikhuashvili, Lecturer of Ilia State University
Date and; Time: Friday, June 13, at 6:00 pm
Venue: Ligamus Book House, 32 Chavchavadze Ave.

Presentation of the First Georgian Edition of the Book “Politics in Europe” and the Student Conference and Poster Competition at Ilia State University
2025-05-29 11:00 - 14:00
On May 29 Ilia State University will host the presentation of the first Georgian edition of the book “Politics in Europe”, along with a student academic conference and a poster competition.
Presentation of the Georgian Edition of “Politics in Europe”
The first part of the event will feature the presentation of the Georgian translation of the book “Politics in Europe.” The book provides an in-depth discussion of the institutional structures, political systems, decision-making mechanisms, as well as the historical and current political, socio-economic, foreign policy, and security challenges of seven countries: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russia, and Poland. It also covers the institutional framework of the European Union.
This comprehensive approach allows readers to both deeply understand each individual political system and conduct comparative analysis, making the book a valuable resource for both teaching and research purposes.
The academic editors of the first Georgian edition of “Politics in Europe” are Professor Giorgi Gvalia, Professor of International Relations at Ilia State University, and Giorgi Odoshashvili, PhD candidate in political science and lecturer.
The book was published by Ilia State University with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Representation in Georgia.

Student Academic Conference and Poster Competition
The book presentation will be followed by a student academic conference and a poster competition on the topic:
“The European Union and a Changing World: At the Crossroads of Geopolitical Shifts, Strategic Autonomy, and Global Responsibilities.”
Participating students will present academic papers and visual posters on pressing issues in contemporary European politics — including the EU’s global role in a changing international system.
The event is organized by the EU-funded project “Jean Monnet Chair at IliaUni” in cooperation with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Date: May 29, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM
Location: Ilia State University, G106 Conference Hall

Public Lectures by Researcher Ravza Altuntaş-Çakır at Ilia State University
2025-05-06 17:00
On May 6 and 7, Ravza Altuntaş-Çakır will deliver a series of public lectures. She is both a visiting researcher at the ongoing seminar of the G. Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies at Ilia State University and an assistant professor at Marmara University. These lectures are intended for students, researchers, and anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of contemporary debates on modernity and democracy in the Islamic world.

Islam and Modernity
The speaker will explore the ongoing debates surrounding modernity in Islamic thought, particularly emphasizing the legacy of the Islamic modernist movement and its key figures, including Muhammad Abduh and Fazlur Rahman. The audience will reflect on the dynamic interplay between tradition and reform in shaping contemporary Muslim societies, with the theoretical discussion grounded in the concept of multiple modernities.
Working Language: English
Date and Time: May 6, 17:00–18:30
Location: Ilia State University, Building S, Meeting Hall 201/202, 3 G. Tsereteli Street
Everyone is welcome to attend.

Towards a Political Theory of Muslim Democracy
The speaker will examine the development of theories about a Muslim-based democratic system—a form of democracy that acknowledges the central role of religion in Muslim societies. The lecture will cover the following topics: multiculturalism, secularism, constitutionalism, and the organization of the public sphere, presenting the idea of Muslim democracy as a subject of political theory rather than theology.
Working Language: English
Date and Time: May 7, 12:00–13:30
Location: Ilia State University, Building S, Meeting Hall 201/202, 3 G. Tsereteli Street
Everyone is welcome to attend.

About the Speaker
Ravza Altuntaş-Çakır is an assistant professor at the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Marmara University. She earned her Ph.D. from the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University in 2018. Altuntaş-Çakır is the author of “A Political Theory of Muslim Democracy,” published by Edinburgh University Press in 2022. The book was translated into Arabic and published by Qatar University Press in 2024.

"Feminist Democracy: Reconstruction of Autonomy, Identity and Citizenship" - PhD Dissertation Defense by Aia Beraia
2025-04-29 10:00 - 12:00
Public defense of the doctoral dissertation “Feminist Democracy: Reconstruction of Autonomy, Identity and Citizenship” by the doctoral student of the doctoral programme Philosophy, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Ilia State University, Aia Beraia, will be held on April 29, at 10:00, under the Cotutelle Agreement between University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster) and Ilia State University.
The joint project gives the doctoral student an opportunity to defend a dissertation based on the cotutelle principle and obtain a double doctoral degree and diplomas from both universities.
The project aims to offer the new model of democracy through reconstructing several foundations of actual liberal democracies. There are various symptoms that liberal democracy is in crisis – among them are the decline of electoral participation, the rise of far-right movements and the strengthening of illiberal regimes. As a response to this global crisis, the author proposes ‘feminist democracy’ – the model which is constructed by looking into the theoretical flaws and weaknesses of normative liberal theory, the foundational ideas of liberal democracy, and offers their reconstruction in feminist terms. Following this aim, the objectives are to reconstruct the ideas of autonomy, identity and citizenship. Thus, the research aims to create a normative theory of democracy. The proposed normative theoretical framework of the dissertation consists of the ideas of relational autonomy and collective autonomy, ‘identity’ as an ethical- normative concept and a feminist-republican model of citizenship in heterogeneous societies.
Supervisor from the University of Münster: Professor Thomas Gutmann
Supervisor from Ilia State University: Associate Professor Tamar Tskadadze
Working language: English
Time: April 29; 10:00
Venue: Ilia State University, S800, 3 G. Tsereteli str.

