SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
ILIA STATE UNIVERSITY

School of Arts and Sciences. European & Caucasus Studies, Dr. phil., full professor

Jean Monnet Professor (September 2016 – August 2019) in European and Caucasian Studies





Since September 2016 Oliver Reisner works as Jean Monnet Professor in European & Caucasian Studies at Ilia State University and teaches courses for BA, MA and PhD students with majors in “European Studies” and “Caucasian Studies.” In 2000 he graduated with a Dr. phil. in Eastern European History, Slavic Studies and Medieval and Modern History from Georg August University Goettingen (Germany). 2000 – 2003 he prepared and coordinated a MA program “Central Asia/Caucasus” at the Department for Central Asian Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin. 2003 – 2005 as a human rights program manager for World Vision Georgia he implemented a civic integration project in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions of Georgia. 2005 – 2015 as project manager at the EU Delegation to Georgia he dealt with democratisation, minority, education, youth, labour and social affairs. In 25 years of research on Russian, Georgian, Caucasian history and contemporary affairs in theory and practice he covered topics of 1) Nation-building and identity in the Caucasus during the 19th and 20th centuries; 2) Memory studies on dealing with the Soviet past in Georgia and the Caucasus; 3) History of Caucasian Studies as area studies and 4) the role of religion in Georgia.

Scientific interests / research interests

  1. Remembering the Soviet past in Georgia and Caucasia – Forms, commemorative cultures, memoirs, narratives, cultural heritage in the framework of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Memory Studies of the Caucasus at Ilia State University Tbilisi;
  2. History of Caucasian Studies from 18th century until today – Regional constructions of space in the interplay of scholarship and politics, as well as the history of Georgian historiography especially during the 20th century, currently working on the practice of kraevedenie in the Western Caucasus and Black Sea coast in the 1920s.
  3.  Georgian Traces in Germany, focussing on Georgian students and research in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as entangled history of academic interconnectivity, project funded by the Rustaveli Georgian National Science Foundation on academic contacts.

