General Information on Armenia – Diaspora III Conference

Time: September 18-20, 2006

Location: Demirchian Sports Complex (on the hill adjacent to the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial Monument)

Conference participation

Everyone is invited to attend the conference and participate in discussions.? Participation is open to all. Registration can be done at www.armeniaforeignministry.am or www.armeniadiaspora.com or through Armenian embassies and consulates.?

Communities, organizations, churches, political, social, religious and educational entities, their members and representatives, as well as any and all individuals are welcome to attend, participate, interact, form networks, and engage in new programs.

Conference Structure and Seating (see the agenda of the Conference at the end of this article)

General plenary session: During this opening session, speakers will be given seven minutes to make presentations and will be asked to examine, analyze, assess our past and consider how history and current geo-political realities raise new issues before our nation, and to explore the possibilities and prospects for resolving them together. Sitting around the table will be the representatives of the government of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, the heads of Armenian churches, representatives of pan-Armenian organizations, and heads of each national delegation.? The latter is a symbolic post and allows for each community to be represented around the table by one person, with other members of that community sitting around and behind him or her.

Rural Poverty Eradication: During this plenary, the Rural Poverty Eradication Program will be launched. Sitting around the table will be government representatives, international organization representatives and those individuals or organizations that have agreed to sponsor a village in the Rural Poverty Eradication Program. Other participants will be sitting around these groups or organizations, or in the stands immediately surrounding the table.

Forum: New Answers to Old Questions (see below).

Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in Armenian, English, Russian and French. There will be screens throughout the hall and in the open areas.

Related Events

Pan-Armenian Expo 2006 (for further information see www.businessdiaspora.org).

Various cultural events will take place during and around the conference week.

Participants will have the chance to participate in events related to the 15th anniversary of independence including a parade, a concert and other festivities in the Republic Square.

ADDITIONAL READING

Forum: New Answers to Old Questions: Armenians in the 21st century

This forum will explore universal questions about nations, nation-states, identity, culture, economics, emigration and citizenship, in a borderless, globalizing, electronically-linked world. With the participation of scholars from abroad, as well as from Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora, five panels of experts and discussants will consider:

Nation, state and identity in the 21st century: Looking at the new theoretical approaches to understanding the elements of culture and identity, their application to diasporas, and to Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora. Understanding how other diaspora-homeland relations have evolved, especially when the diaspora is older than the state, larger than the state, more diverse than the state. Can diaspora institutions and politics develop without the homeland, and can a homeland develop independently, unaided by its diaspora? How to match reciprocal perceptions, therefore expectations of each other? Is there / will there be an Armenian Diaspora outside of the traditional structures and institutions? How does a diaspora shape perceptions of Armenia? Is the diaspora part of the field of ?domestic? public opinion?

The culture of identity: Being or feeling Armenian?? The role of language, literature, arts, religion, history (including memories of genocide and involuntary migration) in defining citizenship and culture.? Will the universal culture/mechanics of the internet and MTV become an advantage for bringing new dynamics to relations and making ?culture? less rigid and more democratic, making ?definers of official? culture less relevant? Is globalization seen as a threat to both or can we see new forms of being and feeling Armenian?? Are there bridging efforts?

The economics of diaspora-homeland relations: A two-way street: Can mechanisms and an economics be created to give direction to future cultural and social developments?

What has been the efficiency of current contacts: remittances, investments, retirement, tourism, know-how? Are there different models of use of Diaspora sources that will increase the available capital and maximize their efficiency?

Emigration and Repatriation: Studying emigration and repatriation in history, around the world. What is the Armenian experience and memory of emigration and repatriation? What is the capacity for repatriation today? Should the government take on an active role? Can or should today?s emigration and repatriation trends be reversed?

A look at Diaspora 2020: It is necessary to develop some scenarios of possible prospects for Armenian national treasures around the world, for the future of historic communities, for language and culture even in the largest communities, for the need and capacity for new and old institutions, around the world. What facts and analyses are prerequisites to future programming and policies? What will the Diaspora look like in 2020? How will each other?s perceptions of Armenia and Armenians have changed? What will today?s youth be doing as Armenians?

ARMENIA DIASPORA III AGENDA

September 18-20, 2006

Demirchian Sports-Concert Complex

September 18, Monday

8:30 – 9:30	Arrival at the Conference venue
9:30 – 10:15???	General Plenary Session: Opening Ceremony?
10:15 – 13:00	General Plenary Session: Statements
13:00 ? 13:45	Wreath-laying at the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial
13:45 ? 15:00	Lunch Break
15:00 – 19:00	Second Plenary Session: Rural Poverty Eradication Program

September 19, Tuesday

9:30?- 13:00?? ?????	Forum: ?New Answers to Old Questions: Armenians in the 21st century?/ First Session
13:00 – 14:30	Lunch Break
14:30 – 18:00?	Forum: Second Session

September 20, Wednesday