A Public Lecture by Professor Paul Salkovskis
2025-03-28 17:00 - 18:00
Professor Paul Salkovskis, a renowned Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy expert, will deliver a public lecture on current issues in modern Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy at Ilia State University, Hall G106, on March 28th at 17:00.
Professor Paul Salkovskis, Director of the Oxford Centre for Psychological Health, also leads the Clinical Psychology Course and serves as the Editor of the BABCP journal, “Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy”. https://oxicptr.web.ox.ac.uk/people/professor-paul-salkovskis
The meeting will be moderated by Ketevan Tchanturia, a Clinical Psychology Professor at King’s College London and Ilia State University. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/kate.tchanturia.html; www.peacepathway.org
Working language: English
Date/Time: March 28, 17:00
Location: Ilia State University Hall G106, N1 G. Tsereteli St.
Everyone interested is welcome to attend.

International Conference “The Middle East and the Caucasus: Culture, History, Politics”
2024-12-19 10:00 - 2024-12-21 18:00
On December 19, at 10:00 a.m., the International Conference “The Middle East and the Caucasus: Culture, History, Politics,” organized by the Giorgi Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies, will open in Auditorium T102 at Ilia State University. The event is dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the birth of Academician Giorgi Tsereteli and the 95th anniversary of the birth of Academician Tamaz Gamkrelidze. The conference will be conducted on December 20 and 21.
On December 22, a roundtable will also be held to discuss the results of the first year of the project “Perception of Georgia and Armenia in Western and Eastern Sources (Middle Ages and Early Modern Period)” (FR-23-10274-1), supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Scientific Foundation.
On December 22-23, a final international conference of the project “Ethnoreligious Mosaics of Tbilisi (1801-1921)” (FR-21-8081), supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Scientific Foundation, will take place.
Conference languages: Georgian and English
Date/Time: December 19-21, 10:00 a.m.
Location:

December 19 – Auditorium T102;
December 20-21 – Auditorium S201-202

Everyone is welcome to attend.

Workshop and Concert “On the Trail of Polish Sonorism”
2024-11-10 18:00
On November 10, Ilia State University will host a workshop and concert in Auditorium B201, organized by the Music Centre at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

At 11:00, Polish performers Ewa Liebchen and Emilia Karolina Sitarz will hold a workshop introducing the audience to the extended, sonoristic possibilities of the flute and piano.
At 18:00, the concert “On the Trail of Polish Sonorism” will begin. The program will feature masterpieces of Polish Sonorism alongside a new work composed specifically for this duo by young Georgian composer Elene Gogodze.

The concert seeks to engage young composers with Sonorism, a Polish music movement that was predominant in the 1960s. It was the time of sonoristic experiments by composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Kazimierz Serocki, or Witold Szalonek. This style of music focuses on the origin of sound, its tonal color, duration, and sonority. These elements continue to be of significant interest to composers today.
Date/Time: November 10, at 11:00 and 18:00
Location: Ilia State University, Auditorium B201, 32 Ilia Chavchavadze Ave.
Everyone interested is welcome.

Presentation of the book "Parakletike"
2024-10-16 18:00 - 19:00
On October 16, at 18:00, a presentation of the prepared book ‘Parakletike’ will be held by Prof. Irina Lobzhanidze in the G 106 Auditorium of Ilia State University (see http://manuscript.iliauni.edu.ge/).
Irina Lobzhanidze will present to the academic community the results of a joint research program between the University of Oxford and the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, focused on Georgian studies. Specifically, she will introduce the Wardrop Collection Online (WCO), which includes a 12th-century Georgian manuscript, the Parakletike, preserved in the Bodleian Library. Additionally, she will present the published text of the manuscript MS. Wardr. d. 1 , a result of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia’s Publishing State Scientific Grants competition (SP-23-685).
The editors of the book, Nino Doborjginidze and Tamaz Kochlamazashvili, will talk about the necessity of using modern technologies in documenting and researching the manuscript heritage preserved in Georgia, on the educational and research programs introduced in this direction, as well as on the textual issues of the Parakletike.
Join Zoom Meeting ID 824 3872 2663

https://iliauni-edu-ge.zoom.us/j/82438722663?pwd=[REDACTED]

Passcode: [REDACTED]
Time: October 16, 18:00 p.m.
Venue: G 106 Auditorium, Ilia State University (G. Tsereteli St. #1)
Working language: Georgian
Attendance is free.

