Objectives

The Georgian-Abkhazian class aims at achieving the following objectives:
 

Before the trip:

• Familiarize students with literature on the conflicts in the South Caucasus, in general, and Georgia, in particular
• Introduce students to official Georgian and Abkhazian conflict narratives before class departure (trip to Georgia’s Embassy in Washington DC)
• Enrich students’ understanding of the former by answering questions during the mandatory pre-departure class meeting with Dr. Susan Allen Nan – a seasoned professional with extensive experience of working on the Georgian-South Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhazian conflicts

During the trip:

• Expose students to multiple conflict narratives in Tbilisi and Soukhum/i while meeting with experts representing different segments of Georgian and Abkhazian societies, such as governmental, academia, NGO (people-to-people diplomacy, humanitarian projects, IDPs, youth, gender, ethnic minorities, etc.), journalism, etc.  After interacting with these experts, students will be expected to debrief with their colleagues and maintain reflection journals daily
• Introduce students to the best of what Georgian and Abkhazian cultures have to offer, including local cuisine, art, music, nature, sightseeing, etc

After the trip:

• Form a more nuanced understanding of Georgian-Abkhaz conflict and local cultures
• Produce a focused analytical paper by zooming in on one particular dimension of this conflict (IPDs, human rights, gender, youth, ethnic minorities, Track II diplomacy, human security, etc.). The final paper will synthesize the required literature, accumulated insights over the course of the trip, and acquired cultural understanding not only for the purpose of analyzing a particular dimension of this conflict, but also for proposing steps/course toward its transformation