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Armenian Cultural Heritage: Past, Present, and Future

Armenian Cultural Heritage: Past, Present, and Future

The Church of St Gregory of Tigran Honents, Ani, Turkey (Photo by Huseyin Kaya on Unsplash)

Full-day conference that brings together a diverse group of experts to delve into the rich Armenian cultural heritage of the South Caucasus and Eastern Turkey.

Saturday, February 8, 2025
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Fowler Museum, Lenart Auditorium
Los Angeles, CA 90024
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The event will feature discussions on the current state of these heritage sites, their preservation efforts, and initiatives to monitor, document, and protect them amidst a challenging geopolitical landscape. Experts will also explore the future of cultural heritage studies, offering valuable insights and strategies for safeguarding this vital legacy.

This event is cohosted by the Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA and the Fowler Museum at UCLA. 

Agenda

08:00AM - 09:00AM  Coffee and Registration
09:00AM - 09:30AM
 Welcome & Opening Remarks
  Ann Karagozian, Director, UCLA Promise Armenian Institute 
  Amy Landau, Director of Education and Interpretation, UCLA Fowler Museum 
09:30AM - 10:15AM  Keynote Address
  Ann Karagozian, Director, UCLA Promise Armenian Institute — Introduction 
  Lori Khatchadourian, Associate Professor, Cornell University; co-founder and co-director, Caucasus Heritage Watch Cornell University — Heritage Forensics: Satellites and Specters in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict
10:15AM - 11:15AM Session 1: Cultural Heritage Destruction and Documentation in the South Caucasus
  Kristine Martirosyan Olshansky, Director of the Research Program in Armenian Archaeology and Ethnography, UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology — Moderator
  Hamlet Petrosyan, Head of Department of Cultural Studies, Yerevan State University; Head of Artsakh Cultural Heritage Research Group, Head of Dvin Archaeological Expedition; Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography, Academy of Sciences of Armenia — Issues of Cultural Heritage Protection in the Context of Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict: The Experience of www.monumentwatch.org Academic Platform
  Nzhdeh Yeranyan, Deputy Scientific Director, History Museum of Armenia; Lecturer, Department of Cultural Studies, Yerevan State University — Shattered Heritage: Museums, Memories, and the Cultural Loss in Artsakh
11:15AM - 12:00PM Keynote Address
  Hannah Garry, Executive Director of The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Law — Introduction 
  Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Representative on International Legal Matters of Republic of Armenia
12:00PM - 12:25PM Musical Offering in collaboration with the UCLA Armenian Music Program
  Melissa Bilal, Promise Chair in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture; Director of Armenian Music Program; Assistant Professor, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music — Introduction
  Antranig Kzirian, UCLA Armenian Music Program Mentor for the Oud
12:25PM - 01:30PM Lunch 
01:30PM - 02:50PM
 Session 2: Cultural Heritage Destruction and Documentation in Historic Western Armenia/Present day Turkey
  Anna Aleksanyan, Postdoctoral Fellow, Armenian Genocide Research Program at UCLA PAI — Moderator
  Delal Dink, Vice President, Hrant Dink Foundation — Unraveling the “True Treasure”: Exploring Cultural Heritage Through Stories
  Heghnar Watenpaugh, Professor of Art History, UC Davis — Ani, A UNESCO World Heritage Site between Armenian Memory and Turkish Patrimony
  Ara Sarafian, Executive Director, Gomidas Institute (London) — Rational Assessment, Forthright Engagement: Projecting a Diasporan Armenian Presence in Turkey Today
02:50PM - 04:30PM Session 3: Practical Solutions for Cultural Heritage Protection/Preservation  
  Peter Cowe, Narekatsi Professor of Armenian Studies, UCLA — Moderator
  Simon Maghakyan, Research Associate/Gulbenkian Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford — From Urfa to Djulfa: Victim Agency in Extrastatal Dignity Restoration
  Taner Akcam, Director of the Armenian Genocide Research Program at Promise Armenian Institute, UCLA — The Armenian Genocide Reparation Movement and the Looted Cultural Objects
  Ruzanna Tsaturyan, Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, Armenia; Lecturer, Faculty of History, Yerevan State University, Armenia — Tangible Places, Intangible Threats: The Challenge of Preserving Intangible Heritage in Forced Displacement
  Marc Mamigonian, Director of Academic Affairs, NAASR — More Questions Than Answers? Provenance Research as a Side Gig
04:30PM - 05:50PM Session 4: Roundtable Discussion on The Future of Armenian Heritage Studies
  Melissa Bilal, Promise Chair in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture; Director of Armenian Music Program; Assistant Professor, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music — Moderator
  Nelli Sargsyan, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Emerson College 
  Tamar Shirinian, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  Anoush Suni, Postdoctoral Fellow, Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA
05:40PM - 06:10PM Armenian Traditional Storytelling 
  Sona Tatoyan, Actor, Writer, Producer — Resurrection of Ottoman Armenian Cultural Heritage via Karagöz Shadow Puppets
06:10PM - 07:00PM Reception

 

 

Visitor self-service, Pay-By-Plate parking available at UCLA Parking Structure 4.

  • Enter UCLA campus Lot 4 from Sunset Blvd. at Westwood Plaza and turn left into the Pay-By-Plate area of the lot.
  • Automated pay stations in Pay-By-Plate accept $1 and $5 bills and credit cards.
The parking fee is a maximum of $14 for the whole day.
  • The Fowler is visible to your left when you ascend from the elevator or stairs.

Please note: This event will be photographed and recorded for documentation and distribution. All audience members agree to the possibility of appearing in these photographs and recordings by virtue of attending the event or participating in the event.



Download file: PAI-Conference-Program-_-8Feb25-z0-mby.pdf

Sponsor(s): Armenian Studies Research and Outreach Program, PAI, Center for Near Eastern Studies, Fowler Museum at UCLA, Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History, Narekatsi Chair in Armenian Studies, Promise Chair in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture, Promise Institute for Human Rights, UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, National Association for Armenian Studies and Research NAASR, Ararat-Eskijian Museum, UCLA Armenian Students' Association