Chris Hedges to Speak at APP Conference on Armenia

NEW YORK—On Sept. 28, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and war correspondent Chris Hedges will speak at the opening panel of the Armenians and Progressive Politics (APP) Conference to be held at Columbia University.

Hedges is a senior fellow at the Nation Institute in New York. His career in journalism has taken him to the Middle East, the Balkans, Central America, and Africa, working for such media outlets as the New York Times, National Public Radio, and the Christian Science Monitor. In 2002, he received the Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. A best-selling author, his works include War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), Death of the Liberal Class (2010), and most recently Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (2012). He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, and the University of Toronto.

The plenary session will also feature Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, and Arpine Galfayan, president of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights in Armenia. The panel, which will take place on Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m., will consider the Occupy movement and the revolutions in the Arab world, and their relevance for Armenia.

This year’s conference will focus on “Armenia at 21” and address topics on the environment, foreign policy, economy, civil society development, and rule of law. Approximately 30 experts, activists, and academics from Armenia, Europe, South America, and the United States will participate in the two-day conference.

The panelists include Larisa Minasyan, executive director of the Open Society Institute; Lara Aharonian, founder and chairperson of the Women’s Resource Center in Yerevan and Shushi; Mamikon Hovsepyan, president of PINK Armenia; Sona Ayvazyan, project director at Transparency International (Armenia); Khatchik Der Ghougassian, professor of international relations at the Universidad de San Andres in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Markar Melkonian, teacher, writer, and founder of the Monte Melkonian Fund; Kirk Wallace, program director at the Armenian Environmental Network; and Arman Grigoryan, assistant professor of international relations at Lehigh University. There will also be a number of speakers from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) leadership in Armenia (details to follow).

The event is organized by the ARF Central Committee-Eastern Region and co-sponsored by the Armenian Society of Columbia University and the ARF-Western Region.

The conference will travel to Los Angeles on Oct. 5 and 6.

For more information, visit www.ArmeniansAndTheLeft.com, follow updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArmeniansAndTheLeft or e-mail APP@ArmeniansAndTheLeft.com.