The management of Byzantine monuments in modern Greece (19th-20th centuries)
2024-10-15 19:00 - 20:00
October 15, We are pleased to announce a lecture of Dionysis Mourelatos (Athens, Greece) to be presented at the Seminar of the Center for Medieval Studies
“The management of Byzantine monuments in modern Greece (19th-20th centuries)”
Greece has been grappling with the issue of “national continuity” since gaining its independence, addressing it in various ways. K. Paparrigopoulos, a history professor at the University of Athens in the mid-19th century, first expressed the ideas behind the young state’s identity by introducing his threefold scheme (Antiquity, Byzantium, and Modern Greece) for national history. The incorporation of the history of the Byzantine Empire in the ‘national’ narrative was deemed necessary as early as the nineteenth century, and the study of Byzantine art and its incorporation in what was perceived as the national past was an essential step in this direction. Following the Greek-Turkish War between 1919 and 1922 in Asia Minor, the conventional historiographical perception persisted. In the post-war world, during the Cold War, the perception of Byzantium became a new field of confrontation between East and West.
Via zoom
Time 19 PM (CET)
Language English
Join Zoom Meeting

https://iliauni-edu-ge.zoom.us/j/86191264222?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 861 9126 4222
Passcode: [REDACTED]
2024

"Unity in Diversity: The Malay World, Its History and Culture" - Lecture by Professor Tatyana A. Denisov
2024-10-15 16:00 - 17:00
On October 15, at 16:00, in the S201/202 auditorium of Ilia State University, at the permanent seminar of the Giorgi Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies, Visiting Scholar Professor Tatyana A. Denisova from the Center for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science, and Civilization (CASIS), University Technology Malaysia, will deliver a lecture on “Unity in Diversity: The Malay World, Its History and Culture.”
Annotation
Southeast Asia, including the Malay world, is one of the most ancient centers of human civilization. This region, known since early times, is mentioned in various ancient historical sources.
The geographic position of the Malay Archipelago played a fundamental role in its historical development. Located at the convergence of two major sea routes, the archipelago was connected to the great markets of India and China by the annual monsoon wind systems.
One of the most significant factors in the development of trade in the Malay Archipelago was its rich natural and mineral resources, which provided a wide variety of products for sale and exchange.
The main feature of this region is its multinational and multicultural nature. It has long been called an open world. “Unity in diversity” became the main principle and driving force of this civilization. As a major center of world trade at the crossroads of key trade routes, the Malay world became a melting pot of many cultures and traditions – Indian, Chinese, Muslim, European, and Malay.
The openness and diversity of the region are reflected in both the history and written heritage of the Malays.
Working Language: English
Date and Time: October 15, 16:00
Location: Auditorium S201/202, Ilia State University, G. Tsereteli St. N3
Everyone interested is welcome.

Recalling Avant-garde Moments, Reconnecting Avant-garde Scenes International Conference Dedicated to the Centenary of the H2SO4
2024-10-09 10:00 - 20:00
9-11 October 2024, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Historical avant-garde contains forgotten moments and scenes that still need to be rediscovered or reconnected with other, central or peripheral scenes of the European avant-garde. Avant-garde moments would not occur in different national cultures without the strong desire to connected with the wider web of aesthetic searches and experimentation, happening in various European cultural loci. However, due to historical changes, some moments/scenes were disconnected from the web, staying unrecalled for decades.
One such forgotten moment was that of the Tbilisi modernism/avant-garde (1917-1918) and the Futurist group H2SO4 (1920s), which has been erased from the Georgian cultural memory by the Soviet power while the country was disconnected from European cultural context. In the post-Soviet decades, Georgia had to reclaim this legacy. The present centenary of the Futurist group and journal H2SO4 (1924) is a good reason for discussing different, though often comparable avant-garde cultural experiences.
Understanding Avant-Garde as a constellation of different moments we will examine the specificity of each locality in their transcultural entanglement. To reconstruct these scenes, the conference will elaborate on networks, relationships, groups, and collaborations, on their coming together, forming, evaporating, and diverging again. What is the transformational power of Avant-Garde alliances, past and present, within the artistic and the societal field? How have ways and forms of life been shaped throughout the Avant-Gardes? What are the gendered social and spatial structures, in which groups test and create forms of community through their artistic practices? The aim here will be to render visible realities of those groups and alliances that have not yet been acknowledged, due to geographical, institutional and/or political conditions.
The conference is organised by the Institute of Comparative Literature and the Centre for Advanced Studies, Ilia State University, in cooperation with the Institute of Philosophy and Art History, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany.
The Plenary Lectures/Talks:
Günter Berghaus, University of Bristol
International Futurism and Its Cross-Fertilizations in the Historical Avant-garde
Artist Talk: Beate Söntgen, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, with Anuk Beluga & Mari Kalabegashvili
Gia Jokhadze, Ilia State University
Mandelstamiana: The Fragments from the Cultural History of Russia and Georgia
Lecture / Book Presentation
See the Programme for the detailed information.
