Tamar Shioshvili Center for American Studies is opened at IBSU

The Tamar Shioshvili Center for American Studies was opened at the International Black Sea University. US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan attended the opening ceremony.

The rector of the university, Dr. Saffet Bayraktutan mentioned the following at the opening of the center: “The English-language program of American Studies has been operating at IBSU for 20 years, which is headed by Professor Tamar Shioshvili. “It is the result of Mrs. Tamar’s efforts, that today we have such an outstanding program at the university and have so many successful graduates and students. By opening the center, we are commemorating the 30th anniversary of US-Georgia diplomatic relations, and I hope that the cooperation with the strategic partner will continue successfully in the future”.

US Ambassador Kelly Degnan thanked Tamar Shioshvili for the activities she has been conducting for years to popularize America in Georgia. The ambassador noted that the opening of the Center for American Studies and the discussion of American studies issues here help to deepen the friendship between the people of the two countries.

The Tamar Shioshvili Center for American Studies houses a library that has been filled with books donated to the American Studies program over the years. In the center, BA, MA and PhD programs students of American studies will work on their research topics and those researches will be reviewed by the Georgian and American professors of the field.

The International Black Sea University’s American studies undergraduate program was opened in 2002, after Professor Tamar Shioshvili participated in the American studies curriculum design program forum in 2001, with the funding of the US State Department. The forum intended to get to know and study the specific, traditional and leading programs of American studies in the US universities of George Washington, Michigan, New Mexico, Penn State and Memphis.

In 2004, Tamar Shioshvili became the holder of a Fulbright grant from the US State Department and a researcher at the George Washington University’s Department of American Studies. This gave her an opportunity to develop a bachelor’s program and create an English-language master’s program and in 2007, the only English-language American studies doctoral program was opened in Georgia.