Society for Armenian Studies to Hold 40th Anniversary Workshop in Yerevan

From Oct. 2-5, the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS), founded in 1974, will hold a workshop marking the 40th anniversary of its founding. With the participation of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, the workshop will bring together 20 scholars from abroad and 20 from Armenia to present a number of topics, including the inadequately studied aspects of Armenian history in the past millennium; the representation of the Armenian Genocide in the arts; testimonies of survivors of the genocide; accomplishments, perspectives, and methodologies in contemporary Armenian literary studies and historiography; and the Armenian Diaspora in the 21st century, its aspirations and challenges. The workshop will take place at the Presidium Hall of Sessions at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.

The SAS was founded by a group of scholars—Nina Garsoian, Dickran Kouymjian, Avedis Sanjian and Robert W. Thomson—on the initiative of Prof. Richard G. Hovannisian, with a view to promoting and supporting Armenian studies as an academic discipline through panels at national and international gatherings, publications, lectures, and symposia. It publishes a newsletter and the Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies (JSAS). Most members are from the United States, although an increasing number of scholars from Europe, Canada, and the Middle East have joined the SAS.