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Georgia on the Crossroads of European adn Asian Cultures -
Culture as a tool for the mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue

Third annual symposium organized in the framework of HI Georgian Studies Center together with International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies.

Monday, May 4, 10:00 am – 19:00 pm
Kellogg Center, 15th Floor, SIPA building,
420 W 118th street.  New York, NY, USA

Georgian culture, an integral part of Caucasian civilization, has been and is created at the crossroads of European and Asian influences. Over the centuries this culture has represented tolerance and mutual understanding, and while keeping its national identity it emphasizes the potential breadth and depth and rewards of intercultural relations maintained with understanding and integrity.

Today, such understanding is a central and urgent issue, given the cultural and ethnic situation in Georgia’s conflict regions – Shida (Inner) Kartli, the so-called “South Ossetia” and Abkhazeti, especially in terms of analysis and awareness from the historical point of view.

In addition to the political and humanitarian problems there is also great danger for these two regions’ cultural identity and their historical monuments. Academic knowledge in this field is very limited and therefore raises the importance of the scholarly work and discussion in the fields of culture, history and ethnicity in these territories.

The different historical epochs provides the best historical documentation and evidence of the formation of these regional identities and provides proof of tolerance and peaceful coexistence between these regions and the nations adjoining them. The conference’s thematic timeframe will not be limited to any of periods but will cover all cultural epochs including nowadays.                                                              

With international support from: US Embassy in Georgia, Georgian Government, Rustaveli Foundation for Georgian Studies, Humanities and Social Studies, Tbilisi State University, Ilia Chanchavadze State University 
Special thanks: Georgian Daily, Inc., www.georgiandaily.com; and Mr. George Chubinidze for providing mineral water and non-alcoholic beverages

Programme

10:00 am – 10:40 am OPENING Session
Opening Remarks & Moderator Catharine Nepomnyashchy, Director, Harriman Institute, Columbia University
Welcome Alexander Lomaia, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations

Georgia after August war with Russia

Temur Yakobashvili, Vice Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of Georgia

Q/A

 

10: 40am – 11:00 am   

Coffee Break
Session I. The Historical Overview and Cultural Heritage highlights of the Conflict Regions of Georgia
Chair: Maka Dvalishvili, GACC International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies Leader

11:00- 11:20

Dr. Iulon Gagoshidze, Georgia’s State Minister on Diaspora Affairs
Abkhazians and Ossetians in Georgia- History and Nowadays

11:20 am – 11:40 am

Dr. George Otxmezuri, Associated Professor, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
Abkhazeti – the integral part of Georgia (based on the historic sources)

11:40 am - 12:00 pm

Dr. Mariam Didebulidze, Director of  Giorgi Chubinashvili National Research Center for Georgian Art History and Monuments Preservation, Professor of Tbilisi Theological Academy.  Cultural Heritage of Abkhazeti

12:00 pm - 12:20 pm

Dr. George Otxmezuri, Associated Professor, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
Administrative status of Shida (inner) Kartli, and the ethnicity of its population (based on the historic sources)

12:20 pm - 12: 40 pm

George Gagoshidze, Dr. Art History, Georgian National Museum
Medieval Art and Architecture on the territories of conflict regions of Georgia  - Shida (inner) Kartli

Q/A

 

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

Lunch Brake
Session II. Georgia on the Crossroads

Chair: Dodona Kiziria, Professor, Indiana University

2:30 pm – 2:50 pm

Giuli Alasania, Professor, Tbilisi State University vice-Rector, International Black Sea University, the founder, head of Trustee Board, University of Georgia
Georgia as a bridge between the West and the East (Advantage and disadvantage)

2:50 pm - 3:10 pm

Gigi Tevzadze, Professor, Rector of Ilia Chavchavadze State University
At the Crossroads of European and Asian Cultures: ” A Geopolitical Constant or a Mythical Construct?”

3:10 pm - 3:30 pm

Giga Zedania, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies. IIlia Chavchavadze State University
Georgia as a Part of Black Sea Europe: Towards a New Understanding of Regional Identity

Q/A

 

3:50 pm - 4:10 pm   Brake

4:10 pm - 4:30 pm   

Mzia Chikhradze, PhD, Senior Research Fellow at G.Chubinashvili National
Center for the Research of Georgian Art History and Monuments Protection
Expansion/Integration, Georgian-Russian Cultural Relationship in 1910-1980

4:30 pm - 4:50 pm   

Tinatin Bochorishvili, Professor, Dr. Philosophy, Director of Rustaveli Foundation for Georgian Studies, Humanities and Social Sciences
Rustaveli Foundation - Mission and Activities

4:50 pm – 5:10 pm

Carl Linich, MFA, Bennington College
The Gramophone Comes to Georgia: 1901-1914
Presentation of the anthology of Georgian folk music; 4 compact discs comprising the complete recordings made by the London Gramophone Company

Q/A

 
Closing Remarks
Catharine Nepomnyashchy, Director, Harriman Institute, Columbia University