Unpacking Armenian Studies

What does it take to become a priest in the Armenian Apostolic Church and what role does language play in the process? In this episode, Dr. K is joined by the Parish Priest of St. John Armenian Apostolic Church, Father Mesrop Ash, to explore the different roles within the Armenian Church and understand the various procedures and processes behind ordination.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu.

What kind of influence can a dominant language have on a minority language? In this episode, Dr. K sits with linguist Dr. Niamh Kelly from the American University of Beirut to discuss why knowledge of one language, such as Arabic or English, can influence the sound system of Western Armenian. They also deconstruct different language myths regarding phonetics, accents, and “perfect” speech.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu.

Who was Anastas Mikoyan? — Dr. Pietro Shakarian, a historian of Russia and the Soviet Union, discusses Anastas Mikoyan, often called the most influential Armenian in the Soviet Union — his life and his impact on Soviet history, from Lenin to Brezhnev, and on the development of Soviet Armenia.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu.

Whether dancing at Armenian celebrations or watching Armenian dance companies perform on stage, it’s evident that the practice of Armenian dance is rich and diverse. In this episode, Dr. K sits with PhD student and dance practitioner Natalie Kamajian to define different types of Armenian dance and discuss what the discourse behind them says about how Armenian identity is performed.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Economics of genocide — Dr. Ümit Kurt, a historian of the modern Middle East, provides a rare look at economic factors as both cause and consequence of genocide. How and why did neighbors turn on neighbors? Because the financial incentives were great. Kurt, born in Aintab (Gaziantep), writes on the economics of genocide in his hometown.

For more, visit Armenian.usc.edu.

Publications:

The After War - Before Peace series began in November with Ambassador Steven Mann, of the American diplomatic service. Now, more than a dozen episodes later, it comes to a close with Ambassador Marc Pierini, a veteran of the EU diplomatic service.

Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Ambassador Pierini, who is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, where his work focuses on developments in the Middle East and Turkey from a European perspective. In his decades as a career EU diplomat, one of his posts was as EU ambassador and head of EU delegation to Turkey (2006–2011) – what some would consider to have been the good years.

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

For decades, Georgia was the transit hub point from west to east. Now, Georgian press see Armenia as taking over that position. Is the regional relationship seen as a zero sum game in Georgia? How does all of this impact Georgia’s vision about its place in the region and the world? What does all this say about regional cohesion and is that even an aspiration by the countries of the region?

Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak to Giorgi Kanashvili, head of the board for Tbilisi-based NGO, the Institute for the Study of Nationalism and Conflicts. He is also a research fellow at Democracy Research Institute and lectures at the Georgian American University and the International Black Sea University.

Also joining the conversation is George Tumasyan, head of the "Ardzagank" Armenian community platform of Georgia aimed at political and civic participation. He is also the founder of the Caucasian Academy of Diplomacy.

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Iran, which shares borders with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, has maintained neutrality in the Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh conflict throughout the years. The question is – now what? Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak about the reactions within Iran during the war, as well as the Iran/Armenia/Georgia vertical axis that now has several obstacles in its path and Iran’s existing and aspirational relations with Russia.

Joining the discussion is Dr. Ervand Abrahamian, widely regarded as one of the leading historians of modern Iran, who is a distinguished professor of history at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Dr. Hamidreza Azizi, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, also joins the conversation. Azizi was an assistant professor of regional studies at Shahid Beheshti University (2016-2020) and a guest lecturer at the department of regional studies at the University of Tehran (2016-2018).

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

What are the instruments of justice and equity in the aftermath of the Second Karabakh War? What can the international organizations do? What conventions and statutes apply in this particular case? Salpi Ghazarian and Emil Sanamyan speak with Dr. Irina Ghaplanyan, a political scientist, climate negotiator and published author who served as Deputy Minister of Environment for the Republic of Armenia and is currently teaching at the American University of Armenia.

