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Contact

Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology 
University of Warsaw

Żurawia 4, 00-503 Warsaw
tel. +48 22 55 316 11/ fax. 22 55 316 12
etnologia@uw.edu.pl

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Dr Iwona Kaliszewska

assistant professor
Deputy Director (International Collaboration)

Contact

i.kaliszewska@uw.edu.pl
+48 22 5531654

Iwona Kaliszewska is an assistant professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw. She has been researching the North Caucasus since 2004. Her most recent study focused on corruption, Islamic economics and radicalism. She has authored numerous publications about the Caucasus and co-directed a documentary about a Daghestani female wrestler entitled "The Strongwoman" (2014). She is the editor and co-founder of the Kaukaz.net website and foundation, and has been traveling around Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus since 1999. 

Area of interest

anthropology of the state, Islamic economics, religious and secular power (an anthropological perspective), ethnography of conflict and unstable sites (cases of Dagestan and Chechnya) and application of computer programmes for analysis of fieldwork materials.

Biography

EDUCATION:

  • 2015 (Mar)-2016 (Feb) University of California, Berkeley, Institute for Slavic, Eastern European and Euroasian Studies, visiting scholar

  • 2013 Jan – PhD thesis “New Muslims” in the Republic of Dagestan. Crisis of the State and Local Reformists' Projects defended at the Institute of Ethnology and  Cultural Anthropology under supervision of prof. Lech Mróz.

  • 2012 (Feb-June) –The George Washington University, The Elliott School of International Affairs, Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, visiting fellow.

  • 2008 – 2012 – University of Warsaw, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, PhD studies in social anthropology.

  • 2005 – 2007 – University of Warsaw, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, MA in Ethnology.

  • 1999– 2005  – University of Warsaw, Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics, MS in  Computer Science

  • 2003 – 2005 – University of Warsaw, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, BA in Ethnology.

  • 2003 – 2004 – School of Photographic Forms, Graduate diploma.


LANGUAGE SKILLS:

  • English (fluent)
  • Russian (fluent)
  • German (intermediate)
  • French (intermediate)
  • Spanish (elementary)


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

  • III 2013 – present –  Assistant professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw.
  • X 2006 – III 2013 – Lecturing at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology,  University of Warsaw.
  • VIII 2012 – present – Researcher in Volkswagen Foundation grant “Documenting Dargi Languages in Dagestan”. Duties: interviews, video and photo  documentation of Shiri and Sanzhi languages.
  • IV 2006 – present – President  of the Kaukaz.net Foundation, 
  • X 2010 – present  – Cooperation with the Nowa Europa Wschodnia and The New Eastern Europe journal
  • I 2011 – present  – Bi-monthly broadcast on Caucasus at Radio WNET called “Kaukaz -WNET”.
  • X 2005 – present – Kaukaz.net website editor and administrator.
  • XI 2006 – present – Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, website  administrator
  • IX 2004 – IX 2005 – Working at Moremi Africa travel agency, Asian section.
  • VIII 1997 – VII 2001 – Volunteer at Jeden Świat (One World) Association (branch of the  Service Civil International)

COURSES TAUGHT (from 2006):

  • Problems and Conflicts in the Contemporary Caucasus
  • Political Anthropology: case of Caucasus
  • Anthropology of Islam
  • Anthropology of Corruption
  • Practicum for undergraduate students in Fieldwork: Everyday life of young Georgians, Tbilisi and Gori, Georgia.
  • Computer Analysis of Interviews.
  • Computer Techniques of Ethnographic Data Analysis.
  • Practicum for undergraduate students in Fieldwork: Religious and Secular Authorities. The case of the East Podillya Region, Ukraine (with Iwona Kołodziejska-Degórska).
  • Practicum in Applied Anthropology, Zakarpatya Region, Ukraine.
  • Applied Anthropology: Anthropology and Journalism.

TEACHING ABROAD:

  • September-October 2013 - Teaching a 30-hours course on Political Anthropology in Tbilisi, Georgia through Eramsus Mundus WEBB.
  • October 2011 - Three lectures on Political Anthropology in Tblisi, Georgia.
  • July 2009 and July 2008 - Leading a short course on EdEt: a new software solution for collaborative analysis of qualitative data [in English] at the Autonoma University in Barcelona, within Erasmus scholarship.

