Upcoming Departmental Event: PRESENTATIONS ON GEORGIA, March 4, 2009

GEORGIA'S CULTURAL DIVERSITY: a Privilege or a Problem?
Wednesday March 4, 2009 - 7:30 - 9:30 PM - Pendleton East 239 - Wellesley College

First Presentation by Archil Kikodze, Tbilisi, Georgia
Georgia - Diversity and Environment: reflections on the history, political geography, and cultures of a newly independent state.
Archil Kikodze is a prize-winning novelist and photographer from Tbilisi, Georgia and the Georgian Coordinator of the Wellesley Winterterm Program in the Republic of Georgia. He will discuss the environment and cultural diversity of his native land. Mr. Kikodze will give an illustrated lecture depicting the cultural and physical wealth of the Republic of Georgia and will also relate specific examples illustrating the complex history and ethnic tensions that have beset Georgia from Stalinist times to the present, including the deportation of the Meskheti Turks from southern Georgia (Djavakheti) at the end of World War II. His talk will conclude with consideration of the recent tragic events that unfolded last August, which resulted in costly and deadly conflict and led to an intensification of ethnic hostilities in the area. 

Second Presentation by Stephen Jones, Mt. Holyoke College:
Who has the Right to Independence? Lessons from Georgia.
Stephen Jones is an expert on the Caucasus with a focus on Georgia and is Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies at Mount Holyoke College, as well as Chair of European Studies. He has studied Georgian history and politics for over thirty years and has written extensively on all things Georgian, from history to current issues of democratization, and questions of contemporary Georgian cultural life. His most recent book was entitled Socialism in Georgian Colors: the European Road to Social Democracy 1883-1917. He is currently editing a special issue of Central Asian Survey on the impact of the August 2008 war on Georgian politics and foreign policy. His talk will consider why the August war started, focusing on why secession is seen as the only answer by the Abkhazians and South Ossetians and evaluating to what extent the Georgian government’s own response led to the success of secessionist movements on its territory.

Questions?  email anthrophilia@gmail.com or Professor Philip Kohl, at pkohl@wellesley.edu.
**Thanks to Professor Kohl for passing this information along.

- Posted By Emily Šaras '10, President