In September 2008 a first summer school of the Swiss Study Foundation in Georgia was planned – and brought to a sudden halt by the Russian-Georgian War. Postponed to 2009, the thrilling experience of this first summer school was followed by a number of variations of travels through different regions of the Southern Caucasus, always starting from Tbilisi/Georgia: Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and – last year – Odessa region, Ukraine, sharing the same shore of the Black Sea with Georgia.
Numerous papers were written by our students to analyse the different aspects of conflicts, threats and challenges of the region as a whole and the different countries being part of the South Caucasus. The summer schools supported by the Gebert Rüf Foundation will come to an end eventually. Thus, it seems the right time to look back at ten years of struggle and hope, of evolution and cut back. What are the prospects of Georgia today and in the years to come?
We are very pleased to welcome Prof. Giga Zedania, president of the Ilia State University, Tbilisi. He was engaged as expert in all the summer schools the Swiss Study Foundation had been able to organize, since 2009.
This event is open to all the students and in addition to all those alumni, who took part in one of the different summer schools in Georgia between 2009 and 2016.
Instructors: Prof. Dr. Giga Zedania, Rector of the Ilia State University, Tbilisi
Prof. Dr. Nicolas Hayoz, University of Fribourg
Prof. Dr. Cla Reto Famos, Director, Swiss Study Foundation
Languages: English and German
Date and Time: Monday, 6 November 2017, 18:00 – 22:00 (with apéro)
Place: University of Zurich
Participants: max. 30
