NEXT COURSE: TBA
LOCATION: TELAVI, GEORGIA
AGES: 16+
COST: 275 GEL ($97)

 


Telavi, Georgia

What is this course?

"Arts in Development" combines development tools with perspectives from ethnoarts, centered on the Kingdom of God. Join us in an innovative dialogue focused on practical, field-ready ideas, strategies, and applications designed to foster economic and community development in local communities through the arts and creativity.

Whom is it for?

  • Cross-cultural workers

  • Development organizations

  • Team leaders

  • Language teachers

  • Camp directors

  • Artists

  • Non-Artists

  • Anyone seeking to do good in Jesus’ name to any local communities!

What will I gain from this course?

  • 4 Kinds of Development

    How can we get our heads around such a large topic as development? We present four essential categories that enable us to think clearly, plan realistically, and act effectively in the face of great need and the vast complexity of a community’s life.

  • Christian Thought

    Christians have ranged widely on the topic of development. We make an historically informed case for a Jesus-centered approach that meaningfully blesses communities, and holistically seeks opportunities for the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God.

  • Arts Case Studies

    The arts have proven resoundingly fruitful and generative across social domains and strata at promoting both qualitative improvements to communities and quantitative growth in economies. Together we’ll survey some case studies, areas of challenges, and new paths.

Meet your instructors.

Chris Troutman, PhD (ABD)

Chris Troutman is an applied arts specialist working with Artists in Community Transformation. He has been living, working, and teaching in Eurasia since 2013, specializing in using arts for community development and publishing articles on topics like Mongolian folk rock. He and his family currently live in Tbilisi, where he is doing his PhD research with artists who have migrated from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, and serving as an instructor and mentor at the Unsung Arts Collective.

Lydia Hreniuc, MA

Lydia Hreniuc is a PhD student in World Arts at Dallas International University (DIU) with an interest in human development and healing. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture and has taught architecture at California Baptist University. For 5 years she served with SIL Global and is a member of the Global Ethnodoxology Network (GEN). In 2024 Lydia was an artist in residence with the Unsung Arts Collective and is back in Tbilisi to mentor artists and assist with the program.

Eli Moyer, MA

Eli works with artists and minority communities as an arts advocate, trainer, and creator. He loves to connect with communities through their arts and has focused documentary film, and Lezginka dance in the North Caucasus mountains. Eli holds an MA in World Arts from Dallas International University, and an MA in Intercultural Studies from Biola University. He lives with his family in Tbilisi, Georgia where he directs the Unsung Arts Collective.

REGISTRATION

Arts in Development
5-8 March, 2025 • 275 GEL ($97)