Nutsa Batiashvili

Nutsa Batiashvili is a cultural anthropology PhD student at Washington University, St Louis, USA. She holds BA and MA in Social Psychology, Tbilisi State University and Graduate Diploma in Anthropology from Oxford Brookes University. She works on issues of collective memory and political change in Georgia exploring historical consciousness, collective memory and emergence of national narratives as part of Georgia’s public discourse within a larger context of contemporary political shifts. With Professor James Wertsch she co-authored a paper ‘Mnemonic Communities and Conflict: Georgia’s national narrative template’, given at the conference ‘Trust and Distrust in Intergroup Conflict and Communication’ in Naples, Italy, June 2008.

Edward R. Raupp

Dr. Edward Robert Raupp has had three careers, all involving international relations, and mostly in developing countries. An Army officer for 20 years, he travelled widely throughout Europe and the Pacific, with extended service in post-war Korea and wartime Vietnam. As an international business executive, he developed strategic partnerships in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. As a professor of business and economics at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa, he developed the semester in Oxford, England. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Independent University of Tanzania. He served for three-and-a-half years as a Peace Corps Volunteer at Gori State University in Georgia, and received from that university the degree of Doctor of Literature, honoris causa. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Honour at Tskhinvali State University. Dr. Edward assisted in the founding of Georgian University of Social Sciences (now The University of Georgia), where he is the Chancellor. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics at The University of Georgia, M.A. in English Language and Literature at the University of Minnesota, M.B.A. at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and B.S. at Carnegie Mellon University. He is an author of 15 books and numerous articles.

Nino Abakelia

Nino Abakelia obtained her MA from Tbilisi State University in English Language and Literature. She became the candidate of Historical Sciences in Ethnology from Armenian Academy of Sciences, The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography (1987) and became Doctor of Historical Sciences in Ethnology from Georgian Academy of Sciences, Archaeological Research Centre (1997). She is the author of several books, such as:  Myth and Ritual in Western Georgia, “Metsniereba”,Tb., 1991, Georgian Folk Festivals, “Krialosani”,Tb., 1991. (Collective monograph), Symbol and Ritual in Georgian Culture, Georgian Academy of Sciences, I. Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnography, Tb., 1997. Also Nino is the author of multiple articles, such as: Towards the Investigation of the functions of things in the pattern of World (According to the Georgian ethnographic data) Semiotics,2. Scientific Journal, Tb.,2007; “Daimons” in Georgian mythico-ritual system,  Semiotics,3, Scientific Journal,Tb., 2008; Hoard as a symbol in Georgian culture, Civilization studies, 5, 2008. Currently Nino Abakelia is the Associated Professor of the Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies at Ilia Chacchavadze Tbilisi State University.

Ketevan Khutsishvili

Ketevan Khutsishvili obtained her BA and MA from Tbilisi State University Department of Ethnography. She defended her dissertation in 2000 on the topic - „The dream and the dream interpretation in Georgian being“, and became the candidate of historical sciences and in 2005 she defended her dissertation on the topic - „The Influence of Religious Factor on the Ethno Cultural Identification and Civil Integration (The Case of the Modern Georgia)“ and became the doctor of historical sciences. Ketevan is a full time professor and the major research fellow of Ivane Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology. She is the author of several publications, such as: Religious groups in modern Georgia, Materials for Georgian Ethnography XXV, 2005 Tbilisi (in Georgian); Ethnography of the Caucasian People, Tbilisi 2007 (in Georgian); Religious organizations in civil society, Journal “Logos” #IV Tbilisi 2007 (in Georgian) and many others.

