Winter School 'People and Territories: Biopower and Geopolitics in the Black Sea and the Caucasus'

Event ended

The Department of Political Science at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (NRU HSE) and Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu invite undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students to apply for the Eighth International Winter School People and Territories: Biopower and Geopolitics in the Black Sea and the Caucasus to be held in Estonia on 11-17 February 2018.

The School will explore different dimensions of power and relate them with domestic and foreign policies of major international actors. We shall particularly focus on juxtaposing, comparing and unpacking geopolitical and biopolitical facets of international relations, and discuss them through the territorial lens, on the one hand, and the people-centric prism, on the other. In the geographic sense, we shall put a premium on a plethora of policy practices, cultural phenomena and discourses unfolding in a spatially vast and politically turbulent area encompassing the Black Sea and the Caucasian regions. 

The learning process consists of lectures and interactive classes based on students’ inclusive participation, including topical presentations and group-based debate. Basic knowledge in social and cultural theories, along with skills in comparative and critical analysis, as well as independent thinking are welcome and strongly encouraged.

Tentative topics:

  • Right-wing and left-wing populisms: regional implications for geopolitics and biopolitics
  • The region of the South Caucasus: geopolitical dynamics and societal transformations
  • Sport mega-events: implications for biopolitics and socio-cultural integration
  • Methodological workshop: how to study regionalism (includes presentations of international projects and recent publications in the field of biopower and geopolitics)


The venue for the School is Kääriku Sports Center, situated in a beautiful area in Valga County, about 40 km south of Tartu, near the Otepää winter resort. The participants of the School will be provided with comfortable accommodation, full board, free Internet access and numerous sports opportunities, including a gym, indoor basketball and volleyball courts, cross-country skis for rent, and will be able to use 150 km of cross country ski tracks, starting right outside the Center.

The working language is English. Participation equals 4 ECTS credits, which will be confirmed by a certificate awarded to each student upon successful completion of the School.

Application deadline is 28 November 2017. Please contact us at escapes@hse.ru to find out the cost of participation and submit your application. An application must include the applicant’s full name, institutional affiliation (university, department, program, year of study) and contact details (E-mail, phone number).

The School is part of the Escapes from Modernity project .

Contacts: Anastasia Gergel, Project Assistant, escapes@hse.ru, +7 (985) 971-5227.