Saturday, February 8, 2025 from 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM PST

In-Person at Fowler Museum, Lenart Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Please click here to register for the conference

The event will feature discussions on the current state of these heritage sites, their preservation efforts, and initiatives to monitor, document, and protect them amidst a challenging geopolitical landscape. Experts will also explore the future of cultural heritage studies, offering valuable insights and strategies for safeguarding this vital legacy.

Agenda

08:00AM - 09:00AM     Coffee and Registration

09:00AM - 09:15AM Welcome & Opening Remarks
     Ann Karagozian, Director, UCLA Promise Armenian Institute 
     Amy Landau, Director of Education and Interpretation, UCLA Fowler Museum 

09:15AM - 10:00AM     Keynote Address
     Ann Karagozian, Director, UCLA Promise Armenian Institute, Introduction 
     Lori Khatchadourian, Associate Professor, Cornell University; co-founder and co-  director, Caucasus Heritage Watch Cornell University

10:00AM - 11:00AM    Session 1: Cultural Heritage Destruction and Documentation in the South Caucasus
     Kristine Martirosyan Olshansky, Director of the Research Program in Armenian Archaeology and Ethnography, UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Moderator
     Hamlet Petrosyan, Head of Department of Cultural Studies, Yerevan State University; Head of Artsakh Cultural Heritage Research Group, Head of Dvin Archaeological Expedition; Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography, Academy of Sciences of Armenia
     Nzhdeh Yeranyan, Deputy Scientific Director, History Museum of Armenia; Lecturer, Department of Cultural Studies, Yerevan State University

11:00AM - 11:45AM    Keynote Address
     Hannah Garry, Executive Director of The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Law, Introduction
     Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Representative on International Legal Matters of Republic of Armenia

11:45AM - 12:10PM    Musical Offering by UCLA Armenian Music Program
     Antranig Kzirian on the Oud

12:10PM - 01:10PM    Lunch 

01:10PM - 02:30PM
Session 2: Cultural Heritage Destruction and Documentation in Historic Western Armenia/Present day Turkey
     Anna Aleksanyan, Postdoctoral Fellow, Armenian Genocide Research Program at UCLA PAI, Moderator
     Delal Dink, Vice President, Hrant Dink Foundation
     Heghnar Watenpaugh, Professor, UC Davis
     Ara Sarafian, Executive Director, Gomidas Institute (London)

02:30PM - 03:50PM    Session 3: Practical Solutions for Cultural Heritage Protection/Preservation  
     Peter Cowe, Narekatsi Professor of Armenian Studies, UCLA, Moderator
     Simon Maghakyan, Research Associate/Gulbenkian Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford
     Taner Akcam, Director of the Armenian Genocide Research Program at Promise Armenian Institute, UCLA
     Ruzanna Tsaturyan, Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, Armenia; Lecturer, Faculty of History, Yerevan State University, Armenia
     Marc Mamigonian, Director of Academic Affairs, NAASR

04:10PM - 05:10PM    Session 4: Roundtable Discussion on The Future of Armenian Heritage Studies
     Melissa Bilal, Promise Chair in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture; Director of Armenian Music Program; Assistant professor, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
     Nelli Sargsyan, Professor, Emerson College 
     Tamar Shirinian, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
     Anoush Suni, Postdoctoral Fellow, Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA

CO-SPONSORS:

Armenian Studies Research and Outreach Program

Center for Near Eastern Studies

Fowler Museum at UCLA

Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History

Narekatsi Chair in Armenian Studies

Promise Chair in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture

Promise Institute for Human Rights

UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

NAASR

Ararat-Eskijian Museum

UCLA Armenian Students' Association