 

Selected publications

BOOKS and EDITED VOLUMES:

  • Kaliszewska I. Falkowski M. Veiled and Unveiled in Chechnya and Daghestan, Hurst Publishers, 2016.
  • Kaliszewska I. Za Putina i za szarijat. Dagestańscy muzułmanie o Rosji i państwie islamskim, WUW, 2016.
  • Voell S., Kaliszewska I., eds. State and Legal Practice in the Caucasus. Anthropological Perspectives on Law and Politics, Ashgate, 2015
  • Kaliszewska I., Everyday Life in the North Caucasus, URIC, IV 2011 [raport published  in Polish and English in form of a book].
  • Kaliszewska I., Falkowski M., Matrioszka w hidżabie [Matrioshka in hijab. Esseys on Dagestan and Chechnya] , SIC!, 2010.

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

  • Kaliszewska I., Cheese bribe. Viewing social changes through food and mobility in Daghestan, North Caucasus, Sociological Studies, 4/2018. http://www.studiasocjologiczne.pl/pliki/Studia_Socjologiczne...

  • Kaliszewska I., Kołodziejska-Degórska I. Social context of wild leafy vegetables uses in Daghestan, Journal for Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2015. https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s1300...

  • Kaliszewska I. „I wait for enlighted times”. Story of Issa Kodzoev, Ingush writer [in Polish], Nowa Europa Wschodnia, 6/2013.

  • Kaliszewska I., Ramzan's Chechnya, New Eastern Europe, Special Edition 2011.

  • Kaliszewska I., South Ossetia: Sad Independence [in Polish], Nowa Europa Wschodnia, 6/2011.

  • Kaliszewska I., Karabakh: war or discotheque? [in Polish], Nowa Europa Wschodnia, 5/2011.

  • Kaliszewska I., Ramzan’s Chechnya [in Polish],  Nowa Europa Wschodnia, 1/2010.

  • Kaliszewska I., The Chechen pilgrimage [in Polish], Nowa Europa Wschodnia, 4/2010.

  • Kaliszewska I., Dagestan. In quest for the lost state [in Polish] , Publications of Polish Anthropological Institute, 2/2010.

  • Kaliszewska I. On Dagestani migrants returning  home [in Polish], in: The Caucasian Dilemmas. National and Migration Issues  [in Polish], M. Ząbek (ed.). Warszawa 2010.

  • Kaliszewska I. Echoes of the USSR. The influence of the Soviet Union on the identity of refugees from Chechnya [in Polish] , in: The Caucasian Dilemmas. National and Migration Issues, M. Ząbek (ed.). Warszawa 2010.

  • Kaliszewska I. Computer-assisted analysis of ethnographic materials and folklore texts [in Polish], in: Folklore in the age of the Internet, P. Grochmalski (ed.). Toruń 2009.

  • Falkowski M., Kaliszewska I., Dagestan. A forgotten spot in the Caucasus [in Polish], Nowa Europa Wschodnia, 1/2009.

  • Kaliszewska I., Selected adaptation strategies of Armenians in Poland [in Armenian], Erevan 2009.

  • Falkowski M., Kaliszewska I., Rzemieniuk K. Dagestan. The Caucasus Highlanders and Poles [in Polish], Warszawa 2007.

  • Kaliszewska I., Uraza Bairam in Dagestan [in Polish], Nowa Europa Wschodnia, 9/2010.

FILMS

  • I. Kaliszewska & Kacper Czubak, Strongwoman, documentary film recorded in Daghestan, Tsumada Region, 17'. Production: Studio Munka, 2013.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPED:

  • Kaliszewska I., The computer programme EdEt, Ethnographic Editor). The programme is a tool facilitating the analysis of fieldwork data (interviews, field notes and literature). It allows multidimensional classification of text, taking into account various topics, interlocutors etc. The program features an easy-to-use query system which facilitates text analysis; 2005-2009. The program is being used at University of Warsaw and University  Autonoma de Barcelona.

Research projects

RESEARCH GRANTS AND PROJECTS:

  • Project leader in Sonata grant "Anthropological approach to corruption in Daghestan". Founded by NCN (National Science Foundation), 2016-present.
  • Researcher in Volkswagen Foundation Grant Documenting Dargi Languages, led by Diana Forker, 2012-2019.
  • Project leader of the grant  ‘Religious and secular authority in Dagestan’.  Founded by the NCN (National Science Foundation), Ministry of Science and Higher Education , 2009-2011
  • Project leader of the project ‘Ethnic and religious transformations in contemporary Dagestan’  founded by  the University of Warsaw from 2004-2007.
  • Project leader of the grant  ‘Internet Repository of Ethnographic Research Materials’ founded by the University of Warsaw in 2005.
  • Project leader of the grant  ‘Computer-assisted ethnographic interviews analysis ’, founded by  the University of Warsaw in 2005 and 2006 and 2007.
  • Project leader of the project ‘Poles in Dagestan’ financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in 2007.
  • Project leader of the project  ‘Exiles and Globe-trotters. The Caucasus in the Eyes of Poles in the 19th and 21st Centuries’  financed by Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in 2008.

