Final Call for Papers: International Conference on the Caucasus

FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE CAUCASUS,

UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS: 16-17TH APRIL 2010

 

The Caucasus: Imagining Freedom, Negotiating Dominion

With the generous support of the British Academy and CREES.

 

    The Centre for Russian, Soviet and Central and Eastern European Studies at the University of St Andrews will dedicate its annual conference to the history, culture, politics, and regional and international security of the Caucasus.

    The Caucasus Mountains mark the transition point between Europe and Asia, and it is this geographical position that has largely defined the history of the region. As a meeting place between East and West, it retains many of the signs of cross-cultural influence, as well as the scars of past conflicts.

Due to its intermediary location, scholarly discussion of the area has often been over determined by the nations and cultural traditions surrounding it. The aim of this conference is to look at the Caucasus as it appears in the cultural imaginations of those nations and empires with which its historical life has been inextricably intertwined, and to compare such views with the self-understanding and experience of the diverse national traditions of which it is comprised. By juxtaposing perceptions of the Caucasus from without with those from within we hope to arrive at a more nuanced picture of the region in the cultural and political landscape of the twenty-first century. We invite paper proposals from young and established scholars in the humanities and social sciences in the following strands:

 

•    Caucasian self-identity

•    The Caucasus as a place of foreign imagining (particularly in Russia and

the Near and Middle East)

•    Geopolitics and the Soviet legacy

•    Imperial history and cultural domination

•    Religion and ecumenical developments

•    Language, translation and cultural exchange

•    Sustainable development and environmental thought

•    Energy and pipeline politics

•    Conflicts and peace negotiations

•    The roles of NGOs and intergovernmental organizations

•    The August 2008 war and its aftermath

•    Prospects for regional integration

 

We are honoured to have the planned participation of the ambassadors from the region:

— His Excellency Vahe Gabrielyan, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia; — His Excellency Fakhraddin Gurbanov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan; — His Excellency Giorgi Badridze, Ambassador of Georgia.

Keynote speakers include:— Professor Paula Garb (Center for Citizen Peace building, University of California, Irvine); — Professor B. George Hewitt (School of Oriental and African Studies, London); — Professor Stephen F. Jones (Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA); — Professor Alexey Malashenko (Carnegie Moscow Centre, Russia); — Professor Donald Rayfield (Queen Mary, University of London); — Professor John Russell (University of Bradford).

 

 

PROPOSALS

 

Deadline for Submission: 01 March 2010.

 

(i) Individual proposals

Should be of 300-400 words, and must be in English. Please also supply a short bio-bibliographical statement. Papers should last no more than 20 mintues. Individual proposals should be submitted electronically to Dr Claire Whitehead at cew12@st-andrews.ac.uk.

 

(ii) Panel proposals

We particularly welcome proposals for interdisciplinary panels covering two or more strands, or more than one Caucasian country. One proposal (in

English) of 400-500 words, and including each paper title, should be submitted electronically to Dr Claire Whitehead at cew12@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Please also supply a short bio-bibliographical statement for each proposed speaker and individual paper abstracts as above.

 

REGISTRATION (including refreshments and Saturday conference lunch): £40 graduate students; £50 academics.

 

Thanks to the generous support of the British Academy, we are now able to provide travel bursaries to UK postgraduates who wish to present a paper at the conference. There are also a limited number of travel and accommodation subsidies available to international and UK participants. If you would like to be considered for a subsidy, please indicate this in your e-mail to the centre.

 

Publication of conference papers. The Centre intends to publish a fully refereed collection of contributions from the conference. Selected authors will be asked to expand their conference papers into article-length pieces for consideration for this publication.

 

Conference Committee:

Rick Fawn; Emily Finer; Oliver Smith; Claire Whitehead (director of centre)