AUA Hosts Delegation from Renowned College of Europe

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YEREVAN, Armenia – From March 19-20, 2015, the American University of Armenia (AUA) hosted a student delegation from the highly renowned College of Europe for a panel discussion on regional development. The events were held in cooperation with AUA’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences and were open to the entire AUA community.

The first day of panels covered the topic of security in the South Caucasus. Keynote speakers included Alexander Iskandaryan, Director of the Caucasus Institute, Tevan Poghosyan, MP, “Heritage” party, Sergey Minasyan, Deputy Director and Head of the Political Studies Department, Caucasus Institute, Davit Harutyunyan, Economist and Head of the Politico-Military Program at the OSCE, and Alen Amirkhanyan, Lecturer at AUA and Director of the Acopian Center for the Environment. The day also included a lecture by Boris Navasardian, President of the Yerevan Press Club, on the topic of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from the point of view of the press, and a meeting with Mr. Traian Hristea, Head of the European Union Delegation in Armenia.

The second day of panel discussions featured speakers such as Arpie Balian, Director of the Extension Program and Professor in the Political Science program at AUA, Claire Medina, Deputy Resident Representative from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Karine Stepanyan from KASA Swiss Humanitarian Foundation. The topics covered were the strategic challenges to political, social, and economic development in Armenia. 

The remainder of the day featured a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and a tour of some of Armenia’s architectural monuments.

The College of Europe was the world’s first institute of post-graduate studies and training in European Affairs. It was founded in 1949 by leading European figures such as Salvador de Madariaga, Winston Churchill, Paul Henri Spaak and Alcide de Gasperi. The first campus was established in Bruges, Belgium. After the fall of communism, and in the light of the changes in Central and Eastern Europe, a second College of Europe campus was founded in Natolin (Warsaw, Poland) in 1993. The academic programs in Bruges and Natolin provide students with a specialized grounding in the European dimension of their field of study, as well as an in-depth understanding of Europe in all its complexity.

Every year, students from the Poland campus visit one or more countries of the Eastern Partnership as part of their study program. This spring, they are visiting Georgia and Armenia within the framework of their program, titled “Georgia & Armenia: Contrasting Approaches to Integration.”

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.

Every year, students from the Poland campus visit one or more countries of the Eastern Partnership as part of their study program. This spring, they are visiting Georgia and Armenia within the framework of their program, titled “Georgia & Armenia: Contrasting Approaches to Integration.”