Workshop “The Protest Affect: Georgia’s Anti-Authoritarian Resistance and the Struggle for Democracy”
On April 7, 2026, Ilia State University hosted the workshop “The Protest Affect: Georgia’s Anti-Authoritarian Resistance and the Struggle for Democracy” at the Austrian Library. The event brought together local and international scholars to examine the affective dimensions of ongoing protests in Georgia. Participants included Görkem Aydemir-Kundakci (KU Leuven), Nutsa Batiashvili (Free University of Tbilisi), […]
Doctoral student Mariam Shalvashvili published an article in the Routledge International Handbook of Queer Death Studies
Mariam Shalvashvili, a doctoral student in the Social and Cultural Anthropology doctoral program at Ilia State University, has published an article in the Routledge International Handbook of Queer Death Studies. The article titled “LIVING WITH THE DEAD: Grief Politics and Discourses on Nationalism and Modernity in Georgia” discusses mourning practices in Samegrelo, Georgia. Through the […]
PhD Student Esma Berikishvili’s Article Published in the Journal Caucasus Survey
Esma Berikishvili, a doctoral student in social and cultural anthropology at Ilia State University, has published a new article in Caucasus Survey. The article explores informal maritime economic practices on the Black Sea in the port city of Poti, Georgia. Berikishvili investigates the post–Rose Revolution reforms that reshaped relationships between private fishing companies and local […]
Doctoral student Dato Lagidze took part in the global mobility conference in Seoul
Dato Laghidze, a PhD student at Ilia State University’s Doctoral Program in Social and Cultural Anthropology, participated in the Global Humanity Mobility Conference held from 24 to 26 October 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. Dato Laghidze Participated in the symposium Aspirational Infrastructure Research: Mobilities, Airports, Place (AIR-MAP) organised by the International Institute of Asian Studies […]
Anthropology professor Ketevan Gurchian gave a public talk at Binghamton University
Anthropology professor Ketevan Gurchian gave a public talk at Binghamton University on November 18, entitled “Creeping dead and adopted graves: what cemeteries do in Tbilisi”. How did death-related practices and ideas about the afterlife shape cemeteries and their influence on urban life in Tbilisi? This talk explores how cemeteries act as both gardens and non-gardens […]
Professor Tamta Khalvash presented a forthcoming book, Peripheral Shame at Warsaw University
In the framework of the seminar series, “Postcolonial Perspectives – Postdependence Entanglements” at Warsaw University on November 19, Tamta Khalvashi presented her forthcoming book, “Peripheral Shame: Affective City and Nation on the Edge of Postcolonial Georgia”. Based on the forthcoming book Peripheral Shame: Affective City and the Nation on the Margins of Post-Colonial Georgia, Tamta […]
Anthropology PhD candidate Esma Berikishvili became a fellow at the Center for East European Studies of the University of Zurich
Esma Berikishvili, PhD student of Social and cultural anthropology at Ilia State University, received a four-month residential fellowship at the Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES) at the University of Zurich. At the CEES she will work on a project titled “The City of Eternal Promises – Navigating Infrastructure, Informal Economies, and Geopolitical Dynamics in […]
Anthropology PhD candidate Esma Berikishvili at Malmö University within the Erasmus+ exchange program
In the framework of Erasmus + cooperation between Ilia State University and Malmö University, PhD student of Social and Cultural Anthropology Esma Berikishvili is spending two months at the Department of Global Political Studies. During her visit, she will work on finalizing her dissertation and deliver a lecture titled “The City of Eternal Promises – […]
The Fluidity of Infrastructure: Emotions, Bodies and Social Transformations – Doctoral Students’ Panel at ASIAC – 2024 conference
PhD students of Social and cultural anthropology at Ilia State University are organizing the panel at the XVIII ASIAC Annual Conference at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in December 2024. This year’s ASIAC conference will examine various aspects of connections, mobilities, and infrastructures in Central Asia and the Caucasus, including, but not limited to, studies […]
Doctoral students of the PhD Programme in Social and Cultural Anthropology participated in the EASA conference
Esma Berikishvili and Mariam Shalvashvili, doctoral students of social and cultural anthropology at Ilia State University, presented the results of their doctoral studies at the international conference organized by the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) on July 23-26 in Barcelona. Esma Berikishvili presented her paper “Disrupted Waves: Undoing Maritime Livelihoods and State Reforms in […]