 

FIELDWORK EXPERIENCE:

  • September 2017 - present Fieldwork on corruption practices in Daghestan
  • August 2012 – present  Fieldwork in Dagestan in Dargi regions among Shiri and Sanzhi.
  • 2010-2011  – Fieldwork in Chechnya and pilot fieldwork in Ingushetia.
  • 2007 – 2010 Fieldwork in Dagestan on state and anti-state practices among inhabitants of the so called “Sharia villages” in Tsumada Region. Pilot fieldwork in Chechnya.
  • 2008 Pilot survey in the Avar-inhabited areas of Dagestan within the Islamic Program of the Center for Eastern Studies.
  • 2004 – 2007 MA fieldwork among the Laks in Dagestan.
  • 2007 Fieldwork  within the project ‘Poles in Dagestan’  in 2007.
  • 2003-2004 BA fieldwork among migrants from the Caucasus in Warsaw, Łomża and Czerwony Bór.

Conferences and visiting lectures

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS:

  • EASA August 2018.  Dirt-roads, highways, and checkpoints in the North Caucasus.
  • Poznań  VII Międzynarodowa Konferencja Naukowa, „Kaukaz- między Europą a Azją” Poznań, 4-6 czerwca 2018, wystąpienie: "Researching corruption in the North Caucasus".
  • Moscow, 9 October 2018, NRU Higher School of Economics, School of Sociology, Moscow. Referat: Temporarily Out of the State: Infrastructural Entanglements in the Russian Periphery.
  • Warszawa, ‘Materializations of the Political’, 23–24 March 2018, How checkpoints come to matter in the North Caucasus.
  • November 2014, Social context of wild leafy vegetables uses in Shiri, Daghestan – poster at the Ethnobiological Congress in Cordoba.
  • September 2014, "Beyond Ukraine. Secular State Undermined in the North Caucasus?" - lecture at the ISEEES, Univeristy of Berkeley.
  • June 2013 Hanover, Germany "Language Documentation: Past – Present – Future",; Volkswagen Foundation; Oleg Belyaev (Russian Academy of Science) & Iwona Kaliszewska . “Shiri and Russian attrition and other issues in the sociolinguistics of Shiri”.
  • October 2013, Anthropological Congress in Warsaw, presentation: “Lack” and “Excess” of the state practices in Daghestan. Experiencing state in the North Caucasus”.
  • November 2011, Georgia, Batumi ,presentation at the conference ”Perspectives on law, state and order”: Dagestan: fetishism of order.
  • August 2010, presentation at the conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA): Legitimization of religious law in local communities in Dagestan.
  • May 2010, paper at the conference 'Islam – religion of peace and unity', Grozny, Republic of Chechnya.
  • April 2010, Yerevan,  paper at the conference  “Armenian Identity in Diaspora”.
  • December, 2008: paper at  the Polish-Caucasian School ‘History-Politics-Culture’, Warsaw.
  • June 2009: participation in the workshop “The Anthropology of the State”, led by Michał Buchowski and Werner Schiffaer.
  • April 2004, The presentation EdEt – Experimental collaborative CAQDAS project in ethnographical research, University of Surrey, 2007. Winning the best abstract competition.
  • November 2007 The presentation: Computer-assisted analysis of ethnographic materials at the conference organized by the Mikołaj Kopernik University,  Toruń.
  • August 2008 Presentation at the conference of European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA):  What's the difference what's my nation or religion?

Awards and Scholarships

SCHOLARSHIPS/FELLOWSHIPS:

  • 2015 (Mar)-2016 (Feb) University of California, Berkeley, Institute for Slavic, Eastern European and Euroasian Studies, visiting scholar. Hosting professor: Joanna Nichols. Financed by the Volkswagen Foundation.
  • February-June 2012: Kościuszko Foundation scholarship. Visiting fellow at the George Washington University, The Elliott School of International Affairs. Title of the project: “Stateless places? Sharia communities in Dagestan”.
  • September-October 2013 Eramsus Mundus WEBB scholarship in Tbilisi, Georgia.
  • September 2010:CEEPUS scholarship in Albania, , Shkoder, IX 2010. Title of the project: “Sufi brotherhoods  in comparative perspective”.

Member of scientific organizations

EASA - European Association of Social Anthropologists

AAA - American Anthropological Association

Personal website: www.iwona.kaliszewska.com

Kaukaz.net Foundation website: www.kaukaz.net