Author

Welcome to my Synnergy blog. My name is Maia Shalashvili. I come from Georgia and currently studying in Kent State University (Ohio, USA). I created this blog for my Online PR class, but hope to continue posting even after that. I will write about different ethnic groups, their cultures and relations, projects, traditions, cultural characteristics, lifestyles and policy regulations.

Through this blog I aim to:

– Raise understanding of traditions/habits/literature and/or history of different ethnic groups ;

– Develop cooperative approaches on Inter-ethnic issues

– To cultivate positive thinking on Inter-ethnic issues among my audience ;

– Involve people with different background in the discussions.

If you have any questions, suggestions, new ideas – feel free to express yourself. Every different opinion is welcomed here. Your feedback is important for me.

Quick facts about me:

Country of Origin: Republic of Georgia

Country of Residence: USA

Occupation: Student, Kent State University

Likes: Good Humor, hiking, blogging, sightseeing

Why this topic: I was lucky enough to grow up in the multiethnic society. I spent my childhood years with Georgian, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish neighbors. We overcame hardest years of 1990s together: postwar transitive period of starvation and frozen winters. We shared our joy, time and even meals to each other. We survived hand-in-hand. Looking back, I can see real meaning of Unity. I want others to gain sweet feeling of Unity; to see how much can we do together; that boundaries sometimes are artificial and we have lots of things in common. We should build a better world together, despite our ethnic background. That is my vision of Ideal World. That is what I strive to achieve on a larger scale.

Experience: Youth Association for Social Sciences (Tbilisi, Georgia) – 2006 – 2010 – Project Manager. Activity topics: ethnic minority rights, IDPs, Human Rights.

Additional information:

– Participant and organizer of international events (trainings, conferences, round tables, etc)

– Winner of Reader’s Prize on: Literature Contest – Spring Crane 2007; Autumn Crane 2007

More about me you can find out on my web portfolio.