The Fifth Annual Oxford-Georgia Forum

9:30-10:00 - Coffee/Tea reception

10:00-10:15 - Welcome remarks

• Professor Roy Allison, Director of the Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre

• Professor Michael Rochlitz, Associate Professor at OSGA and Georgian Programme Coordinator.

10:15-11:15 - Keynote Speech: ‘Georgia’s Contested Future: A Practical Way Forward’

Speaker: Professor Hans Gutbrod, Ilia State University

Discussant: Professor Maia Chankseliani, University of Oxford

11:15-12:15 - Panel 1: Domestic Political Landscape in Georgia

This panel explores the domestic political climate in Georgia, mass protests, and democratic backsliding. It will examine the role of key actors, including the ruling party, opposition, civil society, media, academia and activists. The discussion will also consider the broader implications for democratic institutions and Georgia’s political trajectory.

Chair: Dr Marnie Howlett, University of Oxford

Speakers:

• Davit Jincharadze, Freedom Fund of Georgia - Erti Sakartvelo

• Irina Mamulashvili, RUSI

• Jody la Porte, University of Oxford

   

12:15-13:30 - Lunch

13:30-14:30 - Panel 2: Georgia and the New Geopolitical Realities

This panel explores the impact of new geopolitical realities on Georgia’s security infrastructure and foreign policy. The speakers will discuss the implications of shifting global alliances and regional power dynamics for Georgia, with particular attention to the country’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. They will also examine Georgian Dream’s foreign policy in this evolving context.

Chair: Dr Natalie Sabanadze, Chatham House

Speakers: 

• Professor Roy Allison, University of Oxford

• Dr Teona Giuashvili, London School of Economics

• Natia Seskuria, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)

   

14:30-15:30 - Panel 3: Eurasian Literary Traversals: Armeno-Georgian Cosmopolitanism in the Caucasus

The speakers will present research on the role of Christian minorities across the Eurasian continent in facilitating cultural exchange between Asia and Europe, through a comparative study of Armenian and Georgian manuscripts of The City of Brass, a tale from the One Thousand and One Nights. Their study focuses on everyday literary contact and processes of transformation that transcend ethnic boundaries in Eurasia, bridging literary and historical approaches. In a region where ethnic conflict persists, this research offers important contemporary insights by illuminating patterns of inter-ethnic exchange prior to the divisions shaped by nationalism and Soviet-era ethnic policies.

Chair: Anna Efimova, University of Oxford

Speakers: 

• Professor Hirotake Maeda, Tokyo Metropolitan University

• Professor Karen Hamada, University of Tokyo

• Dr Alex Macfarlane, Independent scholar

15:30-16:00 - Coffee/Tea Break

16:00:17:00 - Panel 4: Studying Georgia at Oxford

The speakers on this panel are researchers and students at the University of Oxford whose work focuses on Georgia. They will present their ongoing research projects, offering fresh perspectives on the country’s politics, society and history. The panel highlights emerging scholarship and provides a platform for new voices contributing to the study of Georgia.

Chair: Michael Rochlitz, University of Oxford

Speakers:

• Rohan Dronsfield, University of Oxford.

  Talk: Consolidation and Threat: Elites and Foreign Policy in Georgia.

• Dr Manuchar Guntsadze, Georgian Studies Fellow, University of Oxford.

  Talk: The Life of the People in Georgia According to the Archival Materials of the Bodleian Library.

• Dr Sophie Kadagishvili, Georgian Studies Fellow, University of Oxford.

  Talk: Constructing Ethnic Identity of Georgia and its Comparative Perspective.

• Alice Mumford, University of Oxford.

  Talk: Diplomacy of Desperation: Medieval Georgian foreign policy under Queen Rusudan (1223-45) prior to the Mongol conquest of Georgia.

   

17:00-17:20 - Information session: Friends of Academic Research in Georgia

Speaker: Professor Dan Healey, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford

17:20-18:30 - Panel 5: The Oxford Georgian Translation Project: Ten Years’ Journey Through Translation

Speaker Sessions

17:20 - Chair & Opening Introduction

Dan Healey, Emeritus Fellow, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford

17:30 - Special Guest Session: ‘Chronicling a Country’s Past’ — A Conversation with Nino Haratischwili

• Nino Haratischwili, Georgian-German writer, author of The Eighth Life (for Brilka), translated into over 30 languages and an international bestseller

• Matthew Janney, British-Georgian writer and editor, contributor to the Financial Times and other publications

18:15 - Project Presentation

Lia Chokoshvili, Georgian Language Programme Instructor, Head of the Oxford Georgian Translation Project

Talk: The Oxford Georgian Translation Project is Ten Years Old