Graduate Colloquium in Armenian Studies to be held at UCLA

PanARMENIAN.Net - This year’s Undergraduate Colloquium in Armenian Studies at UCLA will be held on Feb 11 and will be followed by the Graduate Colloquium in Armenian Studies the next day, Asbarez reports.

Professor S. Peter Cowe, who is the Narekatsi Chair of Armenian Studies at UCLA, said that the colloquia will feature an array of speakers who will present the most recent results of their research on a diversity of disciplines relating to Armenia and Armenian culture, in the present and in their historical development alike. Both colloquia are initiated and organized by Dr. Cowe.

The Undergraduate Colloquium in Armenian Studies, now in its second year, will involve four undergraduate speakers from UCLA, one from Claremont McKenna College, and two from the University of California, Irvine. The colloquium will consist of panels on “The Psychology of Genocide and the Hyphenated Armenian Identity,” “Gender and Sexuality: Armenian Experiences from the Past to the Present,” and “Contemporary Realities: From the Republic of Armenia to Los Angeles.”

During the dinner reception, a prize will be awarded to the student presenting the best researched paper.

The colloquium will open with a lecture titled “Medieval Monastic Establishments and Royal/Princely Power.” It will be presented by Professor Zara Pogossian of the Center for Religious Studies at the Ruhr-Universitat-Bochum, Germany. Professor Pogossian is currently a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, at the invitation of Dr. Cowe. Prof. Pogossian is a recognized expert in the sphere of medieval Armenian history and culture.

The Graduate Colloquium in Armenian Studies, now in its 14th year, will feature graduate-student presenters from universities in Europe, Armenia, and different parts of North America. Organized in six panels, the colloquium will encompass a wealth of topics in the fields of “19th-century literature, media, and identity,” “Ottoman-Armenian history,” “Medieval Armenian art and literature,” “Prehistoric archaeology,” “20th-century Armenian literature and media,” and “Contemporary Armenian issues in the Southern Caucasus.” It will conclude with a talk by Professor Zara Pogossian on the contribution of graduate student researchers to the expansion and development of the field of Armenology.