The 7th International Symposium on Kartvelian Studies titled “Georgia in the Context of European Civilization” was opened at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) on October 17. Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze; Minister of Education and Science, Aleksandre Jejelava; foreign scientists from the universities and scientific centers of Philadelphia, Boston, Jerusalem, Birmingham, Tokyo, Warsaw, Tehran, Venice, Frankfurt, Bremen, Jena, Nuremberg, Mainz, Paris, Madrid, Innsbruck, Moscow, Kiev, Rize as well as from 16 higher educational institutions and scientific research centers of Georgia attended the event.
Rector Giorgi Sharvashidze welcomed the representatives of Georgian and foreign universities and research centers and spoke about the importance of further development of Kartvelian studies for Georgia.
“A very important symposium has been opened at TSU. Traditions of Kartvelian studies are associated with Ivane Javakhishvili, Niko Marr and Tbilisi State University. It is good that this work still continues and we have maintained our contacts. Today we are pleased to host Kartvelologists working abroad. The Center for Kartvelian Studies has been opened in Oxford that is an important development in this direction. We plan to carry out intensive work in the field of digital humanities. It is essential to create the Georgian National Corpus that will enable us to further increase the level of Kartvelian studies,” Rector Sharvashidze said.
“Educational and scientific development is our top priority. A lot of steps have been taken in this direction; I mean increased funding, support for scientists, opening up new opportunities for studies and research abroad. I think that Kartvelian sciences require special attention from us. We have a very serious school in this direction. It can be said that Kartvelologists from the entire world have gathered here today and I want to wish them a successful event,” Minister of Education and Science, Aleksandre Jejelava said.
“I am very glad to participate in this symposium. I think that it is a very important event for Kartvelological studies, not only in terms of language and literature, but also in a wider context. I am an archaeologist; I am involved in one of the projects launched together with the Institute of Archaeology. I hope that our cooperation will further continue,” Annegret Plontke Luening of Friedrich Schiller University Jena said.
In the direction of Kartvelology, TSU is involved in several important international and national projects. Arnold Chikobava Institute of Linguistics is working on the Georgian Dialect Corpus within the framework of the project “Linguistic Portrait of Georgia”. The Georgian Dialect Corpus will be an unprecedented monument of non-material Georgian culture. For several years already, TSU has been cooperating successfully with European and American universities in the sphere of digital humanities. Active cooperation has resulted in creation of a large database of Georgian texts, which has become one of the important parts of the Georgian National Corpus. Together with about 20 foreign universities, TSU is participating in SunoikisisDC, an International Consortium of Digital Classics Programs, along with the universities of Harvard, Taft, Leipzig, etc. The project enables TSU students to take part in international lectures on digital ancient studies. The Tbilisi State University is also involved in PhD program on European literature implemented by the University of Bologna in partnership with several European universities. Along with TSU’s doctoral degree, the alumni will also be awarded doctoral degrees of other European universities involved in the program.
In frames of the symposium, the following academic sections will work in all directions of Kartvelian sciences: Rustaveli and Rustvelian studies; Ivane Javakhishvili and Georgian historiography; Kartvelian linguistics; Georgian literature of the Middle Ages; new and modern Georgian literature; Georgian-foreign literary relations; archaeology; economic and political perspectives of Georgia; folklore; ethnology; history of Georgian philosophy; Georgian art. Georgian and foreign scientists and researchers will read out their papers.
The symposium is being held by Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and International Association for the Promotion of Georgian /Kartvelian Studies, with the financial support of Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation.
