APRIL 9-10, 2017
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Twenty-five years after the Soviet collapse, citizens of Armenia, as well as observers and scholars are asking “Now What?” In an effort to better understand the past quarter century and to look for ways forward, the USC Institute of Armenian Studies is presenting a two-city conference entitled “The End of Transition: Shifting Focus a Quarter Century After the Soviet Collapse.”
Held at USC, on Sunday, April 9 and Monday, April 10, 2017, the conference brings together notable names in media, government, academia and the arts to explore regionalisms of Armenia, demographic changes, transitions in social and economic policy, the development of formal and informal political and social institutions, bottom-up social change and civil society formation. Speakers looked at the transition from the Soviet sphere to other foreign and regional alliances, and the evolution of Armenia’s bilateral relations with its immediate neighbors and other major powers. The conference continues in Yerevan, Armenia on May 23-24, 2017.
END OF TRANSITION: Armenia 25 Years On. Now What? | DAY 1
END OF TRANSITION: Armenia 25 Years On. Now What? | DAY 1 (Armenian Translation)
END OF TRANSITION: Armenia 25 Years On. Now What? | DAY 2
END OF TRANSITION: Armenia 25 Years On. Now What? | DAY 2 (Armenian Translation)
Professor Anna Ohanyan, who chairs the department of Political Science and International Relations at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, speaks about the fractured region of the South Caucasus. Her presentation focuses on the regional structures of engagement in the area. Anna Ohanyan was a panelist at the END OF TRANSITION conference
Eric Nazarian speaks about 25 Years of Transition in Cinema, since Armenia’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Nazarian was a panelist at the END OF TRANSITION conference, organized by USC Institute of Armenian Studies on April 9-10, 2017. Eric Nazarian is a filmmaker, born in Armenia and raised in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Writer’s Guild of America and a Fellow at the USC Institute of Armenian Studies.
Daron Acmeoglu, world renowned economist and author of Why Nations Fail delivered a talk over skype at a conference.
Armenia’s former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian talks about the factors hampering Armenia’s development at the University of Southern California’s conference.
Dr. Ara Sanjian, of the Armenian Studies Center at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, does a brief content analysis of the 2012 edition of the Armenian history textbook used at Yerevan State University. He points out uneven coverage of the accomplishments of various Soviet-era leaders, a heavy focus on the genocide, and minimal concentration on the independence period and the present. Dr. Sanjian was a panelist at the END OF TRANSITION conference.
Amberin Zaman, a Turkish scholar and former correspondent for The Economist talks about Russian-Turkish relations and their impact on the region’s politics. Zaman was one of the featured speakers at the USC Institute of Armenian Studies’ conference.
Dr. Laurence Broers, South Caucasus expert from Chatham House, explains the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno Karabakh in 1988-1994. Broers was a panelist at a conference.
Dr. Hrant Kostanyan, who is a Researcher at CEPS, a Senior Expert at the College of Europe Natolin and an Adjunct Professor at Vesalius College, speaks about EU-Armenia relations. His research focuses on EU institutions and decision-making, primarily on the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the EU’s relations with Eastern Neighbours and Russia. Kostanyan was a panelist at the END OF TRANSITION conference
Shant Shekherdimian, who is a pediatric surgeon and an Assistant Professor of Surgery at UCLA, speaks about the Diaspora’s role in Armenia’s health care transition. He has a deep interest in health care systems in Armenia, including the development of a pediatric quality improvement program, and spearheading a new model of effective diaspora contribution to Armenia’s health care system. Shekherdimian was a panelist at the END OF TRANSITION conference.
Garik Hayrapetyan has led the UNFPA – the United Nations Fund for Population Activities – for a dozen years. His research has impacted policy, and he and his team are observers of the key demographic trends during this period of transition. Hayrapetyan was a panelist at the END OF TRANSITION conference.
Professor Arman Grigoryan teaches at LeHigh University. His doctoral dissertation is on the role of third parties in state-minority conflicts. Grigoryan was a panelist at the END OF TRANSITION conference
Philip Gamaghelyan, who is a conflict resolution scholar-practitioner, the co-founder of the Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation, and the managing editor of the Caucasus Edition, speaks about the role of memory in the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Gamaghelyan was a panelist at the END OF TRANSITION conference.
Gregory Aftandilian, who is an adjunct professor in the U.S. Foreign Policy program of American University, Washington, DC. and lecturer in international relations at the Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University, speaks about Armenia and US foreign policy. Aftandilian was a panelist at the END OF TRANSITION conference.
Emil Sanamyan, independent analyst and journalist on South Caucasus issues speaks about violence in Nagorno Karabakh in April of 2016, at the University of Southern California’s conference