News & Events

The Department of Oriental Studies at the Yerevan State University (Armenia) invites you to the First Annual Armenian International Congress on Oriental Studies to be held on November 9-10, 2018 in Yerevan (Armenia) and dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Department.

The Department of Oriental Studies was founded in 1968, based on the strong traditions and achievements in the field of Middle Eastern studies in Armenia. It is one the most influential educational organizations in Armenia and the region, which is entering into a new phase of its development.

The Armenian International Congress on Oriental Studies is an annual conference, which aims to provide a unique platform to discuss the most critical problems of contemporary studies in the broad field of Middle Eastern studies.

We invite proposals for papers and pre-arranged panels from graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars working on the Middle East from the ancient times to the present day, including but not limited to history, religious studies, geography, anthropology, political science, literary studies, linguistics, philosophy, art history, and media studies.

Theme. We also encourage submissions related to the theme of this year’s conference, the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War and the formation of the New Middle East. Questions of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Emergence of nation states: consequence of the World War 1st or an independent development?
• Invisible consequences of war: demographic change, formation of identity, cultural transformations, new border identity
• The role of ideologies in the Middle East after the war
• Culture & war: cultural transformations and their consequences
• The role of the scholars in the prevention of the conflicts and conflict resolutions: 100 years ago, and today

Application. Please send submissions electronically to orientconference@ysu.am no later than Monday, September 10, 2018. Please include each presenter’s name, institution, and position, as well as a separate file including a 250-word abstract with a tentative title. For pre-arranged panels, please send a single email with an overall panel description plus individual paper abstracts. The best abstracts will summarize the paper’s topic, its relationship and contribution to the existing scholarship and preliminary conclusions. Abstracts will be evaluated anonymously by the organizing committee; therefore, please do not include names or any identifying information in the abstract. Please feel free to email us for any inquiry at the above address. Accepted abstracts will be announced by September 25, 2018.

Best papers will be published in the special issue of the “The Problems of Oriental Studies”.

A limited number of funding is available for accommodation in Yerevan (based on needs).

Please circulate widely!

For questions and accessibility concerns, please write to orientconference@ysu.am. Further information can also be found at our website, ysu.am.

2018 Conference Organizing committee

Melkonyan Ruben, Ph.D.

Safaryan Alexandr, Ph.D.

Voskanyan Vardan, Ph.D.

Kocharyan Hayk, Ph.D.

Geghamyan Varuzhan, Ph.D.