‘Armenia at 21’ Conference to Be Held in NY on Sept. 28-29

NEW YORK (A.W.)—The Armenians and Progressive Politics (APP) Conference will be held at Columbia University from Sept. 28-29 on the topic “Armenia at 21.” Thirty experts, activists, and academics from Armenia, Europe, South America, and the United States will address topics on the environment, foreign policy, economy, civil society development, and rule of law.

The Armenians and Progressive Politics (APP) Conference will be held at Columbia University on Sept. 28-29 on the topic “Armenia at 21.”

On Sept. 28, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and war correspondent Chris Hedges will speak at the opening panel. 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.

Below is the full schedule of the conference. For more details, visit the webpage and Facebook page of the conference.

Opening Night: The Occupy Movement, Arab Revolutions, and their Relevance for Armenia

Registration required at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9722098.

Fri., Sept. 28; 7:30–10:30 p.m. (Doors close at 8 p.m.)

Location: Altschul Auditorium, International Affairs Building, Room 417, 420 W. 118th Street

Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch
Arpine Galfayan, Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (Armenia)
Chris Hedges, The Nation Institute
Moderator: Dikran Kaligian

Panel I: Armenia’s Foreign Policy
Sat., Sept. 29; 10–11:45 a.m.

Location:  Hamilton Hall, Room 702, 1130 Amsterdam Avenue

Khatchik Der Ghougassian, Universidad de San Andres (Argentina)
Stephan Astourian, UC Berkeley
Razmik Panossian, UNDP
Moderator: Antranig Kasbarian

Panel II: Rule of Law, Corruption, and Elections
Sat., Sept. 29; 10–11:45 a.m.
Location: Hamilton Hall, Room 717, 1130 Amsterdam Avenue

Sona Aivazyan, Transparency International (Armenia)
Arpine Galfayan, Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (Armenia)
Larisa Minasyan, Open Society Institute (Armenia)
Moderator: Hayg Oshagan

Panel III: Armenia, Syria, and Turkey
Sat., Sept. 29; 12–1:45 p.m.
Location: Hamilton Hall, Room 702, 1130 Amsterdam Avenue

Elyse Semerdjian, Whitman College
Ayda Erbal, NYU
Stephan Astourian, UC Berkeley
Moderator: Khatchig Mouradian

Panel IV: Emergence of Social Movements, NGOs, and the Rise of a New Identity Politics
Sat., Sept. 29; 12–1:45 p.m.
Location: Hamilton Hall, Room 717, 1130 Amsterdam Avenue

Lara Aharonian, Women’s Resource Center (Armenia)
Mamikon Hovsepian, PINK Armenia (Armenia)
Larisa Minasyan, Open Society Institute (Armenia)
Moderator: Nancy Kricorian

Panel V: Twenty-Year Trajectory of Armenia’s Statehood, Economy, and Society
Sat., Sept. 29; 3–4:45 p.m.
Location: Hamilton Hall, Room 702, 1130 Amsterdam Avenue

David Grigorian, Policy Forum Armenia
Arman Grigoryan, Lehigh University
Antranig Kasbarian, ARF Eastern U.S. Central Committee
Moderator: Khatchik Der Ghougassian

Panel VI: Natural Resource Policy
Sat., Sept. 29; 3–4:45 p.m.
Location: Hamilton Hall, Room 717, 1130 Amsterdam Avenue

Sona Aivazyan, Transparency International (Armenia)
Jason Sohigian, Armenia Tree Project
Kirk Wallace, Armenian Environmental Network
Moderator: Paul Yeghiayan

Closing Panel: Where Do We Go from Here?

Registration required at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9722097.
Sat., Sept. 29; 5-6:30 p.m. (Doors close at 5:30 p.m.)

Location: Schermerhorn Hall, Room 501, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue

Lara Aharonian, Women’s Resource Center (Armenia)
Kirk Wallace, Armenian Environmental Network
Dikran Kaligian, ARF Eastern U.S. Central Committee
Moderator: Hayg Oshagan

3 Comments

  1. Thank you for this excellent conference and the choice of the topics to be discussed as well as of the panelists.. Is there a way of having the panels online live. Not anybody can make it to New York in such a short notice. If money/cost is an obstacle, let’s have a fee for those who would like to participate from Canada and elsewhere.
    Wishing you all the best,
    Aida

  2. What an honour it is to have Chris Hedges at this important conference. Here is what he wrote in Death and the Liberal Class, Alfred Knopf Canada (2010) pages 205-206:
    “Acts of resistance are moral acts. They take place because people of conscience understand the moral, rather than the practical, imperative of rebellion. They should be carried out not because they are effective, but because they are right. Those who begin these acts are always few. They are dismissed by those in the liberal class, who hide their cowardice behind their cynicism. Resistance, however marginal, affirms the sanctity of individual life in a world awash in death. It is the supreme act of faith, the highest form of spirituality. Those who have carried out great acts of resistance in the past sacrificed their security and comfort, often spent time in jail, and in some cases were killed. They understood that to live in the fullest sense of the word, to exist as free and independent human beings, even under the darkest night of state repression means to defy injustice. Any act of resistance is its own justification. It cannot be measured by its utilitarian effect. And the acts of resistance that sustain us morally are those that disrupt systems of power but do not violate the sanctity of human life-even, finally, the lives of those who enslave us.”

  3. Aida:
    I agree with you that online live would also be excellent. Do you think that the CBC would send Raffi to cover this on such short notice? It’s an extremely important conference and it needs coverage in Canada. Look at the title of the closing panel: Where do we go from here?

    Will AW please let us know if either close by or on campus hotel arrangements have been made for this conference? It sounds as if it is in Manhattan. If you go on this site; http://armeniansandtheleft.com/ there are good campus directions once you get in New York, but I couldn’t find where to click for tickets. Do tickets have to be purchased in advance?
    Can we please have more info – particularly re hotel or on campus reservations?

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