BAPG Faculty Participate in International Conferences
2 min readYEREVAN, Armenia — The American University of Armenia (AUA) is pleased to share that two instructors from the Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Governance (BAPG) program had the privilege of attending international conferences to present their research.
On March 23-25, Laura Prokic attended the PERITIA Rethinking Policy, Expertise, and Trust conference in Dublin, Ireland. The conference is the final academic event in the Horizon 2020* project, in which AUA has partnered. It focused on the role of experts and science in the policy process, trust in experts, and usage of expert knowledge/testimony.
Prokic presented research conducted in Spring 2022 in collaboration with BAPG Program Chair Dr. Yevgenya Paturyan, student Gohar Geghamyan (BAPG ‘25), and AUA alumna and BAPG program coordinator Liana Simonyan (MPSIA ‘20). The research looked at how future policy makers, specifically AUA BAPG and PSIA students, consider advice from experts in hypothetical policy decision-making scenarios. The results of the study suggest that it is unlikely for future Armenian policy makers to seek advice from experts when making policy decisions and it is especially unlikely to do so when the course of action recommended by an expert does not correspond to their personal positions on a given issue. The research, set to be published soon, also explores the main strategies that participants use to make policy decisions.
On February 8-10, BAPG adjunct lecturer Dr. Hayarpi Papikyan took part in a workshop for senior and post-graduate researchers titled “Re-framing the past of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict” held in Brussels. At the workshop, Dr. Papikyan presented her pioneering archival study on the Seminary of Shushi titled “The Nest of Revolutionaries. Shushi Seminary on the Eve of the Armenian-Tatar Clashes.”
Using micro analysis, Dr. Papikyan’s study looks at the Seminary of Shushi (1838), the prime national institution for Armenian lay and religious community leaders and renowned by the local Russian authorities for its revolutionary-minded students. Based on secret police reports and private correspondences between the Bishop of Shushi and Synod of Etchmiadzin, as well as unpublished letters and eyewitness accounts, Dr. Papikyan’s research attempts to chart and elucidate the environment that preceded and accompanied the Armenian-Tatar clashes in Shushi in August 1905. The manuscript of the research has been submitted for publication to a peer-reviewed journal.
*The lead AUA unit involved in the PERITIA project is the Acopian Center for the Environment. The project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No.870883. The information and opinions expressed in the project website, as well as other communication materials, are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission.
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.