Mariam Gvelesiani

Mariam Gvelesiani obtained her first degrees in Art History and Theory from Tbilisi State University and in English Language from Tbilisi Sate University of Foreign Languages. She obtained her PhD in Cultural History in 2004. From 1994 she has been a Senior Researcher at Georgian National Museum. She has also been a Researcher at Ancient Georgian Art at Department of Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Art. Mariam is the Professor of  Art History in Liberal Arts in the Joint Project of Michigan State University and Ilia Chavchavadze Universitiy. In 2006 she received the grant of the Project of the US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Heritage Preservation: “Preservation/Conservation of the Textile and Embroidery Collection of Shalva  Amiranashvili Museum of Art at National Museum of Georgia”. She is the author of many publications, such as: The Notion of Hvarena in Post-Achaemenid Georgian Kingship, JPS (Journal of Persianate Studies), New York University, Stony Brook, New York,  2.1 2008; Towards Interpretation of Anthropomorphic Figure from Katlanikhevi, Miscellanea. The International Symposium: Georgian Arts in the Context of European and Asian Culture (June 21-29, 2008, Tbilisi), forthcoming in 2009; and many others. In 2009 she will be a fellow of Carnegie Research Fellowship, University of Chicago, Divinity School.

Giuli Alasania obtained her degree of Doctor of Historic Sciences in 1987 from Tbilisi State University. Since 1989 until 2006, she was a Head of Department of Source-Studies at the Institute of History and Ethnology of the Georgian Academy of Sciences. In 1996, she was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Maryland, College Park in the Center for International Development and Conflict Management. From 2004 until now, she has been the founder and the head of Trustee Committe of The University of Georgia. She is the author of multiple articles, from which some of the most recent ones are: Georgia and the West - 3th International Silk Road Symposium, “Black Sea Region Countries and Prospective Relationships with European Union” (2006); Who was  Leon II – The Orient and the Caucasus (2007); and many others. Also she is the author of 8 books, including: Twenty Centuries of Christianity in Georgia (2006) (in Georgian, English, Turkish, Russian).

Manana Sanadze obtained her BA from Tbilisi State University in Oriental Department -Turkish studies and became a doctor of Sciences in 2002. In 2003 she received a grant from Alumni Local Initiative Grants Program - American Councils for International Education ACTR/ACCELS. In 2004 she participated in the 1st International Symposium “The Great Silk Road and Georgia and in 2008 in International Conference - Iran and Caucasus: Unity and Diversity. Since 1996 she has been the leader scientist at Tbilisi State University and from 2005 is the Rector of the University of Georgia. She is the author of 6 books and several publications, such as - History of Georgia, Volume I (Antique Period and Middle ages) with Tamaz Beradze; About Origin of   “Grigol Bakurianisze” Georgian Source Studies; the Political History of Kartli and Egrisi (first part of VIII century, Georgian Source Studies) and numerous others.  

Nino Mindadze

Nino Mindadze is a chief scientific researcher at Ivane Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology. Her present research interests are medical anthropology and human ecology. She obtained her PhD in 2000 and got the degree of Doctor of historical sciences on the thesis- Georgian Folk Medicine Culture. She was a chief of Department of Ethnological Research of Georgian Spiritual Culture, at Ivane Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology. She is the author of the books - Georgian Folk Medicine, Tbilisi, 1981, (in Georgian); and Georgian Folk Medical Traditions -Kakheti, Tbilisi, 2005, (in Georgian; co-author N. Chirgadze). Recently she has participated in conference, such as: International Conference: Archaeology, Ethnology and Folklore of the Caucasus, Baku, 2005 (Azerbaijan) and Symposium of International Centre for Socio-cultural Anthropology and Ethno-linguistic Study of Georgian People, Batumi, 2006.

Shalva Dundua

Shalva Dundua obtained university degrees in Education, political analyses and Psychotherapy.  He became a candidate of Pedagogical Sciences in 1991. He has published About 30 articles, reports, and papers in Georgian, Russian and English languages, such as: Citizenship Education in the Secondary School; (Content and Organization), In M.Dogonadze (Ed.) - Currant Problems of Educational development at School, Tbilisi, 1999; Interactive Teaching across Cultures. Interactive Teaching and Learning across Disciplines and Cultures – Case Method & Other Techniques, Edited by Hans E. Klein. Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 2001; School – Family – Society (a Guidebook for PTA Leaders and Activists), 2002, Tbilisi, Georgia.  In 2006 – 2007 he was a Visiting Scholar at Muskie School of Public Services, University of Southern Maine in Portland, USA. Currently he is a full time professor at the University of Georgia.