Cultural Heritage of Artsakh: Armenian History and Its Traces in Nagorno-Karabakh

About the Event:

An academic collection titled “Cultural Heritage of Artsakh: Armenian History and Its Traces in Nagorno-Karabakh” has been recently printed by the publishing house of Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel in Germany, co-edited by Dr. Andreas Muller (University of Kiel), Dr. Harutyun G. Harutyunyan (American University of Armenia/Yerevan State University), Dr. Dagmar Heller (Institute for Ecumenical Studies and Research, Bensheim), and Dr. Martin Tamcke (University of Göttingen).

The Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh region was populated mostly by ethnic Armenians. Cultural traces from over two millennia indicated their long history on site. Due to the 44-day war in 2020, nine-month blockade, and violent takeover of the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh by the Azerbaijani forces on September 20, 2023, these cultural assets are currently at massive risk.

The collection is a result of an international conference with the same name that was organized by the editors at the Theological Faculty of Yerevan State University and Vayots Dzor Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Many scientists and experts from Armenia, Artsakh, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium attended the conference. The collection includes academic papers in the German, Armenian, and English languages. The articles are related to the history and culture of Artsakh, along with international political science and jurisprudence issues. It is available as an open source on the website of the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel and offers the most complete trilingual overview to date on the history, culture, and global contacts of this unshielded area in the Southern Caucasus.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Harutyun G. Harutyunyan is an adjunct lecturer in religious studies at the American University of Armenia (GenEd) and a research fellow at the Center for Intercultural and Religious Studies at Yerevan State University. He earned his doctoral degree in ecumenical theology and peace and conflict studies at the University of Münster (Germany). He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria, British Columbia (Canada), and at the Cluster of Excellence, “Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures,” at the University of Münster (Germany). Dr. Harutyunyan is the author of a monograph on European integration and the role of religion (in German) and has penned scientific reviews and many academic articles on politics, conflicts, and religion. He is the co-editor of three collective editions on the rhetoric of violence, Armenian history, and the cultural heritage of Artsakh. Dr. Harutyunyan is currently researching the role of religion in political and military conflicts and supporting social and educational projects at the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Vayots Dzor (Armenia).

Language: English