June 18-21, 2019
Preliminary Schedule
The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) and the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center (REEEC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will host a pedagogical workshop on integrating the South Caucasus into higher education classrooms. Often overlooked in Western education, the region of the Caucasus is not only a current hotspot for adventure tourism and historically a faulty zone for international geopolitics, but is also home to unique cultures and diverse geographies. In a four-day workshop hosted at the University of Illinois’ Summer Research Lab (SRL), workshop attendees will engage with topics on the history, societies, and peoples of the South Caucasus; participate in pedagogical activities; conduct research at the University of Illinois’ world renowned library; and workshop individual projects. Participants will work with scholars specializing in the region who will give lectures, lead discussions and film screenings, share their experiences in the South Caucasus, and facilitate workshops. Themes have been selected for their usefulness to educators interested in integrating the South Caucasus into their courses and classrooms, with a focus on the relationship between the past – factors such as geography, imperial rule, trade routes – and the present.
The workshop is open to college and university educators and advanced graduate students.
Speakers include Benjamin Bamberger (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Mauricio Borrero (St. John’s University), Cynthia Buckley (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Christopher Condill (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Kathryn Franklin (Birkbeck, University of London), Stephen Jones (Mount Holyoke College), and Judith Pintar (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
Housing, travel, and research stipend funds are available through the Summer Research Lab Title VIII grants. Applicants have been asked to propose a project (e.g. course, lecture, study abroad program, bibliography) that they would like to develop during the workshop to incorporate the South Caucasus.
For more information on the Summer Research Lab and Title VIII funding, please visit summer research laboratory.
Facilitators: Stephen Jones (Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies/International Studies, Mount Holyoke College), Mauricio Borrero (Associate Professor of History,St. John’s University), Talin Lindsay (Executive Director, ARISC)
Sponsored by: American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) and the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center (REEEC)
Supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI grant, the U.S. Department of State’s Title VIII Program, ARISC, REEEC, and the Ralph and Ruth Fisher Endowment.