Works in Progress

The borderlands of the Caucasus mountains have been the site of fierce territorial contestation and enduring religious rivalries. The communities that historically inhabited this region were frequently subjected to the tumultuous aftermath of the shifting power balance of the empires that sought to control and dominate the Caucasus. This talk will present a brief examination of actual cases of religious conversion and apostasy in the Caucasus contextualized in the Russian imperial laws. The talk by Sergey Saluschev, UC Santa Barbara, will aim to shed light on the ongoing scholarly conversation about the politics of religious identity and religious toleration in the Russian Empire and the Caucasus in particular. 

CRRC, ARISC and American Councils are proud to present the 2nd talk of the Fall 2017 Works-in-Progress series!

Paul Manning, Trent University: “The Icon and the Metro: Art and Architecture in 1960s Tbilisi”

Professor Paul Manning received his PhD in linguistics from the University of Chicago in 2001. He has taught anthropology at Northern Illinois University, Reed College, and Bard College. His research focuses on linguistic and semiotic anthropology in Europe (Wales) and Eurasia (Georgia). He has done fieldwork on Welsh speaking populations in Wales, Argentina and on Georgian speaking populations in Georgia and Russia.

On Wednesday, October 11, 18:30 at CRRC-Georgia Office Slavomir Horak from the Charles University in Prague will speak about sports as an important aspect of the presentation of authoritarian regimes. Particularly, through organizing spectacular sporting events, authoritarian regimes seek self legitimisation and confirmation of their status, both internally and externally. Turkmenistan is an excellent example of this phenomenon. This relatively rigid and strong authoritarian regime has recently organised the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat. Although the event had rather secondary significance even within the Asian Olympic movement, official Ashgabat promoted it as crucial 2017 Asian sporting event.

CRRC Georgia, American Councils and ARISC invite local and visiting scholars to present their ongoing research projects as part of the Tbilisi Works-in-Progress Series (WiP).