IMC 2024: Sessions

The Caucasus is sometimes portrayed as a region of perpetual crisis - a fragmented land torn between imperial powers and internally riven by ethnic and religious dividing lines. The dramatic terrain, the wide cultural and linguistic diversity of the region, and more recent tragedies between the region's modern nation-state formations have all helped to concretise this image of an eternally fractured Caucasus in wider imaginations. Considering other perspectives and alternative possibilities, however, may bring much-needed nuance to this picture, considering the histories of people across the region building cultural exchange, commerce, varying identities, and alternative or overlapping senses of community. In this panel, a range of experts on different methodologies, regions, and epochs within the Caucasus' medieval period examine the concept of eternal crisis and discuss its relationship to the medieval Caucasus world and to how we see those histories today. This session is organised by the Medieval Caucasus Network.

Participants include James Baillie (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien), Hannah Barker (Arizona State University), Ani Honarchian (Saint Louis University, Missouri), and Nicholas Matheou (University of Edinburgh).