News

The fourth and final workshop of the DHR project took place in Tsinandali, Georgia, on September 20-22, 2023. The main goal of the event was to present and discuss the contributions that will be published in the third volume of the German-Georgian Yearbooks, which will be dedicated to the topic “Pluralism and Democracy” (edited by Simon Derpmann, Tamar Tskhadadze and Armando Manchisi). The PhD students and some external guests then presented the contents of their articles and received helpful feedback for the preparation of the final version. At the end of the workshop, some details related to the submission of doctoral theses were also discussed. The last day was dedicated to a trip to the beautiful Georgian region of Kakheti with stops in Telavi and Sighnaghi.

Second meeting of the DHR project in Rothenberge

From 22 to 24 May, the University of Münster invited all participants of the DHR project to the Landhaus Rothenberge for the second time to discuss the advanced work of the doctoral candidates. In one-hour presentations, each doctoral candidate presented their work to the plenum and received feedback on the submitted chapter of the thesis. Since the doctoral students are planning to submit their dissertations at the end of the year, the focus this time was also on keeping an eye on the overall conception and assessing the fit of the respective parts to it. At the end of the workshop, there was room to discuss questions of publication strategy and the next organisational steps towards completing the dissertation. The next DHR meeting will take place in Georgia in September.

Publication of the German-Georgian Yearbooks Volume 2

The second volume of the German-Georgian Yearbook combines philosophical, historical and political perspectives on the social upheavals in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. The example of Georgia is used to show what role Marxist ideas played in the social order and the political development of the country. In doing so, it addresses in a theoretical perspective the question of a plausible interpretation of Marxist ideas and in a historical perspective the challenges that were associated with the efforts to create a social democratic state in that country. In this way, the volume brings together contributions ranging from the thinking of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels or Konstantine Megrelidze to the influence of the various political groups for the birth of the social democracy in Georgia and to the question of the role of language for the social order. The second volume, "Marxism at the Crossroads of Philosophy and Politics. On the Reception of Marxian Theory in Eastern Europe in the First Half of the 20th Century", edited by Michael Quante and Giga Zedania, was published by Brill in Spring 2023.

Continuation of PhD-Colloquium in Stepanzminda from 21.09-23.09

After the University of Münster invited the young researchers and their supervisors to Rothenberge for a three-day workshop in May, the participants of the DHR Graduate School met in Georgia in September to hold a colloquium on the doctoral students' dissertation projects. From 21.09 to 23.09, the DHR Graduate School met in Stepanzminda, where each PhD student was able to present his or her latest research results and received feedback in plenary sessions as well as in individual discussions. The meeting was rounded off by a joint walk through the streets of the mountain village of Stepanzminda, from where the participants had an impressive view of the mountains of the Caucasus.

PhD students workshop in Rothenberge 09-11 May

After a break due to the pandemic, the Graduate School was able to resume its work in presence. Therefore, the PhD students working on the DHR project as well as their supervisors from Georgia and Germany were invited to the Landhaus Rothenberge from 9 to 11 May. During the three-day workshop, the research results of the young scientists were presented and discussed with the scientists from the University of Tbilisi and Münster. The aim of the workshop was not only to sharpen the individual work of the doctoral researchers, but also to work out cross-connections between the research projects in order to be able to take a closer look at the common preoccupation with shared questions. The spectrum of dissertation topics ranged from bioethical and medical ethics questions to problems in legal philosophy and investigations in the field of feminist ethics.

German-Georgian Yearbooks

The yearbooks will be published as a series of volumes on the social challenges in addressing the tensions between democracy, human rights and religion. They serve to further the dialogue between Georgian and German scholars. Within this interdisciplinary exchange, with a focus on practical philosophy, central normative questions are addressed in an international perspective. Thus, the yearbooks attempt to contribute to the normative and cultural self-reflexion in Europe. At the same time, they are meant to provide young researchers with a forum to contribute to these social discourses.

The first volume on "Menschenrechte und Menschenwürde im kulturellen Kontext“ (Human Rights and Human Dignity in Cultural Context) edited by Tamar Tsopurashvili Thomas Gutmann, will be published at mentis in the Spring.