The USC Institute of Armenian Studies will host a public program entitled Celebrity Diplomacy – Redefining Armenia’s Role in the Diaspora, to be held at USC’s Bovard Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, January 29, 2017, from 1 to 3:30 pm. Five celebrities and an equal number of political scientists will be on stage to speak about how elections and governance become responsive to a society’s needs, and the role of diasporas.
For Immediate Release
January 12, 2017
USC INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN STUDIES
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
Contact: Salpi Ghazarian, Director
Armenian@usc.edu
213.821.3943
The USC Institute of Armenian Studies will host a public
program entitled Celebrity Diplomacy – Redefining Armenia’s Role in the
Diaspora, to be held at USC’s Bovard Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, January
29, 2017, from 1 to 3:30 pm.
Five celebrities and an equal number of political
scientists will be on stage to speak about how elections and governance become
responsive to a society’s needs, and the role of diasporas.
“The idea originated when several notable artists and
other public intellectuals initiated a change.org petition entitled ‘Justice
within Armenia,’ which calls for open and fair governance, and open and
transparent elections in Armenia,” explained Salpi Ghazarian, director of the
Institute. “We thought there is so much here that we need to understand,
including how other diasporas interact with the homeland, how electoral
politics become credible and trustworthy, the role of public figures in public
discourse.”
The petition’s initial signatories were Vahe Berberian,
Atom Egoyan, Arsinée Khanjian, Eric Nazarian, Serj Tankian. They will all
participate in the program, together with social and political scientists who
will speak about electoral politics in Canada, Georgia and Mexico – three
recent examples of interesting electoral developments.
Armenia will hold parliamentary elections on April 2,
2017. For the first time since constitutional changes adopted a year ago, the
newly elected parliament will subsequently choose the prime minister who will
hold the country’s most powerful office, more powerful than that of the
president. This makes the April election even more consequential. Ghazarian said, “This election and this
petition come at a time when many countries in the world are grappling with the
challenge of responsive politics, so we are taking advantage of our position in
a major university to place Armenia’s challenges in the context of elections in
various places in the world.”
Additionally, this is the first time that individuals of
international renown have risked voicing public concern about Armenia’s
domestic issues. “These celebrities are passionate about the need to engage, so
that, as their petition says: ‘Armenia can become a country of opportunity,
creativity, democracy and hope in a region rife with turmoil. The alternative
is unthinkable.’ Celebrity diplomacy is an aspect of public diplomacy around
the world. And this is its initial appearance in the Armenian world. Their
engagement also presents an opportunity to better understand the modalities of
deeper Diaspora engagement and investment in a homeland’s future.
The petition initiators and civic leaders in Armenia
believe that a large civic movement is necessary to ‘own’ the election process,
monitor the vote, and impose fair selection of a parliament. Speaking about this
challenge, by skype, Attorney Vahe Grigoryan and Political Scientist Irina
Ghaplanyan will also be joining the discussion, together with Professor Anna
Ohanyan of Stonehill College, in Massachusetts.
The program’s moderator is Professor Robert English,
until recently head of the USC School of International Relations. Professor English specializes in the history
and politics of contemporary East Europe and Russia.
THE USC INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN STUDIES is committed to
supporting scholarship that address national challenges.
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About the Institute
The USC Institute of Armenian studies supports
exploration and study of the complex issues that make up the contemporary
Armenian experience. The Institute’s programming focuses on research and public
forums that probe the social, economic, and political challenges facing
Armenians in the Diaspora and the Republic of Armenia, and examine
post-Genocide life, memories, relations, and institutions.
# # #
For information:
3518 Trousdale Parkway
VKC 351; MC 0043
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0043
213.821.3943
armenian@usc.edu
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