Under the pedagogical leadership of ComDev’s Hugo Boothby and Anders Hög-Hansen as well as Caucasus Studies’ Karina Vamling and in collaboration with colleagues from Flinders University in Adelaide and Tbilisi State University, the Boundaries and Identities in Contemporary Georgia event brought together more than 40 participants in the Georgian capital.
This joint teaching seminar and policy simulation exercise focused on the history and contemporary socio-political challenges of Georgia and brought together more than 30 students from the three universities. In addition to many regional academic experts staff members from the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), the Foreign Ministry and local NGOs provided insights into the complexities, conflicts and cooperation that shape Georgia at the moment.
In preparation of the hands-on policy simulation led by Maryanne Kelton and Verity Kingsmill from Flinders University, ComDev student and film-maker Connor Ashleigh prepared teaching material near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between Georgia and South Ossetia which will be included in a short documentary that he is 
currently producing.
A field trip to an IDP settlement in Gori near the ABL provided first-hand experience and discussions with EUMM field staff, the local NGO Civil Forum as well as residents.
Karina Vamling shared some of her reflections in a recent post on the Caucasus Studies portal.
As part of the week-long visit, Rebecka Letteval, Dean of the KS faculty, also renewed the MOU between Malmö University and Tbilisi State University to ensure future collaborations.
Held on Friday, April 7 and Saturday April 8, ComDev’s teaching seminar for the core course Culture, Communication and Media Analysis offered students insights into both practical and theoretical aspects engaging with communication challenges in the field of international development. 
Hosted at the Niagara Building in Malmö, the seminar brought together about 15 ComDev students on site and more than 30 online around the globe.
Anna Wachtmeister of Malmö University opened the seminar on Friday with a presentation on ‘Participatory processes within post-disaster housing,’ which captured her work in Haiti following the 2014 earthquake.
Her lecture was followed by the dynamic duo of Berndt Clavier and Asko Kauppinen both of Malmö University who explored ‘Actor-Network Theory’ and introduced their research project on ‘Art & Governmentalization‘.
The first day ended with Linnaeus University’s Chris High’s presentation on ‘Understanding rural teachers’ practice in Malawi: Using participatory video and conceptual mapping in inductive research‘.
Saturday morning’s presentation from Malmö University’s Michael Krona on ‘Researching extremist propaganda – textual and visual analysis of ISIS media,’ was gripping and generated many questions from participants.
Finally, ComDev’s own Tobias Denskus brought the seminar to a close with an in-depth and interesting presentation on, ‘Aid worker voices and autobiographical writing of development-new avenues for research, teaching & communication.’
For ComDev student Paul May who travelled to Malmö from Germany, the presentation on participatory processes within post-disaster housing was captivating. “Anna’s talk on post-disaster housing in Haiti after the 2004 quake really stood out for me. It was refreshing to hear a candid account of the backstage dealings in disaster relief – that funding follows who parties with whom. Over the two days of seminars, I really appreciated the mix of practitioners and academics,” May said.
London-based student Patricia Whitehorne said of the seminar, “it was a rewarding and productive weekend. It was really valuable to interact with the speakers directly and being there in person means you can be much more engaged. The subjects covered were fascinating and gave an insight into first-hand experiences. And of course it was a great opportunity to meet staff and fellow students.”
Written by ComDev student assistant Yahneake Sterling who also contributed the photos.
ComDev seminar at American University of Paris brings together international group of students and teachers
Hosted by Professor Tanya Elder of the American University in central Paris, the ComDev team was joined by more than 20 MA students at one of the largest Glocal Classroom teaching seminars outside the Öresund region from 10-12 November. 
Our ComDev team, led by the course responsible for the Media, Globalization and Development course Hugo Boothby and ComDev program coordinator Tobias Denskus, also met with the Swedish delegation to UNESCO and the local C4D network group before an intensive teaching seminar with inputs from five ComDev teachers and four AUP colleagues.
All in all a great opportunity to network with colleagues, students and the Communication for Development community!
We were also lucky that one of our students, Conor Ashleigh, is a freelance photographer and he kindly provided one of the photos for this post.
Under the pedagogical leadership of ComDev’s Hugo Boothby and Anders Hög-Hansen as well as Caucasus Studies’ Karina Vamling and in collaboration with colleagues from Flinders University in Adelaide and Tbilisi State University, the Boundaries and Identities in Contemporary Georgia event brought together more than 40 participants in the Georgian capital.
currently producing.
