Please join us for a panel discussion where we will explore the recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh after the fall of the Republic of Artsakh. Our expert panel comprises Simon Maghakyan, PhD candidate in heritage crime at Great Britain's Defense Academy (Cranfield University); Jasmine Dum-Tragut, Head of Armenian Studies Division and Center for the Studies of the Christian East, University of Salzburg; and Harutyun Vanyan, Head of the Department of Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments within the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia. Together they will examine the consequences of the mass departure of ethnic Armenians from the region, taking into account both cultural and humanitarian aspects, as well as the loss of ancestral lands brimming with heritage. In this context, as the historical custodians of these monuments are no longer present, and considering Azerbaijan's political stance that disregards the land's integrity, we are confronted with the challenge of safeguarding the tangible and intangible heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh for the generations to come. This thought-provoking panel will try to address these and other questions while exploring different scenarios we can expect to see in the future development of the region.
This event will be fully online, but it’s necessary to register.
About the Speakers
Harutyun Vanyan is a heritage professional who works at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia as the Head of the Departement of Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments. Harutyun believes that the preservation of cultural heritage is not only the responsibility of the state, but also of every conscious citizen and community. In addition to managing the Departement of Preservation of Historical and Cultural Monuments, he is the Focal Point of 1972 World Heritage Convention, National Coordinator of European Heritage Days and European Archaeology Days for Armenia. He has also participated in many International Capacity Building porgrammes in the field of Cultural Heritage, including 2022 World Leadership Porgramme People.Nature.Culture in South Korea. Harutyun holds a BA in History and a Master’s Degree in Archaeology from the Yerevan State University.
Jasmine Dum-Tragut is Associate Professor of Armenian Studies and Linguistics. She directs the University of Salzburg’s Centre for the Study of the Christian East and its Armenian Studies Division, and senior scientist at the Department of Biblical Studies and Church History. She is an honorary doctor of the RA Academy of Sciences and of Yerevan State University. For many years she has been working on various interdisciplinary research projects on Armenian cultural heritage (with field work in Armenia), and since 2022 heads an international project on knowledge transfer in medieval equine (Armenian, Arabic, Georgian and European) manuscripts ‘Meeting in the body of the horse‘. She is consultant and board member of the ecumenical foundation PRO ORIENTE, heads the Austrian Committee for the Protection of Armenian Cultural Heritage in Artsakh and is member of the Blue Shield Austria, and founding member of the Blue Shield Armenia. In late 2021 she was co-opted as team-member and scientific advisor at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin’s Office for Artsakh Spiritual-Cultural Heritage Issues. Since Sept. 1, 2023 she heads the laboratory ‘Interdisciplinary Armenian Cultural heritage studies’ as adjunct professor and Principal investigator, which is based at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of RA Academy of Sciences.
Simon Maghakyan is a Denver-based investigative researcher and cultural heritage defender. He is a PhD candidate in heritage crime at Great Britain's Defense Academy (Cranfield University), a Visiting Scholar at Tufts University and an incoming Postdoctoral Fellow at the Oxford University’s Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Previously, he worked with advocacy organizations, including the largest Armenian-American grassroots organization and Amnesty International, and lectured in international relations at the University of Colorado Denver. He also served as a senior nonpartisan staffer at the Colorado legislature. Maghakyan's investigative exposés on Azerbaijan's state-sponsored erasure of Armenian cultural heritage have been cited at the International Court of Justice and praised as 'rock solid' by The Guardian. His writing has been featured in numerous popular media outlets, including Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, and his spoken word has appeared, among other outlets, on Democracy Now! and the BBC World Service.