Books
Die Schule der georgischen Nation. Eine sozialhistorische Untersuchung der nationalen Bewegung in Georgien am Beispiel der „Gesellschaft zur Verbreitung der Lese- und Schreibkunde unter den Georgiern“ (1850-1917) [The school of the Georgian nation. A socio-historical study of the national movement in Georgia by the example of the “Society for the Spread of Literacy among the Georgians”, 1850-1917]. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2004 (Caucasian Studies. Vol. 6)
Articles in magazines
1) Der Kampf um die Autokephalie der georgisch-orthodoxen Kirche als Bindeglied zwischen Klerus und Nationalbewegung (1860-1918) [The Fight for Autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church as Link between Clergy and National Movement, 1860-1918]. In: Georgica 38 (2017), pp. 87-100.
2) Sakral-National. Orthodoxer Glaube und Orthodoxe Kirche Georgiens [Sacral-National. Orthodox Belief and Orthodox Church in Georgia]. In: Osteuropa 65 (2015) no. 7-10, pp. 93-112
3) (with Bernd Bonwetsch and Marc Junge) “Unter dem Schnee” [Under the Snow], Introduction. In: Marc Junge, Bernd Bonwetsch (eds.): Bolschewistische Ordnung in Georgien. Der Große Terror in einer kleinen kaukasischen Republik [Bolshevist Order in Georgia. The Great Terror in a Small Caucasian Republic]. Berlin/Boston: DeGruyter, 2015, pp. 11-32 (available also in Russian and Georgian)
4) Georgian student encounters with Russian and European Universities, 1861-1917 – A Generational Approach, in: Anthropological Researches II: Introduction to European Encounters with Georgia in past and present. Guest editor: Francoise Companjen. Tbilisi: Universal, 2015, pp. 88-102
5) (with Pamela Jawad) Die Nationalisierung der Religion in der Orthodoxen Apostolischen Kirche Georgiens – Begünstigung oder Hindernis im Demokratisierungsprozess? [The nationalization of religion in the Orthodox Apostolic Church of Georgia – favouring or obstacle in the democratization process?] In: Julia Leininger (Hg.): Religiöse Akteure in Demokratisierungsprozessen. Konstruktiv, destruktiv und obstruktiv [Religious actors in democratization processes. Constructive, destructive and obstructive]. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2013, pp. 149-190
6) Zur Geschichte des Begriffs eri in der modernen georgischen Historiographie [On the history of the term eri in modern Georgian historiography], in: Georgica 35 (2012), pp. 62-77
7) Die Erforschung Kaukasiens im Zarenreich und der frühen Sowjetunion – Der Wandel von Interessen und Konzepten in den Regionalwissenschaften [Researching the Caucasus in Russia Empire and the early Soviet Union – The change of interests and concepts in the Regional Science], in: Bianka Pietrow-Ennker (ed.): Russlands imperiale Macht. Integrationsstrategien und ihre Reichweite in transnationaler Perspektive [Russia’s imperial power. Integration strategies and their reach in a transnational perspective]. Wien, Köln, Weimar: Böhlau, 2012, pp. 179-208
8) Between State and Nation Building: The Debate about ‘Ethnicity’ in Georgian Citizens’ ID Cards. In: Françoise Companjen, László Marácz, Lia Versteegh (eds.): Exploring the Caucasus in the 21st Century. Essays on Culture, History and Politics in a Dynamic Context. Amsterdam: Pallas Publication, 2010, pp. 157-179
9) Travelling Between Two Worlds – the Tergdaleulebi, their Identity Conflict and National Life. In: Identity Studies Vol. 1 (2009), issue 1, pp. 36-50 [https://sites.google.com/a/isystemsinstitute.org/identity-studies/oliver-reisner]
10) Georgia and its new national movement. In: Egbert Jahn (ed.): Nationalism in Late and Post-Communist Europe. Vol. 2: Nationalism in the Nation States. Baden-Baden: Nomos 2009, pp. 240-266 (also published in German)
11) Kaukasien als imaginierter russischer Raum und imperiale Erfolgsgeschichte – Gefangen zwischen russisch-imperialen und nationalen Zuschreibungen (19./20. Jh.) [Caucasus as an imagined Russian space and imperial success story: Caught between Russian imperial and national attributions (19th – 20th cc.)]. In: Bianka Pietrow-Ennker (ed.): Kultur in der Geschichte Russlands. Räume, Medien, Identitäten, Lebenswelten [Culture in the history of Russia: Rooms, media identities, lifestyles]. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2007, pp. 61-82.
12) Zwischen kultureller Autonomie und politischer Unabhängigkeit: politische Konzeptionen und interethnische Beziehungen in Tbilisi, 1905-1917 [Between cultural autonomy and political independence: political conceptions and interethnic relations in Tbilisi, 1905-1917]. In: Fikret Adanir und Bernd Bonwetsch (ed.): Osmanismus, Nationalismus und der Kaukasus. Muslime und Christen, Türken und Armenier im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert [Ottomanism, nationalism and the Caucasus. Muslims and Christians, Turks and Armenians in the 19th and 20th cc.]. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2005 (Caucasian Studies; Vol. 9), pp. 139-158.
13) Grigol Orbeliani Discovering Russia: A Travel Account by a Member of the Georgian Upper Class from 1831-1832. In: Beate Eschment, Hans Harder (eds.): Looking at the Coloniser. Cross-Cultural Perceptions in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Bengal, and Related Areas. Würzburg: Ergon, 2004, pp. 47-62.
14) Ethnos und Demos in Tbilisi (Tiflis) – Armenier, Georgier und Russen in den Stadtdumawahlkämpfen 1890-1897 [Ethnos and Demos in Tbilisi (Tbilisi) – Armenians, Georgians and Russians in the City Duma election campaigns from 1890 to 1897]. In: Guido Hausmann (ed.) Gesellschaft als lokale Veranstaltung. Selbstverwaltung, Assoziierung und Geselligkeit in den Städten des ausgehenden Zarenreiches [Society as a local event. Self-government, association and sociability in the cities of the late Tsarist Empire]. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2002, pp. 301-328.
