Dickinson is offering a new study abroad program in Tbilisi, Georgia starting in Fall 2023 to replace the suspended program in Moscow, Russia for the foreseeable future. 

During an information session led by Associate Professors of Russian Alyssa DeBlasio and Elena Duzs as well as Associate Director of Education Abroad Marissa Mitchell, questions of safety and concerns from parents were raised by students due to Georgia’s proximity to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

DeBlasio and Duzs said that they already have contingency plans in place to evacuate students in case the war starts to affect Georgia. They also encouraged students to let them talk to parents about safety concerns.  

The program was created in collaboration with the School of Russian and Asian Studies (SRAS), an education advisory organization, making it an independent program that has no affiliation with a university or college in Georgia. Mitchell said that SRAS is “a leader in study abroad programming in Eurasia for over 20 years.” 

After suspending the Dickinson in Russia program since Summer 2022 because of the war in Ukraine, “CGSE and the Russian department worked collaboratively” to review and evaluate programs in the area, Mitchell said.

Ultimately, they decided that the SRAS program in Tbilisi, which just started last year, “was a good fit for [the] students in terms of academics, health and safety, and location,” Mitchell says. 

Because of the low number of applicants and the program being independent, courses can be designed to fit students specifically depending on their area of study. 

Irina Filippova, the permanent on-site program coordinator for the Russia program, will now be the coordinator for the Georgia program. Students in the program will also be supported by SRAS staff, Russian faculty on campus to help them plan and connect with the scholars in their fields of study, said Mitchell.  

In March, DeBlasio will head to Tbilisi to observe the current SRAS program, finalize the details for the Dickinson program and check in with host families. Similar to the Russia program, students will stay with Russian-speaking host families.

Like other Dickinson study abroad programs, students will have to take a Georgian “crash course” to learn about the culture of the country. Courses offered also include Conflict Studies in Post-Soviet Space, Identity Studies in Post-Soviet Space and Georgian language. The courses will be taught by Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian faculty. 

To promote Dickinson in Georgia, the Russian Department will hold a series of events in Spring 2023. This includes films, talks from alumni and scholars, a cooking class and conversations with Georgian students. One notable upcoming event is a talk with Dr. Robert Hamilton from the US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute on March 30 about the current state of Georgia. 

The program will start in Fall 2023 with the deadline for application on Feb. 10. Like other Dickinson study abroad programs, students can apply to study for the Fall, Spring, or full academic year. Currently, it has a language prerequisite, thus, is mostly offered to students who are taking Russian or have taken Russian classes in the past.