10th Annual UCLA Undergraduate Colloquium in Armenian Studies

Thursday, May 14, 2026 - 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Bunche 10383

Abstracts and Bios

2:30 - 3:00 PM: Registration 

3:00 - 3:10 PM: Opening Remarks 

Sophia Manukyan (Organizational Committee Spokesperson)
Prof. Peter Cowe (faculty supervisor)

3:10 - 3:40 PM: Panel 1: Troglodytic Dwelling Patterns in Medieval Armenia

Moderator: Marat Gevorgyan (Psychology, UCLA)

Vera Mkhsian (Anthropology, UCLA); “Reconstructing the Life-Course of Frailty: Considering Early Medieval Armenia’s Subterranean Settlement Patterns”

Discussion

3:40 - 4:10 PM: Panel 2: Contemporary Social and Cultural Issues in the Armenian Republic and the Southern California Diaspora

Moderator: Marianna Avetyan (Sociology, UCLA)

Ellen Meroyan (Business Administration, Pierce College): “Armenian Identity: A study on traditional and cultural values in Armenians in Kentron, Yerevan, Armenia, compared to the Diaspora in Los Angeles, United States”

Discussion

4:10 - 4:30 PM: Coffee Break

4:30 - 5:00 PM: Panel 3 The Interface of Genocide and Language

Moderator: Mikayel Hovasyan (Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, UCLA)

Nadelina Agopoglu (English, Gender Studies, UCLA): “Orhan Pamuk’s Snow and Krikor Beledian’s Unpeopled Language: The Language of Absence”

Discussion

Thursday, May 21, 2026 - 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Royce 306

Abstracts and Bios

1:30 - 2:00 PM: Registration 

2:00 - 2:30 PM: Panel 4: Religious Construction during the Bagratid Period

Moderator: Yervand Matevosian (Political Science, UCLA) 

Norair Khalafyan (Eurasian Languages and Cultures and Legal Studies, UC Berkeley): "Architecture of Authority: Baghdad Political Theology at Ani and Haghpat"

Discussion

2:30 - 3:00 PM: Panel 5: Print Culture and Imagined Identity

Moderator: Marianna Avetyan (Sociology, UCLA)

Mikayel Hovasyan (Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology; Armenian Studies, UCLA): "Beyond Confession: Armenian Print Culture and the Emergence of Collective Identity in the Early Modern Diaspora"

Discussion

3:00 - 3:20 PM: Coffee Break

3:20 - 4:35 PM: Panel 6: Contemporary Issues in the Armenian Republic and Republic of Artsakh

Moderator: Sophia Manukyan (Economics UCLA)

Mari Markosyan (Sociology, Glendale Community College): "How Armenian Television Normalizes Gendered Violence"

Hasmik Khachatryan (Political Science, UCLA): The 2020 Nagarno Karabakh War: Civilian Targeting, Military Strategy, and International Humanitarian Law"

Amaras Badasian (Psychology, UCLA) -Amaras is representing the Hayreni Hearts Research Team, which also includes Aryana Sargsyan and Sarah Shahbandaryan: "The Situation of Armenian Veterans of the Karabagh War"

Discussion

4:35 - 4:50 PM: Coffee Break

4:50 PM: Award Ceremony

For information contact Peter Cowe (cowe@humnet.ucla.edu)

Organizational Committee: Marianna Avetyan, Marat Gevorgyan, Mikayel Hovasyan, Y ervand Matevosian, Sophia Manukyan, Peter Cowe (faculty supervisor), Hasmik Baghdasaryan (technical overseer).

Sponsor(s): Armenian Studies Research and Outreach Program, PAI, UCLA Narekatsi Chair in Armenian Studies, Armenian Students' Association