SPC Announces Fulbright Scholar

St. Philip’s College welcomes this year’s Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence, Prof. Vladimer Narsia of Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Fulbright SIR Program brings visiting scholars from abroad to U.S. colleges and universities, helping institutions diversify the educational experiences of their students. 

Narsia is one of more than 45 Fulbright Scholars, and among 1,000 foreign faculty and professionals who will teach and pursue research in the United States for the 2023-2024 academic year. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kutaisi State University (Tbilisi) and a law degree from Tbilisi State University. He also earned two post-graduate degrees: a Master of Theology (M.Th.) degree from Tbilisi Theological Academy and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Cardiff University (Wales, U.K.).

Narsia is an Assistant Professor of Theology and Canon Law at Ilia State University, where he is also the head of the Canon Law Centre. He previously held academic posts in Tbilisi at the Georgian American University and The Saint Andrew the First-Called Georgian University of the Patriarchate of Georgia. During the academic year 2021-2022, he lived in Rome as a Russell Berrie Fellow at the John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Prof. Narsia is a recognized expert on ecumenical relations and interfaith dialogue, and promises to be a valuable resource for the “Introduction to World Religions” (PHIL 1304) course, and our campus-wide Interfaith Dialogue initiatives. He has taught courses on Religion and Law; Religion and Politics; Religion and Society; and Church-State Relationships in Georgia.