Unpacking Armenian Studies

Photo literacy and identity – Tsoleen Sarian, Exec. Director of Project SAVE - The Armenian Photograph Archive, based in Boston, talks about the significance of understanding, preserving, and digitizing historic documents. In conversation with Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian, Sarian discusses how generations are finding ways to engage with Armenia and how Project SAVE is gathering documents from pre to post genocide.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.

Arevik Anapiosyan, Armenia's Deputy Minister of Education and Science, discusses Armenia's post-"velvet revolution" education policies – the challenges, strategies, and solution. This talk took place at Innovate Armenia on May 18, 2019 at USC.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.

Rober Koptas is the editor-in-chief of Aras Publishing, an Istanbul-based publishing house co-founded in 1993 by Hrant Dink, Mkrtich Margosyan, and Yetvart Tovmasyan. Koptas was previously editor-in-chief of Hrant Dink's Agos newspaper. He spoke at Innovate Armenia about Istanbul's Armenian community and his experience with hyphenated identities. This talk was recorded live on April 2, 2016 at USC.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.

Armenia's Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan discusses the country's healthcare policy with Dr. Kim Hekimian, Assistant Professor of Nutrition in Pediatrics at Columbia University, and Dr. Shant Shekherdimian, Assistant Professor of Surgery at UCLA. The conversation was recorded live at Innovate Armenia on May 18, 2019 at USC.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.

Known as the mayor of the Internet, Reddit Co-founder Alexis Ohanian headlined the first ever Innovate Armenia. He spoke about his commitment to the past 100 years of the Armenian narrative, but also about his excitement for the next 100 years. This talk was recorded live at Innovate Armenia on February 21, 2015 at USC.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.

Artist, author and playwright Vahe Berberian is best known for his comedy stand-up routines about life in Armenia and the diaspora. He spoke at the first Innovate Armenia about the necessity of revamping Armenian culture, and learning how to laugh without feeling guilty. He covered a wide range of themes including preservation of language, investing in artists, and creating role models. This talk was recorded live at Innovate Armenia on February 21, 2015 at USC.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.

Harissa in Musa Dagh – Anthropology Professor Jens Kreinath of Wichita State University discusses his research with Salpi Ghazarian, director of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies. Dr. Kreinath studies shared pilgrimage sites and Christian-Muslim relations in Hatay – historical Antioch, the southernmost province of Turkey, and home to Musa Dagh survivors in Vakifli, Turkey's only remaining Armenian village.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.

References:

Kreinath, Jens. 2017. "Aesthetic Dimensions and Transformative Dynamics of Mimetic Acts: The Veneration of Habib-i Neccar among Muslims and Christians in Antakya, Turkey." In Aesthetics of Religion: A Connective Concept, edited by Alexandra Grieser and Jay Johnston, 271–299. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter.

Kreinath, Jens. 2017. "Interrituality as a New Approach for Studying Interreligious Relations and Ritual Dynamics at Shared Pilgrimage Sites in Hatay." Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology 1 (2):257–284.

Kreinath, Jens. 2019. "Aesthetic Sensations of Mary: The Miraculous Icon of Meryem Ana and the Dynamics of Interreligious Relations in Antakya." In Figurations and Sensations of the Unseen in Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Contested Desires, edited by Birgit Meyer and Terje Stordalen, 155–171, 288–290, 311-314. London/New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Kreinath, Jens. 2019. "Tombs and Trees as Indexes of Agency in Saint Veneration Rituals: Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory and the Hıdırellez Festival in Hatay, Turkey." Journal of Ritual Studies 33 (1):52–73.

Kreinath, Jens. 2019. "Playing with Frames of Reference in Veneration Rituals: Random Fractals in Encounters with a Muslim Saint." Anthropological Theory 19 (2). [in press].

Kreinath, Jens. 2020. "What Happens when the Story is Told? Afterthoughts on Narrative Culture and the Aesthetics of Religion: The Case of Armenian Christians from Musa Dağı." In Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion, edited by Dirk Johannsen, Anja Kirsch and Jens Kreinath. Leiden/Boston: Brill. [forthcoming]

Professor Murat Cankara, who teaches Turkish Language and Literature at the Social Sciences University in Ankara speaks on the question of identity in Armeno-Turkish texts -- decades of publications of Turkish language works written in Armenian characters. This talk took place at Innovate Armenia on April 2, 2016 at USC.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.

Professor Manuel Pastor, USC Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society & Social Change, and Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity, spoke on Mixing Identities: Immigrant Integration in Los Angeles. Dr. Pastor is also the director of the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity and for the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. This talk took place at Innovate Armenia on April 2, 2016, at USC.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.

Dr. Mehmet Fatih Uslu, Assistant Professor of Turkish Language and Literature at Istanbul Shehir University, translated Zabel Yesayan's works from Armenian to Turkish. In this episode, Dr. Uslu talks about his "adventure with Armenian and with Zabel Yesayan." This talk took place at Innovate Armenia on May 18, 2019 at USC.

To learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, visit http://armenian.usc.edu.