Announcements

The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, within the framework of the project “Application of Traditional Cultural Heritage Manifestations in Politics: Opportunities and Suggestions”, and the Armenian Center for Ethnological Research “Hazarashen” are planning a conference/workshop on June 12-15, 2026, on the topic “Feast and Festival Practeces as a Culturally Constructed Text of the Past and Present”. The conference will take place on June 12 and 13, 2026, and the workshop on June 14 and 15. Reports submitted to the conference may relate to the following thematic areas:

• Armenian Traditional Calendar and Festival Culture in the Middle Ages
• Festivals and Festivals in the First Republic of Armenia (1918-1920)
• Festival Politics and Culture in the USSR and Soviet Armenia (1920-1990), Including Prohibited Holidays and Forms of Their Survival
• Festivals and Festival Culture in the Republic of Armenia, including official, traditional, and new holidays.

The presentation of the book «Conflict, Space and Transnationalism: An Ethnography of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War» [Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology, Palgrave Macmillan. 2025] by the authors Dr. Arsen Hakobyan (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Armenia) and Dr. Marcello Mollica (University of Messina, Italy). The presentation will take place at 11:00 on February 25, in the Round Hall Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia (2nd floor, 24, Marshall Baghramian Ave, Yerevan, 0019).

Events Programme/ February 21/ March 7 – March 14

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Hosted by Martin Adamian, UCLA

• Opening Remarks

Nora Bairamian
Co-Director of the 2026 Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies
Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA

Dr. S. Peter Cowe
Narekatsi Professor of Armenian Studies
Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA

• Medieval Art and Scribal Praxis

Moderator: Nora Bairamian, UCLA

 Ovsanna Khachatryan (Mashtots Matenadaran Inst. of Manuscripts)
“Cryptographic Traditions in Medieval Manuscripts: Cultural Secrecy and Intercultural Comparisons”

Michael Blomquist (East Illinois University)
“The Iconography of Armenian Art and its Relationship with Increased Figural Representation in Two Islamic Traditions”

• Armenian Activities in the Ottoman and Russian Empires in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Moderator: Lori Pirinjian, UCLA

Sahika Karatepe (Binghamton University, SUNY)
“Extractivism and Rural Labor in Bardizag: Charcoal Production and the Armenian Peasantry (1790–1890s)”

Mete Ulatas (Pennsylvania State University)
“Spaces of Confinement, States of Becoming: Armenian Political Prisoners in the Late Ottoman Empire”

Irina Badalyan (Yerevan State University)
“Tiflis in the Second Half of the 19th Century: Armenological Perspectives and Urban Self-Governance Institutions in the Context of Imperial and National Projects”

Saturday, March 7, 2026

Hosted by Martin Adamian, UCLA

• Prehistoric Archaeology of the Armenian Plateau

Moderator: Aram Ghoogasian, UCLA

Mariam Saribekyan (Armenian Academy of Sciences)
“Beliefs and Lifestyle of Early Bronze Age People in Armenia Based on Clay Figurines”

Artyom Ananyan (Yerevan State University)
“Modelling the Bronze and Iron Age Archaeological Landscape of the Tavush Region through GIS Analysis”

• Ethnonational Imaginary and Culture

Moderator: Aram Ghoogassian, UCLA

Cassandre Lejosne (University of Lausanne)
“Copying Zvart‘noc‘: Architectural Models between Medieval Memory and Modern Heritage”

Margarita Khakhanova (Masaryk University)
“Hidden Soviet Ideology: The Construction of the Armenian Capital”

Jonathan Hollis (East Illinois University)
“Listening to Armenian Baku: History and Memory in Digital Diaspora”

Saturday, March 14, 2026

Hosted by Martin Adamian, UCLA

• Armenian Media in a Modern and Contemporary Timeframe

Moderator: Alexia Hatun, UCLA

Armenuhi Muradyan (University of Halle-Wittenberg)
“Armenian Women Between Empires: the Earliest Contributions to Print Media”

Diana Ghazaryan (Pázmány Péter Catholic University)
“Mediating in the Empire(s): The Krikorian Studio and Armenian Social Agency through Visual Culture in Ottoman and Mandate Jerusalem”

Ani Kojoyan (Yerevan State University)
“Language, Power, and Gendered Disinformation in Contemporary Armenian Public Discourse”

On February 12 at 14:00, the defense of the PhD dissertation by Tigran Aleksanyan, entitled “The Medieval Fortification of Berd Region,” will take place at a meeting of the Specialized Council 007 “Archaeology and Ethnography,” operating under the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (IAE NAS RA).

