The SHOC Research Group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in association with the Medieval Caucasus Network and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, is happy to announce that registration for the international conference 'Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus' is open. The registration link can be found at https://www.vub.be/en/event/studying-non-elites-in-medieval-caucasus. We welcome anyone, including academics, students and members of the public, with an interest in the history of the Caucasus or in methodologies for studying the experience of non-elite groups, such as women, peasants, or enslaved people.
The conference features two days of papers on a variety of topics, from the Caucasian slave trade, to the place of women in medieval Armenian society, to the bioarchaeology of the medieval Caucasus. The keynote speakers are Nik Matheou (University of Edinburgh) and Irina Arzhantseva (Insitute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences). Speakers hail from Belgium, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Czechia, the Russian Federation, Georgia, Armenia, and Egypt.
The in-person component of the hybrid conference will take place at the U-Residence, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium, on March 13th-14th 2026. It is also possible to participate online. Registration costs 10 euros for members of the public, students, and PhD candidates, and 20 euros for postdoctoral and permanent staff members.
Any questions may be directed to [email protected].