15) Integrationsversuche der muslimischen Adscharer in die georgische Nationalbewegung [Attempts for the Integration of Muslim Adjarians in the Georgian national movement]. In: Caucasia between the Ottoman Empire and Iran, 1555-1914. Hg. v. R. Motika & M. Ursinus. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2000, pp. 207-222 (Caucasian Studies. Eds. Eva-Maria Auch, Raoul Motika, Jörg Stadelbauer. Vol. 2).
16) Wanderer zwischen zwei Welten. Identitätskonflikte und Nationalbewusstsein georgischer Studenten in St. Petersburg [Wanderers between two worlds. Conflicts of identity and national consciousness of Georgian students in St. Petersburg]. In: Trude Maurer and Eva-Maria Auch (eds.) Leben in zwei Kulturen. Akkulturation und Selbstbehauptung von Nichtrussen im Zarenreich [Living in two cultures. Acculturation and self-assertion of non-Russians in the Russian Empire]. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2000, pp. 83-102 (= Schriften zur Geistesgeschichte des östlichen Europa; Bd. 22).
17) Die georgische Alphabetisierungsgesellschaft – Schule nationaler Eliten und Vergemeinschaftung [The Georgian Association for the spread of literacy – School of national elites and socialisation] In: Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 48 (2000), pp. 66-89. In Hungarian: A grúziai Írásművelési Társaság. A nemzeti elit iskolája és nemzetszervezési tevékenzsége, Világtörténet (2014) 3:455-481
18) Zwischen Zarentreue und ethnischer Selbstvergewisserung: der ‘Fall’ Dimit’ri Qipiani und die Georgier (1885 – 1887) [Between loyalty to the Tsar and ethnic self-assurance: the Dimit’ri Qipiani‘s ‘case’ and the Georgians (1885 – 1887)] In: Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 47 (1999), pp. 512-524
19) Anmerkungen zur sozialen Funktion des Vereinswesens in Georgien – am Beispiel der ‘Gesellschaft zur Alphabetisierung der Georgier’ (1879 – 1927) [Remarks on the social function of associations in Georgia – the example of the ‘Society for the spread of literacy among the Georgians’ (1879 – 1927)] In: Georgica 21 (1998), pp. 28-40
20) What can and should we learn from Georgian History? Observations of someone who was trained in the Western tradition of science. In: Internationale Schulbuchforschung / International Textbook Research 20 (1998), pp. 409-424
21) Die Entstehungs- und Entwicklungsbedingungen der nationalen Bewegung in Georgien bis 1921 [The formation and development conditions of the national movement in Georgia until 1921] In: Krisenherd Kaukasus. Ed. by U. Halbach and A. Kappeler. Baden-Baden: Nomos 1995, pp. 63-79 (Nationen und Nationalitäten in Osteuropa; vol. 2)
22) The Tergdaleulebi – Founders of the Georgian National Identity. In: Forms of Identity. Definitions and Changes. Edited by L. Löb, I. Petrovics, Gy. Szőnyi. Szeged: Attila József University 1994, pp. 125-137
23) Das Mönchtum im frühmittelalterlichen Georgien – am Beispiel der Heiligenvita Grigols von Chandsta [Monasticism in early medieval Georgia – the Holy Vita of Grigol Khandsteli] In: Georgica 15 (1992), pp. 67-81
• Articles in newspapers
24) Contribution Country Report Georgia in “Transformation Index BTI 2018” Bertelsmann Foundation (ed.). Gütersloh (under preparation)
25) Contribution Country Report Georgia in “Transformation Index BTI 2016. Political Management in International Comparison.” Bertelsmann Foundation (ed.). Gütersloh, 2016 http://www.bti-project.org/en/reports/country-reports/detail/itc/GEO/
26) „Interpreting the Past – From Political Manipulation to Critical Analysis?” In: Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 8 – Writing National Histories: Coming to Terms with the Past (17 July 2009), pp. 2-4 [http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?ots591=0c54e3b3-1e9c-be1e-2c24-a6a8c7060233&lng=en&grouppage582=79&size582=10&id=103587]
27) Georgien – Transitland im Süden [Georgia – a transit country in the south] In: Marie-Carin von Gumppenberg, Udo Steinbach (eds.): Der Kaukasus. Geschichte – Kultur – Politik [The Caucasus. History – Culture – Politics]. Munich: Beck, 2008, pp. 34-48, 2nd, updated edition 2010, pp. 32-48
28) (with assistance by Levan Kvatchadze) Studien zur Länderbezogenen Konfliktanalyse: Georgien [Studies on country-specific conflict analysis: Georgia]. Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation. December 2005 (Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment for Georgia) (83 pp.) [http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id/04432.pdf]
29) Epilogue, in: Wend Graf von Kalnein: Georgisches Tagebuch. Fünf Jahre kriegsgefangen im Kaukasus [Georgian diary. Five years as Prisoner of War in the Caucasus]. Osnabrück: Fibre, 2003, pp. 315-323
30) Articles „Kaukasien“ [Caucasia] & „Kaukasier“ [Caucasians]. In: Studienhandbuch Östliches Europa. Bd. 2: Geschichte des Russischen Reiches und der Sowjetunion [Guide for Eastern European Studies. Vol. 2: History of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union]. Ed. by Thomas M. Bohn, Dietmar Neutatz. Köln et al.: Böhlau 2002, pp. 291-297, pp. 393-396 (new edition: 2009, pp. 288-294, pp. 399-402)
31) Article “Georgien” [Georgia]. In: Handbuch der Außenpolitiken von Afghanistan bis Zypern [Manual of foreign policies from Afghanistan to Cyprus]. Ed. by J. Bellers, Th. Benner, I. Gerke. München: Oldenbourg, 2001, pp. 880-885