The dissertation is devoted to the study of medieval fortification structures and defensive systems of the Berd region (formerly Shamshadin, later - Tavush, and currently the enlarged community of Berd), located in the northeastern part of the Republic of Armenia.

For the first time, an attempt has been made to conduct a systematic study and comprehensive presentation of the region’s medieval fortification structures, the data related to them, the studies conducted to date, and the views of previous researchers. At the same time, the research sets out to examine the principles of construction of the monuments under consideration, their building phases, chronology, and historical development.

Scientific Supervisor:

• Diana Mirijanyan, Ph.D.

Official Opponents:

• Hamlet Petrosyan, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor
• Armine Zorabyan, Ph.D.

Leading Institution: Yerevan State University

On December 1 at 16:00, the Artsakh Historical and Cultural Heritage Research Group will hold a seminar in the Institute’s library.
Topic: “Challenges of Monument Monitoring: The Case of Cultural Heritage in Artsakh”
Speaker: Hamazasp Abrahamyan

At the session of Specialized Council 007 on Archaeology and Ethnography of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography (IAE) of the NAS RA, to be held on October 30 at 14:00, Arsen Harutyunyan, Head of the Epigraphy Department at the IAE and Candidate of Historical Sciences, will defend his doctoral dissertation entitled “Medieval Tatev and Its Written-Cultural Heritage.”

The presented dissertation is dedicated to the historical description of the Tatev Monastery, a spiritual and cultural center of Syunik, and its adjacent monastic settlements, as well as a comprehensive study of their written heritage.

Official opponents:

• Doctor of Historical Sciences, Prof. Karen A. Matevosyan
• Doctor of Historical Sciences, Prof. Hamlet L. Petrosyan
• Doctor of Historical Sciences, Prof. Arman S. Yeghiazaryan

Leading institution: Yerevan State University

The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia (IAE NAS RA) has launched a new collaborative project titled “Guardians of the Vishaps” in partnership with the Culture Factor NGO.

The main goal of the project is to raise awareness among children aged 10–14 and local communities about the exceptional cultural significance of Armenian vishap-stones (dragon-stones), as well as to promote heritage preservation, critical thinking, and civic engagement.

This initiative, implemented with the support of a grant from the H. Hovnanyan Family Foundation, combines fundamental scientific knowledge with innovative educational methodologies. As a leading research center, the IAE ensures the scientific accuracy and validity of the project’s content.

Our specialists provide consultations on the general concept and all educational materials, aligning the available information about vishap-stones with the latest archaeological research data.

The IAE is also directly responsible for the development and implementation of specialized educational courses. These courses will be held for schoolchildren and their families as part of community awareness campaigns. Through this experiential learning process, participants will gain in-depth knowledge of the unique iconography and archaeological context of vishap-stones, becoming informed guardians of this heritage of global significance.

The “Guardians of the Vishaps” is a nine-month program that began in September 2025, based on a concept developed by Culture Factor NGO. It includes the production of an animated film “Vahagn and the Vishap”, the publication of informational booklets, and film screenings during community outreach events.

Through this collaboration, the Institute aims not only to disseminate scientific knowledge but also to present the historical and cultural value of vishap-stones to various segments of society—especially to the younger generation—thus contributing to the long-term preservation of Armenia’s cultural heritage.

On September 25, at 16:00, within the framework of the “Medieval Studies Discussions” seminars of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the NAS RA, the next lecture will take place: “Hrachia Acharian’s Unpublished Legacy: HAYARDZAN.”
Lecturer: PhD in Philology Susanna Adamyan.