They also speak to human rights lawyer Sheila Paylan, who spent more than 13 years working as a legal advisor for the United Nations at various international tribunals, including the Rwanda and ex-Yugoslavia Tribunals and the Khmer Rouge Trials, as well as with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. She recently moved to Armenia to assist the government with the post-war transition. 

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Olesya Vartanyan, senior analyst of the South Caucasus region for the International Crisis Group. Based in Tbilisi, Vartanyan researches and produces reports on regional security issues in Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, with a particular focus on breakaway regions.

Founded in 1995, International Crisis Group is a field-based organization that does research and advocacy on preventing and mitigating deadly conflicts.

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Was the war in Karabakh Turkey's re-entry into the Caucasus? Are Russia and Turkey on a collision course? How are Azerbaijani investments in Turkey driving the relationship between the two countries? Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament Garo Paylan and renowned Turkish economist Dr. Cengiz Aktar about the views from Turkey following the latest war between Armenia and Azerbaijan where Turkish involvement played a decisive role.

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

What are the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan saying? What aren’t they saying? And how does this impede forward movement? In fact, how does this harm peace? Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Dr. Vicken Cheterian to answer those questions. The focus of the discussion is on what's missing in the official public conversation between leaders of each side, and between leaders and their own constituents. Dr. Vicken Cheterian is a journalist, author and political scientist who teaches at Webster University in Geneva.

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with longtime Caucasus researcher and area expert Dr. Laurence Broers. They discuss the possible pathways toward a lasting status in Karabakh/Artsakh in the aftermath of the recent 45-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which ended with a trilateral document, brokered by Russia, that includes a 5-year deployment of peacekeepers in the region.

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Dr. Sergey Markedonov, a political scientist specializing in conflicts, nationalism and nation building in the post-Soviet space and a researcher at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Civilnet's editor-in-chief Karen Harutyunyan also joins in to talk about the attitudes expressed in Russia concerning the conflict in Karabakh/Artsakh and the subsequent deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region, as well as on the perceptions of those Russian attitudes in Armenia and the long term outlook beyond the five-year peacekeeping agreement.

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Karen Harutyunyan, editor-in-chief of Civilnet,​ who joined the conversation from Yerevan, along with Anush Ghavalyan from Stepanakert. The discussion raises questions about the post-war situation on the roads connecting Armenia and Karabakh, or Artsakh, and the daily challenges of residents returning to life and a new normal there.

Visit the Institute's Youtube page to watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Discussing the daunting task of defining the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan following the 44-Day War, Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with international law specialist Levon Gevorgyan of the American University of Armenia about the concept of internationally recognized borders. Dr. Gela Merabishvili, expert in political geography, also joins the conversation to discuss the challenges surrounding delimitation and demarcation of state borders, particularly after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

To view the map referenced in the episode, visit the Institute's Youtube page, where you can also watch the conversation on video or listen to it in Armenian.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan talk about the pressing issue of the fate of Armenian servicemen and civilians currently in captivity in Azerbaijan as a result of the latest war in Karabakh. Experts joining the conversation are professor David Glazier from Loyola Law School and international human right lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, who is currently on the legal team preparing the case on behalf of the Armenian POWs at the European Court of Human Rights.

To watch the live conversation on video, or to listen in Armenian, visit the Institute's Youtube page.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian and analyst/editor of the Institute’s Focus on Karabakh platform, Emil Sanamyan, formulate a list of important topics and questions to be discussed in the upcoming episodes of the After War - Before Peace series with area experts, analysts, former and current diplomats. The conversation comes amid the tense situation following the 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in and around Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh, which concluded with an uneasy settlement short of a final peace agreement.

To watch the conversation on video, visit the Institute's Youtube page.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

Shifting Borders and Sovereigns — Dr. George Bournoutian, a professor of both Armenian and Iranian studies, recently retired from teaching at Iona College in New York. He speaks to Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian about the dozens of volumes he has researched, published and translated into English, on Armenia, Armenians, the Caucasus, Russia and Iran – and Karabakh.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu. 

For a list of Bournoutian's publications, visit https://bit.ly/3tONUgn.