Across the Caucasus

Podcast

"Across the Caucasus"
Across the Caucasus
Image: Nvard Yerkanian

The podcast 'Across the Caucasus' is a monthly series curated and produced by members of the Institute for Caucasus Studies in Jena, Germany. The podcast aims to disseminate insights on the North and South Caucasus and to provide young researchers a platform to present and discuss their research projects. Furthermore, the podcast wants to digitalize knowledge on the Caucasus. Topics which are represented are politics, social dynamics, history, linguistic and cultural forms.

  • Episode 1 - Departure

    In this very first episode we introduce ourselves and the institute, as well as the head of the department Prof. Dr. Diana Forker and our colleague Dr. Bidzina Lebanidze who both tell us about their research, current projects, and the importance of studying the Caucasus.

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  • Episode 2 - War and peace

    In this episode we talk about the war in Ukraine and its possible impact on Georgia. Our guests this time are Liza Shcherbakova who is currently studying in Jena but originally from Kyiv, and our colleague Irena Gonashvili who talks about the Georgian perspective.

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  • Episode 3 - Being left alone (in the Caucasus)?

    In this episode we talk about left movements in the Caucasus. Our colleague Veronika Pfeilschifter tells us about the (non-)existence of left political parties in the South Caucasus, and left movements that emerged outside the political party system.

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  • Episode 4 - Iron woman

    In this episode of "Across the Caucasus" we talk about language. Linguist Emine Şahingöz tells us about her fieldwork, identity, and how to end up on North Ossetian television.

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  • Episode 5 - Food for thought

    In this episode of "Across the Caucasus" we talk about food and identity. Ila Sikharulidze tells us about Abkhazians in the Georgian Adjara region and how traditional foods can function as identity markers.

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  • Episode 6 - Distractions from academia and where to find them

    In this episode we talk with interdisciplinary researcher David Leupold. He tells us about his work in the Caucasus and beyond, about the struggles in the academic life and how to find ways to escape it from time to time. 

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  • Episode 7 - Nobody is Kung Fu Fighting

    In this episode of "Across the Caucasus" we talk about Mixed Martial Arts in the North Caucasus. Loujaine Laamal from the University of Paris tells us about her research on MMA in Chechnya and Dagestan, and how sports can be used as a political tool. 

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  • Episode 8 - Leaving (on a midnight boat to Georgia)

    In this episode of "Across the Caucasus" we talk about Germans in Georgia. Oliver Reisner, professor in European and Caucasian Studies at the Ilia State University in Tbilisi, tells us about German settlers in Georgia in the early 19th century and about the heritage they left behind. 

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  • Episode 9 - Everything happens for a region

    In this episode of "Across the Caucasus" we talk about national identity and brokenness in the South Caucasus. Our guest and current research fellow at our institute, Nazrin Gadimova, tells us about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, its impact on the region, and resistance to brokenness. 

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