Fellowship Year:
2026
Degree:
PhD
Research Country:
Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan
Research Continent:
Asia
Project Title:
Environment, displacement, and Indigenous becomings in the Middle Caucasus
Abstract:
Building on 19 months of predissertation fieldwork, this exploratory study examines how displacement, environmental change and imperial legacies have shaped and reshaped identity in the Middle Caucasus, including Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia. Focusing on self-identifying Abkhazians, Georgians and South Ossetians, the research traces evolving connections to sacred trees, water bodies and other species through a multi-sited ethnography of historical memory and archival materials. The project explores how settlers become indigenous through displacement, how the sacred is negotiated between tradition and modernity, and how these processes inform broader debates on indigeneity, temporality and environmental connection in Eurasia.