Call for Papers – “The Soviet Experience in Armenia and Its Legacy” Armenian Research Center University of Michigan-Dearborn13-15 November 2020.

A century after the establishment of Soviet rule in Eastern Armenia, the Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn will hold a multidisciplinary academic conference on the theme “The Soviet Experience in Armenia and Its Legacy.” It will be held on the university’s campus in Dearborn, MI, over the weekend of November 13-15, 2020. The conference will seek to analyze the impact of seventy years of Soviet rule in Armenia between 1920 and 1991. It will explore the trajectory of Soviet Armenian society, including but not restricted to critical developments and turning points in politics, the economy and culture.

About twelve papers will be accepted, and preference will be given to those which tackle the key theoretical and methodological concepts that help elucidate the Soviet experience in Armenia. The overall aim of the conference will be to analyze dynamics within Soviet Armenia, using applicable theoretical tools and methodologies devised by specialists of the broader Soviet world. Conversely, the analysis of the Soviet Armenian experience can also be used to critique and challenge these frameworks. The papers can also explore in the same manner the ways with which Armenian society in the homeland and the Diaspora is handling the legacy of the Soviet era since Armenia regained its political sovereignty and independence in 1991.

Scholars researching the Soviet experience in Armenia and its legacy are invited to submit abstracts of up to 300 words by March 15, 2020. They should be forwarded to [email protected]. Applicants must attach their CVs. The language of the conference will be English. Exceptionally good papers can be accepted in Armenian or French, provided that the participant also submits, prior to the conference, a detailed English summary or a full English translation of his/her paper. The English version of the paper will be distributed among those attending the conference. Accepted papers will be announced by May 31, 2020. The Armenian Research Center expects that speakers, especially with appointments in established universities or research centers, seek funding for travel from their respective institutions. Travel expenses for all other invited participants will be provided by the Center.

Applicants who have no means to obtain outside assistance should also submit to the conference organizers a request for travel assistance. Speakers from Armenia will be able to benefit from the Short-Term Conference and Travel Grants offered to students and academics by the Armenian Communities Department at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal. All invited speakers will be provided with accommodation and meals during the length of the conference.