AUA Adjunct Lecturer Presents Her Recently Published Monograph

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YEREVAN, Armenia — On March 15, Dr. Naira Sahakyan, adjunct lecturer at the American University of Armenia (AUA) and senior researcher at the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute, presented her recently published monograph at a book launch hosted at AUA. The monograph titled Armenian Price of Peace: The Revolutions of 1917 and the Future of Armenia in the Perception of the Armenian Intelligentsia was published by Newmag Publishing House. The event was moderated by AUA adjunct lecturer Dr. Varak Ketsemanian. 

In this book, Dr. Sahakyan tells the story of collapsed empires — the Ottoman and Russian — and the crushed dreams of the Armenian intellectuals in the turmoil that engulfed Transcaucasia after the 1917 February Revolution. In her talk, she gave an in-depth look at each chapter in the book, highlighting how the Armenian periodicals and newspapers had covered the events taking place in mainland Russia and how Armenian intellectuals with different political orientations had interpreted them. 

Dr. Sahakyan discussed how Armenian intellectuals perceived socialism in the Armenian and Caucasian contexts when it emerged as one of the main ideologies of 1917. Through various takes on socialism, its appropriateness to the “Armenian question” and the prospects it held for the populations of the Caucasus, Armenian intellectuals in Tiflis and beyond, saw the revolution of 1917 as the beginning of a brighter, socialist, and more democratic future. Following the collapse of the Romanov dynasty during the Great War, Armenian intellectuals debated, contested, and rejected Lenin’s “Peace without Annexations and Reparations” and maintained the necessity of retaining Russian rule over some of the Eastern Armenian provinces that the Russian imperial army had taken over in the early years of the war. 

Following Dr. Sahakyan’s presentation, Dr. Ketsemanian engaged her in a conversation, elucidating the significant historiographical contributions of the book to Caucasian, Russian, as well as Armenian history. The audience, which included AUA students, faculty, staff, and friends, had the chance to ask further questions and share their thoughts and observations on the issues raised throughout the discussion. 

Dr. Sahakyan presented a copy of her book to AUA’s AGBU Papazian library.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.