Current Courses

Course Catalog

History and cultural heritage of the Germans in Georgia – a research-oriented course; EU development cooperation within the Eastern Partnership (ENG); Managing diversity, securing minority rights in the EU and the South Caucasus (ENG); Seminar on Digital Humanity
Introduction to Social History of 19th Century Georgia; Forms & Consequences of Europeanization in the Caucasus (ENG); Introduction to the History of 19th Century Georgia
  • History of 20th Century Europe – Target group: BA students of ISU Faculty of Arts & Sciences (6 ECTS, Georgian) – Summer 2017
  • Mastering Heritage, Pluralising Pasts – Space and Identity in the Caucasus – Target group: MA students of the ISU Faculty of Arts & Sciences (6 ECTS, English) – Summer 2016
  • Forms and Consequences of Europeanization in the Caucasus – Target group: MA students at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Ilia State University Tbilisi (6 ECTS, English) – Summer 2017, Fall 2015/16, Fall 2014/15;
  • Caucasian Studies as Area Studies – On the Cultural Construction of a Region Target group: PhD and international students of the Humanities Faculty of Ilia State University Tbilisi (6 ECTS, English) – Fall 2015/16, Summer 2014.
  • Georgia: Tradition, Identity and Culture (8 contact hours), 7.-8. Februar 2014 – Target group: students of the TRADERUN Programme „Culture, Identity and Ideology: Essential Insights for Under-standing Russia and Eastern Partnership Countries (EaPC)” of the European College Tartu, Tallinn University, Technical University of Tallinn, Estonian School of Diplomacy (Tallinn, Estland);
  •  Georgia and Europe (2 SWS) – Course for undergraduate students in the subject „Caucasiology” (Caucasiological University, NGO „Centre for cultural relations – Caucasian House” Tbilisi) (Georgian) – Fall 2005/6;
  • Sociology of Interethnic Relations in Georgia (32 contact hours) – Course for undergraduate students in the programme „Caucasiology“(Caucasiological University at the NGO „Centre for Cultural Relations – Caucasian House” Tbilisi) (Georgian) – Fall 2004/5;
  • Problems of Nation building in Georgia in the 19th and 20th centuries (8 contact hours) (English) – Graduate Students of the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO) Paris, November 2002 in the framework of the SOCRATES university lecturer exchange programme – Fall 2002;
  • Introduction to the History of Central Asia in the early Soviet Union (2 SWS) – Course for graduate Magister students of Central Asian Studies (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, in German) – Fall 2002/3;
    – Area Studies Revisited – Regional Studies reconsidered (2 SWS) – Exercise on theoretical approaches to area studies for graduate students of Central Asian Studies (HU Berlin, in German) – Fall 2002/3;
  • The ‘Great Game’ in Caucasia and Central Asia in the 19th century (2 SWS) – Course on international history for graduate students of the post-graduate Master programme “Central Asia/Caucasus” (HU Berlin, in German) – Summer 2002
  • Project management in Central Asia and Caucasus – from the idea to implementation (20 contact hours) (with Elisabeth Richter) – Practical exercise for the preparation of the internship for graduate students of the post-graduate MA programme “Central Asia/Caucasus” (HU Berlin, in German) – Summer 2002
  • The Use of History in Central Asia and Caucasia exemplified at School textbooks (2 SWS) – Course on strategies of historical legitimation for students of the post-graduate MA programme “Central Asia/Caucasia” (HU Berlin, in German) – Fall 2001/2
  • The Mountainous People of the Caucasus: Culture, History and Nowadays (2 SWS) – Introduction to Caucasian Studies for students of the post-graduate MA programme “Central Asia/Caucasus” (HU Berlin, in German) – Summer 2001
  • Russia as Multinational Empire – the conquest of the Caucasus, its domination and the Consequences (2 SWS) – Introduction for undergraduate Magister students in „Central Asian Studies” (HU Berlin, in German) – Fall 2000/01

Memberships: German Society for East European Studies (DGO) seit 01/2004; EUROCLIO (Standing Conference of History Educators), since 07/2009; GAHE (Georgian Association of History Educators), since 02/2010. Member of Scientific Board for European Journal of Minority Studies (since 10/2017) and of the editorial board of “Georgica – Zeitschrift für Kultur, Sprache und Geschichte Georgiens und Kaukasiens” (since 34/2011). Since 2017 member of the supervisory board of the „Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information“, a Georgian NGO.

JEAN MONNET CHAIR

</p><p>

</p><p>

</p><p>

</p><p>