International Programs
Faculty Exchange Report: Tbilisi Institute of Asia and Africa
Catherine Weist, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology
On February 22, 2007, I flew to Tbilisi, Georgia to teach at the Tbilisi Institute of Asia and Africa (TIAA) under the auspices of the University of Montana-Georgia Exchange Program. Unlike other Montana faculty who taught in Georgia, I decided to teach only at TIAA so that I might become better acquainted with the Institute, students and the city of Tbilisi. I taught two classes: - History and Peoples of Africa and an upper level seminar on Ethnographic Field Methods.
TIAA is an urban campus and many students come from suburbs and therefore spend many hours on public transportation. Because of this, courses are divided into morning and afternoon classes with upper level students attending in the morning and lower level students in the afternoon. I taught two sections of the Africa class three days a week and the seminar once a week. Twenty-two students attended the Africa class and six in the seminar.
TIAA does not have a formal registration process and so I was uncertain as to how many students were enrolled. At first many came but soon all but the twenty-two dropped out. These students were very consistent in their attendance, and many were truly interested in learning about Africa. About half the lectures were on the history of sub-Saharan Africa and the second half on contemporary lives and social problems. I was fortunate that TIAA had a DLP projector that I attached to my computer and I could show power point presentations in each lecture. I taught all my classes in the Montana Room which had a large table, comfortable chairs, two computers, book shelves and pictures of Missoula on the walls. This room was always locked when not in use. One of the computers received the internet so that I was able to surf for the pictures I used in my presentations. I had students do research on specific topics using the internet and they presented their findings to the class. I gave an oral final exam.
In the upper level/graduate seminar, students were introduced to ethnographic field methods and research. We covered topics such as how to write a research proposal, ethnographic field techniques, such as field work, observation, interviewing techniques and archival research. At first the students were excited, interested and talkative students; however, over time attendance dropped off because they worked and couldn't spend the time carrying out research projects. Students in this class were not signed up but were taking the class without credit.
At the end of my stay, I gave a major presentation on the history and culture of Native Americans. Dr. Chikovani invited many outside groups, such as the U.S. Embassy, and the talk was well attended. I gave a power point presentation in English and Thea translated it into Georgian. We worked well together.
Overall, I found this teaching exchange to be fun and beneficial. Unfortunately no reading materials could be assigned because no literature was available. TIAA has a computer room with a bank of computers connected to the internet but they were heavily used and at times electricity was not available. Most of the students had a fair knowledge of English but their spoken English was inadequate.
I was fortunate to have an assistant (Thea Gagnadzi) who had been delegated to take care of the Montana Room. She attended my classes, took care of attendance and was a go-between the administration and myself. Most of the personnel in the main office did not speak English very well and Thea was very useful. Thea spoke good English, besides Georgian, Russian, Arabic and Dutch.
Dr. Chikovani, the rector and founder of the Institute, was most kind and gracious. His wife found good accommodations for me across from the school. His family showed me around the important sites of Tbilisi and arranged for other faculty to accompany me on visits and to the ballet. He is an extremely busy person, with visitors coming frequently helpful to me and took time to talk about the history of Georgia and his plans for the Institute. He truly enjoys having an exchange with the University of Montana.
My accommodations were good. My landlady was a retired lawyer for Tbilisi State University, and she had a flat in the university's faculty housing. Although the building is very ugly with about 200 flats, the apartment itself was very nice with parquet floors, spacious rooms, good electricity and running water. Unfortunately Lia, the landlady, didn't speak English and my Georgian was non-existent. Even so, she was pleasant, not demanding and very gracious. She invited me to her dinner parties and made certain that the flat's facilities were functioning. We were sad to part from each other.
Tbilisi is an interesting city of almost 4 million. One million of these are refugees from Abkazia. The architecture tends to be Soviet and very ugly but some of the older buildings are beautiful. Some parts of the city go back many hundreds of years and reflect the architecture of the Caucasus region. People speak primarily Georgian and Russian, although I seldom heard that language spoken. The major market is a bit difficult to get to but the food is fresh, plentiful and inexpensive. The people are lively, fun and helpful. I sensed no hostility at my being American. There are lots of cars on the streets and driving seems reckless to me. Fortunately there are many underground walkways.
I seldom traveled outside Tbilisi. Thea took me to visit her family in Khashuri during the Easter holidays. There I experienced the Georgian family with lots of eating (great food!), drinking home made wines, and Easter rituals. Dr. Chikovani took Thea, a visiting friend and me to a nearby town noted for its old cathedral. Travel outside Tbilisi if you don't have a car is by taxi or train and since I was alone and didn't communicate well in Georgian, I felt limited in how much I could travel.
Since I returned to the U.S., I have given two presentations about Georgia. The first was at the University during an international week in November 2007 and the second was to the American Association of Women in February 2008. Many people in Georgia spoke with great feeling about the country's history and culture and the importance of these to their present day situation. They are struggling with poverty, lack of resources, poor refugees and poor infrastructure; but they are very proud of who they are and are working hard to overcome difficulties.
