The Society for Armenian Studies, a professional
society composed of scholars interested in Armenian Studies, is holding its 21st annual
meeting as part of the Middle East Studies Association Annual Conference to be held in
Washington, D.C. from December 6-10. The conference headquarters will be the Washington
Hilton and Towers where all meetings and panels will be presented.
As part of the Annual conference, scholars from throughout the country
and the world gather to present their latest findings. Panels are organized by region,
discipline, and time period. There will be five sessions relating to Armenia and the
Armenians.
On Thursday, December 7 from 3:00-5:00 pm a roundtable discussion will
be held on The Karabagh Conflict and Armenian-Azerbaijan Relations: The Quest for Regional
Stability. It is co-sponsored by the International Society for Azerbaijani Studies and the
Society for Armenian Studies. Guests will include: His Excellency Rouben Shugarian,
Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia; His Excellency Hafiz Pashayev, Ambassador of the
Republic of Azerbaijan; David Nissman, Washington, D.C.; Joseph Kechichian, Rand
Corporation. Discussants are: Tadeusz Swietochowski, Monmouth College and Levon
Marashlian, Glendale Community College. Richard G. Hovannisian of UCLA will chair the
discussion.
In addition to the round table discussion four panels organized around
specific Armenian themes will be presented.
The panel Shiraz, Isfahan, Tehran-Persian or Armenian Art? will be held
from 5:30-7:30 pm on Thursday, December 7. Four panelists will present papers: Jews and
Armenian in Safavid Iran-Their Self Definitions Contracted in Images, Alice Taylor, West
Los Angeles College; The New Julfa Style of Armenian Manuscript Bindings, Dickran
Kouymjian, California State University, Fresno; The Armenian Church of Shiraz: An
Armenian-Safavid Monument, Marco Brambilla, DOMUS; and Armenian Architects in Tehran:
Persian Architecture of Early 20th Century, Mina Marefat, Smithsonian Institution. The
chair of the panel is Lucy Der Manuelian of Tufts University.
On Friday, December 8 from 8:00-10:00 am the Society for Armenian
Studies is sponsoring a two-part panel called The Armenian Genocide: An Eighty Year
Perspective. Part I: Historical Dimensions will have as its chair/discussant Richard G.
Hovannisian of UCLA. Papers to be presented are: Some Comments About Decision Making,
Stepan Astourian, UCLA; Finishing the Genocide: Angora's Elimination of Armenian
Survivors, 1920-1923, Levon Marashlian, Glendale City College; Resistance to Genocide: The
Armenian Experience, 1915-1995, Roger Smith, College of William and Mary; andThe Role of
Historical Memory in Interpreting Current Events in the Republic of Armenia, Donald
Miller, University of Southern California.
The second of the two part panel is titled Armenian Literature and
Catastrophe and will be held from 10:30am-12:30 pm on Friday December 8. The panel,
chaired by Lorne Shirinian, will include: Across the Chasm: From Catastrophe to
Creativity, Barlow Der Mugrdechian, California State University, Fresno; William Saroyan
and the Armenian Genocide, David Calonne, Siena Heights College; Literary Response to
Catastrophe, Rubina Peroomian, UCLA; and Survivors Memoirs of the Armenian Genocide, Lorne
Shirinian, Royal Military College of Canada.
On Saturday, December 9, from 8:00-10:00 am a panel will be held on
Armenia in the Age of the Il-Khans . Chair of the panel is Barlow Der Mugrdechian of
California State University, Fresno. Papers include: The Seljuk-Il-khanid Conflict and the
Armenian Confraternity of Erznka, S. Peter Cowe, Columbia University; The Reign of
Hasan-Jalal-Daula, Armenian Ally of Hulagu Khan, Robert H. Hewsen, Rowan College of New
Jersey; King Het'um's Alliance with the Mongols: A Mutually Beneficial Relationship, Don
Stark, University of Chicago; and.The Economy of Armenia in the Il-khanid Period, T.A.
Sinclair, University of Cyprus. Discussant for the panel is Dickran Kouymjian of
California State University, Fresno.
The final panel is scheduled for Saturday, December 9 from 4:00-6:00 pm
is The Armenians Community in 20th Century Iran co-sponsored by the Society for Armenian
Studies and the Society for Iranian Studies. The chair/discussant for the panel is George
Bournoutian of Iona College. Papers include: The Role of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, Houri Berberian, UCLA; Krikor
Eghikian, The Jangalis, and the Armenians, Aram Arkun, Zohrab Institute; The Armenians of
Iran and the Communist Movement in Iran, Cosroe Chaqueri, Columbi University; and The
Armenian Diaspora in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979-1989, Eliz Sanasarian, USC.
The Society for Armenian Studies business office is located at the
Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. For further information
about the Society or the Washington meeting call 313-593-5181 or by e-mail at GOTTENBR@ca-f1.umich.edu.