BOSTON, Mass.—Boston University will host an international conference and a student workshop on the Armenian Diaspora during the weekend of Feb. 12-14. The three-day event is organized by the Charles K. and Elisabeth M. Kenosian Chair in Modern Armenian History and Literature at Boston University.
Armenian Diasporan communities emerged over centuries as a result of voluntary migration and forced displacement in times of military conflicts, the genocide during World War I, and economic and political crises. Featuring 10 panels, the conference and workshop will bring together more than 40 scholars to present their views and new research on the Armenian Diaspora. They will explore a wide range of topics, including the formation of Armenian diasporic communities and identities in different parts of the world, the role of the Armenian communities in host societies, and the development of diasporic cultures in various contexts (e.g., nationalism, transnationalism, and feminism).
The schedule is below.
Friday Program
The student workshop will take place on Fri., Feb. 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Castle, 225 Bay State Road, Boston University. The workshop is sponsored by the Charles K. and Elisabeth M. Kenosian Chair in Modern Armenian History and Literature, and the International Institute for Diaspora Studies (a division of the Zoryan Institute).
Session 1 (10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.): “Diasporic Identities and Community-Building”
Chair and discussant: Simon Payaslian (Boston University)
Presenters: Cynthia Oliphant (California State University, Fresno), “The Effect of Organizational Structure on the Diaspora Experience”; Anna Harutyunyan (Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Ethnology), “Challenging the Theory of Diaspora from the Field”; and Hakem Rustom (London School of Economics), “The ‘Others’ of the Diaspora: Armenian Migration from Anatolia to France.”
Lunch (12:15-1:30 p.m.)
Session 2 (1:30-3:30 p.m.): “Diaspora and Cultural Development”
Chair: Bedross Der Matossian (MIT)
Presenters: Lilit Keshishyan (UCLA), “Wandering as Rule: The Diasporic Subject in Vahe Berberian’s Namakner Zaataren”; Marie-Blanche Fourcade (Université de Montréal), “Heritage Challenges in Diaspora: How to Preserve, to Share and to Pass Down? The Case Study of the Quebec Armenian Community”; and Stephanie Stockdale (Thunderbird School of Global Management), “Cultural and Social Factors of the Armenian and Jewish Diasporas of Argentina: A Comparative Study.”
Discussant: Kevork Bardakjian (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
Break (3:30-4 p.m.)
Session 3 (4-6 p.m.): “Transnationalism, Nationalism, and Conflict”
Chair: Richard G. Hovannisian (UCLA)
Presenters: Stepan Stepanyan (Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University), “The Armenian Community of Georgia as a Factor of Security in the South Caucasus Region”; Anush Bezhanyan (University of South Carolina), “Iraqi Armenians after the Toppling of Saddam Hussein: Emigration or Repatriation”; Katherine Casey (University of Chicago), “Agree to Disagree: The Incompatible Nationalisms of Armenia and Its Diaspora”; and Lorand Poosz (Bolyai University), “Data Concerning the Transylvanian Armenian Community’s Response to the Armenian Genocide.”
Discussant: Asbed Kotchikian (Bentley University)
Saturday and Sunday Program
The conference will take place on Sat., Feb. 13 from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and on Sun., Feb. 14 from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. On both days, the conference will be held at the School of Management, Auditorium-Room 105, on 595 Commonwealth Ave., Boston University. The conference is sponsored by the Charles K. and Elisabeth M. Kenosian Chair in Modern Armenian History and Literature, the International Institute for Diaspora Studies, and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, Belmont, MA.
Saturday Program
Session 4 (9-10:30 a.m.): “Diasporic Identity, Human Rights, and Genocide”
Chair: Simon Payaslian (Boston University)
Presenters: Nanor Kebranian (Kenderian) (Columbia University), “Can the Armenian Diaspora Speak? Diasporic Identity in the Shadow of Human Rights”; Joyce Apsel (New York University), “Teaching the Armenian Genocide in North America: New Resources, Programs, and Integration within Genocide Studies”; and Rubina Peroomian (UCLA), “The Third-Generation Armenian American Writers Echo the Quest for Self-Identity with the Genocide at Its Core.”
