PRESS RELEASE
For further information please contact
Ms. Gloria Caudill, Administrator
Armenian Studies Program
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
gcaudill@umich.edu
(734) 763-0622

MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GEORGIA PLANNED
BY ARMENIAN STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Conference will be Webcast Live

The Armenian Studies Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
is pleased to announce the convening of a major international
conference on "Georgia: The Making of a Nation," to be held at the
International Institute of the University on May 15-18, 2008.

More than 30 scholars from Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Turkey, Japan,
Canada and the United States will take part is this unique event. The
themes to be considered by the conference include: "Christian Georgia:
Culture and Identity in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period," "The
Emergence of Modern Georgian Nationalism," "Diversity and Unity in the
South Caucasus: Discourses of Division," "Expressing the National,
Performing the Nation," "Evolution and Revolution in Georgian
Political Development," and "Challenges of the Modern Moment: Georgia
in the Globalizing World."

Details of the program can be found on the website of the Armenian
Studies program:

The conference is part of the series "Armenia and Its Neighbors." The
conference is open to the general public. Equally important is the
fact that the conference proceedings will be broadcast live on the
Internet. Interested individuals can follow the presentation of papers
and the discussions at the following web address:
052008.asx. (Michigan is in
the Eastern US time zone, the same as New York.)

Professor Ronald Suny is the main convener of the
conference. "Considering the increasing importance of the South
Caucasus region to the international community and of Georgia
particularly, we think this gathering will constitute a milestone that
will not only make this important country known to our audiences but
also bring together scholars from around the world who have devoted
time and energy to understand it," stated Professor Suny. "From the
Armenian point of view," he added, "it is essential that all neighbors
be understood first in their own context."

The conference is co-sponsored by the Department of History, the
Department of Near Eastern Studies, the Rackham Graduate School, the
International Institute, the Center for Russian and East European
Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, and
the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor; and by the American Research Institute of the
South Caucasus (ARISC, based at the University of Chicago).

Gloria Caudill, Administrator
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Armenian Studies Program