The Kartvelian (Georgian) Studies Program at Harvard University’s Davis Center in the US, which had been operating since 2022, has been suspended due to the termination of its funding.
Information that Professor Stephen Jones’s project is “effectively closed” was shared on August 20 by historian Beka Kobakhidze. Later, the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia explained the reasons in a special statement.
According to the ministry, it had reaffirmed its readiness at the beginning of the year to continue cooperation under the program, and appropriate funding had been allocated from the budget. However, Tbilisi requested from Harvard “a progress report on work carried out and a concrete vision for the program’s further development,” an issue on which the parties ultimately failed to reach an agreement.
“To launch the new phase, the ministry was not provided with an agreed-upon program outlining specific activities, a budget, implementation timelines, and measurable outcomes. Consequently, there were no grounds to approve the new stage.”
At the same time, the ministry stated that the issue of extending the program does not signify an abandonment of academic cooperation with Harvard. “The decision was grounded in the principles of effective and accountable management of public resources, as well as the necessity of having a programmatic and financial framework in place to launch a new phase.”
The agency added that it remains open to considering future cooperation with Harvard based on clearly defined goals, an agreed-upon budget, implementation schedules, and measurable results.
Earlier, historian Beka Kobakhidze attributed the halt in funding to political motives. According to him, Georgian Dream mistakenly believed it was establishing a “propaganda tool” at Harvard. Kobakhidze recalled an incident where, as he claimed, while the program was running in 2023, “during the initial introduction of the ‘Russian law’ and the dispersal of protests, then-Prime Minister Garibashvili wanted to visit Harvard and deliver a lecture,” but was flatly turned down.
“In 2026, an official letter was sent to Harvard stating that funding was being discontinued. Among the reasons cited was that the program director was biased—that is, not acting as our propagandist… The program is effectively closed. All that remains is to complete the bureaucratic formalities of the closure.”
Stephen Jones is an American scholar and professor of Kartvelian studies who headed the program. According to Kobakhidze, he no longer holds the position of director, and “the program now has a ‘politically safe’ director.”