Discussant: George Shirinian (Zoryan Institute)
Session 5 (10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.): “Narrativization of Diasporic Belongingness and Revival”
Chair: Marc Mamigonian (NAASR)
Presenters: Susan Pattie (University College London), “Constructing Narratives of Belonging among Armenians in the Diaspora”; Sebouh Aslanian (Cornell University), “Networks of Circulation, Patronage, and ‘National Revival’: The Armenian Translation of Charles Rollin’s History of Rome”; and Sona Haroutyunian (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), “Vittoria Aganoor’s Alter Ego.”
Discussant: Khachig Tölölyan (Wesleyan University)
Lunch (12-1:30 p.m.)
Session 6 (1:30-3:45 p.m.): “Armenian Repatriations 1946-49: Contexts, Experiences, Aftermaths”
Chair and discussant: Susan Pattie (University College London)
Presenters: Sevan Yousefian (UCLA), “Picnics for Repatriates”; Astrig Atamian (Inalco, Paris), “Armenia, Here We Come! The French Armenian Communists During the Repatriations”; and Kari Neely (Middle Tennessee State University), “Kevork Ajemian’s Use of Middle Eastern Armenian Repatriation in ‘A Perpetual Path.’”
Break (3:45-4 p.m.)
Session 7 (4-6:30 p.m.): “Desnelle Collective”
Chair: Hrayr Anmahouni/Eulmessekian (La Crescenta, Calif.)
Presenters: Helin Anahit (Middlesex University, London), “Diaspora Landscapes as a Thought Model”; Emily Artinian (Chelsea College Of Art & Design, London), “From Ararat to Anywhere?”; Christopher Atamian (New York), “Thinking the Past: Restorative and Reflective Nostalgia in Frounze Dovlatian’s ‘Garod’”; Charles Garoian (Penn State School of Visual Arts), “Scattered Flesh / Tservadz Mort”; Neery Melkonian (New York), “A Feminism that Is Often Accented, Sometimes Whispers, Even Stutters: Modern and Contemporary Armenian Women Artists in Transnational Contexts”; and Abelina Galustian (University Of California, Santa Barbara), “The Substance of Orientalism in Visual Representation.”
Discussant: David Kazanjian (University of Pennsylvania)
Sunday Program
Session 8 (9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.): “Culture and Economy in Diasporan Communities”
Chair: George Shirinian (Zoryan Institute)
Presenters: Aida Boudjikanian (Montreal), “The Armenian Jewelers’ Niche of Montreal: Between a Local Trait and an Armenian Diasporic Tradition”; Gregory Aftandilian (Washington, D.C.), “Re-Cementing Kinship Ties: Armenian American Soldiers and the French Armenian Community During World War II”; Philippe Videlier (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Lyons), “Armenians and Turks in France Confronting the Genocide”; and Matthias Fritz (State Linguistic V. Brusov University, Yerevan), “The Evolution of the Armenian Diaspora in Germany during the Past Two Decades.”
Discussant: Marc Mamigonian (NAASR)
Lunch (12-1 p.m.)
Session 9 (1-3:30 p.m.): “Transdisciplinarity of Diaspora Studies”
Chair: Richard G. Hovannisian (UCLA)
Presenters: Daniel Douglas and Anny Bakalian (CUNY), “Armenians in the United States: A Quantitative Analysis Using the American Community Survey”; Carel Bertram (San Francisco State University), “Diasporic Armenians as Pilgrims to Their Family Towns and Villages”; Joan Bamberger (Anthropologist, Watertown, Mass.), “Re-Generation of Armenian Arts in Watertown”; and Nikol Margaryan (Yerevan State University), “Anthroponyms in the Context of Ethnic Identity.”
Discussant: Khachig Tölölyan (Wesleyan University)
Break (3:30-3:45 p.m.)
Session 10 (3:45-6 p.m.): “Diasporan Ethnonationalism and Transnationalism”
Chair: Asbed Kotchikian (Bentley University)
Presenters: Ara Sanjian (University of Michigan-Dearborn), “Limits of Conflict and Consensus among Lebanese-Armenian Political Factions in the Early 21st Century”; Vartan Matiossian (Hovnanian School, New Jersey), “Domino Effect: U.S. Immigration Policies and the Formation of the Armenian Communities in Latin America”; and Ohannes Geukjian (American University of Beirut), “Armenia-Diaspora Intransigence in Light of Armenian-Turkish Relations and the Resolution of the Nagorno-Karabagh Conflict, 1991-Present.”
Discussant: Bedross Der Matossian (MIT)
Both the workshop and the conference are free and open to the public.
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