This Colloquium is an annual international conference for graduate students in the Humanities/Social Sciences to present research pertaining to all aspects of Armenian studies, including but not limited to language, literature, history, gender studies, sociology, anthropology, economics, and art history.
09:30 AM - 10:00 AM Breakfast
10:00 AM - 10:10 AM Opening Remarks
Lori Pirinjian
Director of the 2025 Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies
Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA
Dr. S. Peter Cowe
Narekatsi Professor of Armenian Studies
Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA
10:10 AM - 11:05 AM Panel 1: Modern Ethnic Conflicts in Southern Caucasia and their Contemporary Ramifications
Chair: Arpi Melikian (French and Francophone Studies, UCLA)
Lilit Saghatelyan, “Intergenerational Transmission of Narratives of Nakhijevan Armenians post-1988” (Pazmani Peter Catholic University, Budapest) (via Zoom)
Gagik Chilingaryan, “Minority Existence as a Security Risk in Southern Caucasia—Armenia and Georgia?” (Pazmani Peter Catholic University, Budapest) (via Zoom)
Discussion
11:05 AM - 12:25 PM Panel 2: Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics, Economics, and Culture
Chair: Lori Pirinjian (NELC, UCLA)
Diego Benning Wang, “Lightning Sword and Blazing Steel: The Rebirth of David of Sasun in Soviet Armenia” (Princeton University)
Nelli Manucharyan, “Street Names as Markers: Shaping Soviet and Post-Soviet Identity in Yerevan (1921-1992)” (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, Yerevan)
Tamta Tatarashvili, “Gendered Mobility: Locations, Routes, and Practices in Migrant-Sending Armenian Villages” (Ilia State University, Tbilisi)
Discussion
12:25 PM - 12:45 PM Coffee Break
12:45 PM - 01:40 PM Panel 3: Women’s Agency in the Late Ottoman Period
Chair: Nora Bairamian (UCLA)
Basak Yagmur Karaca, “Arusyak Papazian’s Impact in the Late Ottoman Social Sphere: Where Theater Serves as a Site of Confinement and Liberation for Women” (University of Southern California, Los Angeles)
Veronika Zabel Nayir, “Thinking in Ruins: Zabel Yesayan and the Writing of (the) Catastrophe” (York University, Toronto)
Discussion
01:40 PM - 02:50 PM Lunch
02:50 PM - 04:30 PM Panel 4: Pre-Modern Armenian Political and Cultural History
Chair: Martin Adamian (UCLA)
Artin Mehrabian, “Armenia’s Role in the 6th century BCE: The Persian Revolt and the Fall of Media” (York University, Toronto)
Marta Zerbini, “Knowledge of Construction in Armenia in the Early Middle Ages: Construction Site Plans and Geometrical Set Rules” (University of Florence)
Tzovinar Artzrouni, “Armenian Folk Songs as Snapshots of Armenians’ Everyday Life” (Institute of Arts, RA NAS)
Peter Kiss, “Armenian Historiography in Transylvania in the Pre-Modern Era: the Chronicle of József Vártán Dondoni” (Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg)
Discussion
04:30 PM - 4:45 PM Coffee Break
04:45 PM - 06:25 PM Panel 5: Social, Educational, and Cultural Transformations in the Worldwide Armenian Diaspora
Chair: Alexia Hatun (NELC, UCLA)
Liza Mardoyan, “Knowledge Production via Print Culture in the Armenian Diasporic Community of Lebanon (1915-2015)” (UCLA)
Setrag Hovsepian, “The Current State of Armenian Schools in Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Syria” (Arizona State University)
Olivia Guyodo, “Agency Amidst Adversity: Civil Society and the Struggle to Preserve Memory in Turkey” (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
Arthur Ipek, “Ecce philomela obispoensis: Towards a Poetic Consciousness in the Armenian Literary Tradition from the Poetry of Tenny Arlen” (CUNY Graduate Center)
Discussion
06:25 PM - 06:40 PM Coffee/Tea Break
06:40 PM - 06:55 PM Guest Speaker
Prof. David Zakarian
Haïg and Isabelle Berberian Chair of Armenian Studies, Fresno State University
07:00 PM - 08:30 PM Reception (Royce Hall 306)
Sponsor(s): Department of History, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures