Fellows
Prof. Dr. Oliver Reisner
October 2022 - January 2023
Oliver Reisner is a senior research fellow at the JENA-Cauc project focusing on societal resilience. He is professor in European and Caucasian Studies at Ilia State University Tbilisi (Georgia). He received his Dr. phil. degree in East European History for a thesis on nation formation in Georgia at Georg-August-University Göttingen (2000) and coordinated the MA programme “Central Asia / Caucasus” at Humboldt University Berlin (2000-2003). He published a monograph and 28 papers in German, Georgian and English journals and volumes, and Georgia country reports for the Bertelsmann Transformation Index. He is a board member of the “Association of European Studies for the Caucasus” and member of the advisory council of the “European Journal of Minority Issues”. Currently, he is leading a research project “In Search of Social Cohesion in Minor Urban Settings of Georgia” (Rustaveli National Science Foundation). His research interests are civic integration, politics of memory and history of Caucasian Studies from the 18th century until today.
Thijs Korsten
July - December 2022
Thijs Korsten is a junior fellow for the Jena-Cauc project from July to December 2022, examining the practices and contestations of resilience-building interventions in post-war Armenia. Thijs holds an MA in International Relations from Central European University, and is primarily interested in critical sociological approaches to ethnoterritorial conflict, knowledge production, elite networks, and international intervention.
Nijat Eldarov
June - August 2022
From June to August 2022, Nijat Eldarov is an international fellow for the Jena-Cauc resilience project. He investigates the enactment of multiple ontologies of resilience in the EU's migration governance with Georgia and Azerbaijan in order to conceptualize the (im)possibility of subversive action against the "policy without politics" ethos resilience often promotes. Mr. Eldarov holds a BA in International Relations from the Academy of Public Administration (Azerbaijan) and MSc in European Affairs from Lund University (Sweden). His research interests lie at the intersection of critical security studies, science and technology studies, and political ecology and can be situated in the material turn in International Relations.
Natia Botkoveli
June – December 2021
From June to December 2021, Natia Botkoveli is an international fellow for the Jena-Cauc resilience project. She investigates the significance and influence of minority languages on resilience building in the South Caucasus. Ms. Botkoveli obtained her International Joint Master’s degree in Sociolinguistics and Multilingualism from Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), University of Mainz (Germany) and Stockholm University (Sweden). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philology from Tbilisi State University (Georgia). Her main research interests and experiences include language policy planning, minority languages and language rights.
Prof. Dr. Ashot Aleksanyan
September 2021 – February 2022
From September 2021 to February 2022, Prof. Dr. Ashot Aleksanyan will be an international fellow for the Jena-Cauc project. He will utilize comparative analysis to examine the different dimensions of European integration between the South Caucasus and the German public diplomacy domain. Dr. Aleksanyan is a full professor at Yerevan State University in Armenia, where he also earned his Doctor of Sciences (Dr. Habil.) and Doctor of Politics (PhD) degrees, as well as an undergraduate Diploma. His experience and main research interests involve civil society organizations in post-Soviet countries, European integration with the South Caucasus, public diplomacy, social partnership, and human rights and freedoms.
Dr. Elguja Khokrishvili
June – September 2021
From June to September 2021, Dr. Elguja Khokrishvili is an international fellow for the Jena-Cauc resilience project. During the course of his fellowship, he researches economic resilience in Georgia. Mr. Khokrishvili holds a doctoral degree in Economics and Social Science from University of Potsdam (Germany) and earned a Master's and Bachelor’s degree at the same university. His main research interests include regional economic development, sustainable fiscal and tax policy, fiscal decentralisation and green economy.