On October 13, 2006, AUA’s School of Political Science and International Affairs hosted a public lecture by Thomas Carothers.

Mr. Thomas Carothers is Vice President for International Politics and Governance at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. He oversees the Endowment’s programs and directs the Democracy and Rule of Law Project, which analyzes the state of democracy around the world. Widely recognized as a leading international authority on democracy promotion, he has worked on democracy assistance projects for many public and private organizations and carried out extensive field research on democracy-building programs in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Mr. Carothers is in Armenia at the invitation of the Open Society Institute Armenia Foundation.

On October 9, 2006, AUA's School of Political Science and International Affairs hosted a public lecture by Dr. Vache Gabrielyan, a Board Member of the Central Bank of Armenia. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the School of Political Science and International Affairs at AUA where he teaches courses on public administration and transition politics. Dr. Gabrielyan is also a Professor in the Department of Economics at Yerevan State University where he teaches courses on monetary policy and banking regulation. Dr. Gabrielyan is a graduate of the Department of Economic Cybernetics of Yerevan State University. He has a MPA and PhD in Public Administration from Rutgers University, USA.

Today President H.Armenian held a press conference with mass media representatives about climbing Mount Ararat.

On July 7th and 8th AUA Law celebrated the legal legacy of Mkhitar Gosh and his 12th Century masterpiece, the Datastanagirk (Law Code). Events included a panel discussion at AUA on Mkhitar Gosh and his work as well as a trip for law and political science students and faculty to Goshavank.

At the panel discussion students learned that the Datastanagirk represents a compilation of Armenian social traditions up-dated with the best legal practices of the time. Also, as a Christian work, the Datastanagirk gave value to each individual by declaring that each person was equal before the law and it addressed Christ’s directive regarding forgiveness by recognizing the potential for rehabilitation and severely limiting the death penalty. Mkhitar Gosh’s work was thus innovative for its time and eventually was translated into other languages and used by Armenian and non-Armenian communities in Europe and elsewhere for nearly 500 years. 800 years later, parts of the code (e.g. inheritance provisions) are still in use today to govern Armenian communities in places like Iran and the Sudan.

At Goshavank students learned about the monastery where the Datastanagirk was written and participated in a blessing of jurists as well as a requiem at the gravesite of Mkhitar Gosh. Later all enjoyed refreshments, explored the site and played games with the local children.

AUA Law plans to make this an annual event.

Prof. Knuth held meetings with students and faculty in computer science at Yerevan State University, the State Engineering University of Armenia and at AUA. Dr. Knuth was accompanied on this visit by his wife, Jill Carter Knuth. During his visit to Yerevan, Professor Knuth received an Honorary Doctorate from the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.

Panel discussion led by Professor Alan K. Henrikson "The Large Diplomacy of Small States" and by Ambassador Stephen W. Bosworth "Changing Perceptions of the Far and Near East: Impact on Armenia and the Caucasus." more

On May 29, 2006, AUA's School of Political Science and International Affairs hosted a public lecture by Dr. Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi, Director and Founder of American Studies Institute at Al-Quds University and Jerusalem Studies and Research Institute, entitled "Big Dream Small Hope." Dr. Dajani has presented several papers on the Middle East conflict and its peaceful resolution in international conferences and seminars. During his lecture, Dr. Dajani described a peace vision for two historic enemies, Palestinians and Israelis. According to him, "Palestians and Israelis disagree over the peace issue because they view it in two diametrically opposed contexts." They view it "with different beliefs, interests and values in mind." However, as Dr. Dajani claims, this Middle conflict can be peacefully resolved "if both Palestinians and Israelis try to negotiate their differences rationally and sensibly, understand each other, [and] listen to each other's arguments." Moreover, this same mutual understanding will help to settle peacefully other similar conflicts.

In conjunction with the RA Court Judicial Training Center, AUA Law is conducting a series of 6-hour seminars for Armenian judges on the use of precedent in opinion writing. The recently adopted amendment to the RA Constitution, Art. 92, requires the court system to assure uniformity of court practice. The court system is exploring how to use precedent in opinion writing (stare decisis/jurisprudence constante) to achieve this goal. AUA Law Dean Tom Samuelian and Adjunct Professor Hakob Martirosyan are delivering the seminars in Armenian using extensive examples from US court decisions, including a case study of a recent, new precedent pronounced by a US federal appeals court. Thirty-five judges from the courts of first instance and appeals court took part in the seminars so far. One judge said, "The seminar and discussion gave practical insight into the precedent by litigants and judges." The first two seminars took place at AUA on May 15-18 and will continue next week and in the fall.

Premier presentaiton in Armenia (it was shown on a US TV channel, since the sponsor and the narrator Vazken Kaldjian, originally from Halep, lives in the US now). It is not a professional film but a video made in historical Armenia, covers Aintap, Tigranakert, Adana, Malatia, Kharberd, Erznka, Moush, Khorgom (Arshil Gorky's birthplace), lake Van, Akhtamar, rivers Tigris/Euphratus, mount Nemrut, etc.

"Distorted Melody - Jugha" by Argam Aivazian: A documentary video from the series of "Imprisoned Armenian Land" films dedicated to the historical, architectural and cultural values of Nakhijevan (In cooperation with Association of Accredited Private Universities and "Nakhijevan" Patriotic Union) and "From Ararat to Musa Ler" by Tigran Babayan (at AUA Large Auditorium)

The 100th anniversary of the founding of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the AGBU, was celebrated April 15, 2006, at a dinner dance in Yerevan with a group of AUA faculty in attendance. More than one hundred guests representing various projects and organizations sponsored by the AGBU in Armenia attended the event. During the evening, participants watched a live broadcast on Armenian public television, H1, of the first airing of a film about AGBU, starting with the history of its founding in Egypt on April 15, 1906, and focusing on the organization's many important projects in Armenia. The AGBU is one of the founding organizations of AUA and a major donor to AUA operations.

On April 13, 2006, the ACDO in cooperation with the World Bank organized a seminar on The Challenge of Global Integration: Domestic Response. more

APP students after the completion of 36-hour Web Design course created 8 final web projects which were inroduced during the presentation on March 18th in AUA Small Auditorium. There were 3 more invited participants from French University, ERIICTA and Sardarapat Ethnographic Museum. Web hosting company PSY-HOST (www.psy-host.com) sponsored a special prize for the winner - domain name and hosting services.
1st Place Winner: Artak Dabaghyan, Institute of Anthropology and Archeology, National Academy of Science. more

AUA Students Team & the Staff / Alumni Team - February 26, 2006

On Monday, February 20, 2006, AUA College of Health Sciences organized a forum titled "Potential Public Health Problem of Bird Flu in Armenia" in the Small Auditorium, AUA. Dr. Haroutune Armenian, the President of AUA and Dean of the College of Health Sciences led the forum. click for more photos

Yerevan – On October 31, 2005, the American University of Armenia hosted the 25-member delegation of the Armenian Assembly of America.

In the large auditorium the guests learned about the University's history, mission, academic and research programs, its importance in the future of Armenia. They visited the Papazian Library and the extensive English language class at a computer lab, and saw the model of the new addition of the University, the Paramaz Avedisian Building, currently under construction.

Accompanying the group was Peter Abajian, the Deputy Executive Director of the organization. The purpose of these visits is to have the members connect with their Homeland, to learn firsthand of the changes taking place in the republic, and to participate in its future development.