Armenians and Progressive Politics conference due in fall

PanARMENIAN.Net - The fourth installment of the Armenians and Progressive Politics (APP) conference focusing on “Armenia at 21” will be held at Columbia University on September 28-29, The Armenian Weekly reported.

The conference will bring together distinguished activists, academics, and politicians from Armenia, Europe, South America, and the U.S.

The plenary session will consider the Occupy movement and the revolutions in the Arab world, and their relevance for Armenia. The evening’s confirmed speakers include 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 six panels scheduled for Sept. 29 will examine the 21-year trajectory of Armenia’s statehood, economy, and society; rule of law, corruption, and elections; the development of civil society; Armenian-Turkish relations; foreign policy; and natural resources policy.

A partial list of featured speakers follow: Larisa Minasyan, executive director of the Open Society Institute; Thomas Samuelian, dean of American University of Armenia’s law department; 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 Armand Grigoryan, visiting 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 conference 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. 5-6.