ARF Eastern U.S. Announces Schedule for First Republic Centennial Conference

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Eastern U.S. has announced the program schedule for the First Republic of Armenia Centennial Conference, taking place May 11-12 at Columbia University in New York.
The event is co-sponsored by the Armenian Review and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) on the occasion of the republic’s centennial.

“An international cast of speakers has been assembled, not just to explain the historical events and significance of the First Republic, but also to reflect on how what happened 100 years ago has impacted Armenia and Armenians in the past thirty years,” said conference programming chair Dikran Kaligian.

The conference begins at 7 p.m. Friday, May 11, with a plenary round table session titled “The First Republic of Armenia: 100 Years Later”. Professors Richard Hovannisian, Ronald Suny, Stephan Astourian, and Dikran Kaligian will lead the round table.

On Saturday, May 12, the full-day program will start at 9:30 a.m. Sessions include the following:

“Key Figures and Events of the First Republic”

Speakers for the Armenian-language session: Amaduni Virabian (Armenia), Hagop Balian (France), Raymond Kevorkian (France)

Speakers for the English-language session: Tatul Sonentz-Papazian (U.S.), Khatchig Mouradian (U.S.), Vartan Matiossian (U.S.), Nareh Kupelian (U.S.)

“Terra Irredenta: The Struggle to Secure Armenia’s Borders”

Armenian: Ruben Safrastyan (Armenia), Ashot Melkonyan (Armenia), Lernik Hovhannisyan (Artsakh)

English: Robert Krikorian (U.S.), Stephen Jones (U.S.), Pietro Shakarian (U.S.)

“The First Republic in Public Imagination”

Ara Sanjian (U.S.), Marc Nichanian (Portugal), Hayk Demoyan (Armenia)

“Armenia and the Great Powers”

Alla Mirzoyan (U.S.), Henry Theriault (U.S.), Gregory Aftandilian (U.S.), Marc Mamigonian (U.S.)

There will also be a keynote luncheon on Saturday featuring Professor Richard Hovannisian.

A full listing of speaker topics and presentations will be available soon.

Registration details for the conference will be announced next week and made available online to the public.

The conference is part of a larger series of activities devoted to the Republic of Armenia’s centennial. Further activities will be announced as they become available.