Institute to Host Multidisciplinary Symposium on Artsakh

The Institute of Armenian Studies will host a day-long symposium, Artsakh Uprooted: Aftermaths of Displacement, on Saturday, November 2, 2024 at USC’s iconic Bovard Auditorium.

In light of the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), the event will offer a platform for prominent figures from academia, the arts, and civil society to reflect on this seismic shift in the Armenian world.

The program will center the voices of people from Artsakh, who will share their firsthand experiences of conflict, life under blockade, and dispossession.

High-ranking officials of the Artsakh government, including former State Minister Artak Beglaryan and former Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, will speak to the reality of representing an unrecognized republic, and what shape their roles have taken following the dissolution of the state. Nina Shahverdyan and Ashot Gabrielyan, citizen journalists who were among the only portals into blockaded Artsakh, will provide unfiltered accounts of the lead-up to the Armenian exodus.

The lineup will showcase groundbreaking work on various forms of dispossession — physical, cultural, and psychological — by USC scholars across diverse academic disciplines.

Interim Dean of the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences Mohamed El-Naggar will welcome guests to the symposium with opening remarks. In a fireside chat, Viet Thanh Nguyen, USC’s Aerol Arnold Chair of English and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer, will reflect on navigating life amid the material and emotional ruins of displacement.

Hrag Papazian, USC’s newly appointed Turpanjian Early Career Chair in Contemporary Armenian Studies, will be in conversation with author and former Institute Visiting Scholar Rober Koptaş. Papazian will present his research on Armenian society’s evolving perceptions of the Turk and Turkey, while Koptaş will elucidate the reality of being Armenian in Istanbul following the 44-Day Artsakh War.

In addition to USC experts, leading scholars from around the world will gather on campus to unpack the various aftermaths of this monumental change in the regional landscape.

Stephan Astourian, Director of the Turpanjian Center for Policy Analysis at the American University of Armenia, will deliver a sobering lecture on the geopolitical failures leading to the capitulation of Artsakh.

Distinguished contributors from UCLA will include Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History Sebouh Aslanian, Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights Hannah Garry, and Clinical Director at the Simms Mann Center for Integrative Oncology Valentina Ogaryan.

Throughout the day, guests will also have the opportunity to partake in a range of cultural programming, including film screenings and a photography exhibition.

Lyoka, a war veteran and rapper from Artsakh, will deliver a live performance that conveys his remarkable life story through raw, heartfelt lyrics. Beloved local eatery Zhengyalov Hatz, which derives its name from Artsakh’s national dish, will demonstrate how to prepare the herb-stuffed flatbread.

Through a dynamic fusion of academia and the arts, Artsakh Uprooted will offer a singular opportunity for attendees to understand this pivotal moment in contemporary Armenian history. The event is free of charge and open to the general public; a full program will be available in the coming weeks.

The symposium will not be live-streamed. RSVP is required to attend.