The South Caucasus Regional Conference on Memory Politics 2022 - Agenda

The Heinrich Boell Foundation Tbilisi Office – South Caucasus Region, together with Ilia State University and the Soviet Past Research Laboratory (SOVLAB), organizes its annual South Caucasus Regional Conference on Memory Politics to discuss history research and teaching in the South Caucasus (SC) – traditions and innovations in history teaching methods, the main historical narratives conveyed through history education, and current debates on the role of history in forming young people’s identity.

Researchers and academics working on memory politics have described how educational institutions in the SC today are continuing Soviet educational practices.[1] In class and in history books, similar to the Soviet period, students are often given one official interpretation of the past. However, unlike the Marxist approach that was dominant during the Soviet period, ethno-nationalist perspectives have been put forward since the break-up of the Soviet Union.[2] Recent research conducted in Georgia revealed that for teachers, the goals of history teaching are twofold, meaning that on the one hand, it is supposed to reinvigorate patriotic sentiments and on the other hand, to support critical thinking.[3] Even though these two goals are often presented as contradictory, they are not mutually exclusive as their interrelation is more complex and some teachers try to combine both of these teaching goals. [4] History lessons remain largely standard (e.g. pupils listen to teachers’ narration of historical events and mainly use history textbooks), although teachers are increasingly trying to combine old and new/non-standard methods of teaching, such as watching history films, visiting museums, etc .[5] Nevertheless, in the majority of cases, students in the South Caucasus are still expected to primarily memorize historical facts and there is little room for critical and multi-perspective reflection.

School teaching is only one part of history education. In order to promote diverse, critical discussions on history education, we seek to facilitate a broad discussion among professional circles as well as among the wider public on how to overcome the positivist (“truth-seeking”) understanding of history and the dominance of nationalist narratives in history textbooks. By bringing together academics, researchers, and students from different disciplines, such as history, political science and anthropology, the Heinrich Boell Foundation, together with its partners,  supports research and discussions on the important topic of memory politics and contributes to the process of democratic development in the South Caucasus. 

Agenda

10:30 – 10:45 (Tbilisi, Baku, Yerevan time)

Welcome Speech by Dr. Sonja Schiffers, Director of the Heinrich Boell Foundation Tbilisi Office – South Caucasus Region and Professor Nino Doborjginidze, Rector of Ilia State University.

10:45 – 11:45 Ketevan Gurchiani, Professor, Ilia State University in conversation with Ronald Grigor Suny, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Chicago on nation and identity building processes in the South Caucasus.

The conversation will be held in hybrid format. Those who want to attend the event online in ZOOM should follow the link: https://bit.ly/3SUfBAz

11:45 – 12:00 Break

12:00 – 13:30 Panel Discussion (I): Historical narratives in Soviet textbooks: how do they impact present-day historiography?

Speakers:

-   Sergey Rumyantsev, sociologist, co-founder of Center for Independent Social Research (CISR e.V.);

-   Lusine Kharatyan, anthropologist, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia;

-   Nino Chikovani, Professor, Institute of Cultural Studies, Tbilisi State University;

Moderation: Sevil Huseynova, Social Anthropologist, Humboldt University of Berlin - Institute for European Ethnology.

13:30 – 14:30 Break

14:30 – 16:00 Panel Discussion (II): Teaching conflict: the past as an instrument of the present?

Speakers:

-    Maia Barkaia, interdisciplinary researcher, Georgian Institute of Public Affairs;

-    Mikayel Zolyan, Associate Professor at V. Brusov Yerevan State Linguistic University;

-    Mirkamran Huseynli, Lecturer\Practitioner in Comparative History & Political Science and Nationalism Studies, Modern World History;

Moderation: Eviya Hovhannisyan, Heinrich Boell Foundation.

16:00 – 16:30 Sum-up of the conference