“Challenges and Opportunities of Europeanisation in the Caucasus”
First Annual Convention of the Association of European Studies for the Caucasus
Yeditepe University, Istanbul (Turkey), 27 to 28 April 2017 Yeditepe University
In October 2016 the Association of European Studies for the Caucasus (AESC) was founded in the framework of the Jean Monnet Network „Developing European Studies in the Caucasus“ (http://descnet.eu). Its First Annual Convention will take place at Yeditepe University Faculty of Law in Istanbul, Turkey on 27-28 April 2017.
The Convention will not only offer a platform for young scholars to present their research. It will also be the place to discuss the latest issues concerning Europeanisation in the Caucasus, and we look forward to presentations by leading authorities from Turkey and beyond. Attendance and participation is open to all interested. Please submit your individual paper, panel or roundtable proposal by 31 March 2017 (deadline). For details on the requirements for participation see http://aesc-online.eu/convention.
The framework topic of the Convention is „Challenges and Opportunities of Europeanisation in the Caucasus.“ The Convention will be open for proposals from all relevant disciplines.
In addition, for a more structured approach the following two sub-topics are proposed:
(1) Studying institutions and practices of regional integration that have been formed at Europe’s margins, more specifically the Black Sea region, the Caspian Sea region, the Intermarium concept, the Union for Mediterranean, the Visegrad group, the Baltic and Nordic regions. The extant literature on each of them basically deals with individual regions and lacks a cross-regional comparative perspective. Besides, the most recent developments (identity crisis within the EU, the growing securitisation momentum in regional agendas, the EU-Russia conflict) pose a number of new questions – how regional institutions react to the growing insecurity? What happens with forms of regional integration within the premises of the EU or under its direct patronage?
(2) Studying sportive and cultural events. Interesting cases to explore could be Azerbaijan (EuroVision and first European Olympic Games, preparing for Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017), Sochi (stripped off the World Cup on Bobsleigh as part of the ongoing anti-doping campaign), and Kazakhstan’s bid for winter Olympics.
Both sets of topics can be researched from a variety of perspectives – cultural studies, sociology of international relations, political economy, legal studies, etc. It is planned to use presentations for launching book projects or special issues of international peer-reviews journals. Those interested in either of these two possibilities please contact Andrey Makarychev (andrey.makarychev@ut.ee).
Yeditepe University is a private foundation university situated in Istanbul, Turkey. Established by the Istanbul Education and Culture Foundation (ISTEK Foundation) in 1996, Yeditepe University is now the largest of the 64 foundation universities in Turkey.
The Convention will be held at 26th August Campus of Yeditepe University which is located on the Asian side of Istanbul, at the address of İnönü Mahallesi, Kayışdağı Caddesi, 34755 Ataşehir – İstanbul. The nearest airport for the Convention venue is Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, located at a distance of 24 km (by comparison Atatürk International Airport is at a distance of 42 km).
Regarding transportation, there are various options including public buses, Havabus buses (private airport bus service) and taxi services to Kadiköy or Ataşehir which is close to the campus. In addition to these, from Atatürk Airport there is a subway option. With only two transfers you may reach Kozyataği from where you may have a short taxi ride to the campus. Among these options taking a taxi directly to Yeditepe or hotels is highly recommended since it approximately costs TL 110 (€ 29) from Atatürk Airport and TL 70 (€ 17) from Sabiha Gökçen Airport to Yeditepe.
For visitors of the Convention, a pick-up service from Sabiha Gökçen International Airport may be arranged depending on the arrival times of visitors on the date of 26 April 2017. In case arrivals would be between 11.15-12.30 hours this group could be met by service bus leaving around 13.00. Another service bus late afternoon may be provided for arrivals between 16.00-17.15 hours as a group. Depending on the arrival times of participants, a service bus may be arranged for Atatürk Airport, too. Additionally, there will be a limited amount of accomodation opportunities on campus.
The local organizer’s contact point for all questions relating to travel and accomodation is Dr. Ebru İlter Akarcay (eiakarcay@yeditepe.edu.tr)