The International Summer School of the University of Georgia is a part of the Centre for the Study of Caucasus and Black Sea Region. The mission of the summer school is to work towards the popularization of Georgia overseas; introduce it to scientific and cultural arena; help Georgian and foreign students to establish relations and launch joint projects. The Summer School of the University of Georgia will be a bridge between nations and peoples. It will contribute to establishing close times that will flow into joint enterprises and activities.

Caucasus

The International Summer School is a project designed by CBSR and financed by Rustaveli Foundation (Foundation of Georgian Studies, Humanities and Social Sciences; www.rustaveli.org.ge ).Within the frame of the current project, students interested in the studies of Georgian Culture and History from German universities are planning to arrive in Georgia in August, 2009. The German students will be hosted by the University of Georgia’s summer school. The Director of the Project on the Georgian side is Prof. Tinatin Gudushauri and on the German side, Prof. Alexandre Kartozia.  The students will get the opportunity to become acquainted with the culture and society, the diverse landscape and architecture of Georgia situated both in the Caucasus as well as Black Sea region during two weeks.

Margharita Lundkvist-Houndoumadi, Master’s degree student, Department of Social Anthropology and Ethnography, Aarhus University, Denmark, is a field research student at the Center for the Study of Caucasus and Black Sea Region. Margharita is currently conducting a four-month-long fieldwork on how women’s emigration from Georgia affects their families, who stay behind. There is a growing temporary migration amongst women, many of whom are separated from their families for several years while working abroad. The women’s migration creates new forms of relations and role distributions between the migrant women and their families in Georgia. The fieldwork is seeking to examine the meanings and consequences of the women’s absence on the family members that stay behind in Georgia, as well as the new roles and transnational relations that are formed.  

Via the Center, Data Chigholashvili, who is a student from the School of Humanities as well as the Center co-ordinator, has been attached to the fieldwork research providing assistance and functioning as interpreter during several interviews. At the end of her fieldwork Margharita Lundkvist-Houndoumadi will give a presentation to the students of the School of Humanities, University of Georgia, regarding the fieldwork methodology.

Proposed by Janette Davies, International Gender Studies, University of Oxford:

Stress experienced during the post-Soviet era has profoundly affected well-being, noted in the life expectancy for men being 67 years and Healthy Life Expectancy 10 years lower than Western European countries. There is a growing need to identify the health and social needs of urban and rural populations emerging from the former Soviet Union era. 
Proposed duration of project: Two-year project.

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~cccrw/research25.html

Church of Bana

With the agreement of both universities  the program was created to determine the territory and the monuments that the students would visit. The Vilayets (regions) of Erzurum and Artvin and their monuments were chosen as the major places to visit. On July 24^th students started working within the plan and visited Oshki, Khakhuli and Bana monasteries. Students also visited the archaeological excavations of  ‘Altin Tepe’ (Golden Mountain) in Erzijan. On the basis of the archaeological expedition scientific discussion was held, in which, beside the professors, students participated and gained experience. Future joint Turkish-Georgian archaeological excavations were planned.

The group visited the oldest Georgian cultural monuments – Ishkhani and Otkhta and the archaeological and ethnographic museums of Erzurum, the fortress of Erzurum, and the Museum of Ataturk in Erzurum. On the way to the city of Artvin the group visited Khandzta, Doliskana and the fortress of Artanuji and in the evening settled in Artvin. During the following days  students wrote down their ethnographic material. This was the first time that the students worked individually in this field under the guidance of the professors. The material was collected in various villages of the gorge of Machakhela. Students gained interesting material about the legends of formation of villages, traditional folk holidays/celebrations, food, kin networks and wedding traditions.  Material on historical geography was gathered during the expedition. The highlight for  students was seeing historical /archaeological places previously only read about e.g. gorges; rivers; the Tortum Lake; the Fortress of Oltisi; Panaskerti; and the mouth of the River Euphrates.   

List of the Group members: 

1. Professor Manana Sanadze
2. Professor Tamaz Beradze
3. Professor Tinatin Ghudushauri
4. Professor Vakhtang Licheli
5. Ph D Candidate, Tamta Khalvashi 

The Students:

1. Teona Lagvilava
2. Giorgi Tsereteli
3. David Chigholashvili
4. Qetevan Qimeridze
5. Nino Tsikvadze
6. Manana Tsereteli
7. Natia Maisuradze
8. Nino Siprashvili
9. Ekaterine Jinashvili
10. Tinatin Sikharulidze