Reimagining the Armenian Diaspora-State Relationship, a panel discussion
Armenia is going through profound and rapid changes, from its fast-developing economy to evolving social norms, and a renewed political agenda. These changes are happening without any general consensus, both inside and outside Armenia, on the country’s roadmap for the next ten, let alone fifty years.
What is the role of the diaspora in this landscape? How can more of the diaspora engage more with Armenia?
This panel discussion will explore the relationships between the diaspora, those living in Armenia, and the state. The speakers will bring elements of context to examine an ever-evolving diaspora.
This event is held in collaboration with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and The Armenia Project, a non-profit educational organisation that bridges the communication gap between Armenia and the international community.
This event is also part of Heritage of Displacement: Oral Histories from the UK Armenian Communities (2023–2026), funded by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, thanks to National Lottery players.
This is a hybrid event.
Speakers:
Vicken Cheterian is a lecturer in history and international relations at the University of Geneva. He is a former journalist, having published extensively in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Die Wochenzeitung, Al-Hayat, Le Monde diplomatique, etc. He is a regular contributor to Agos. He is the author of War and Peace in the Caucasus, Russia's Troubled Frontier (2009), Open Wounds, Armenians, Turks and a Century of Genocide (2015), and currently he is writing a book on the Armenian Diaspora.
Razmik Panossian is the Director of the Armenian Communities Department at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon (since 2013). He obtained his PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also taught. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars, and various other academic publications on Armenian identity, politics and diaspora. He has worked in the field of international development and human rights in Montreal and New York.
Sossie Kasbarian is a Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Stirling, and the Dumanian Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at the University of Chicago in 2026. She earned her doctorate from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She has worked at the University of Edinburgh, SOAS, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva), the University of Lancaster (England), and the American University in Cairo. Sossie is co-editor (with Talar Chahinian and Tsolin Nalbantian) of The Armenian Diaspora and Stateless Power: Collective Identity in the Transnational 20th Century (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury 2023); co-editor (with Anthony Gorman) of Diasporas of the Modern Middle East: Contextualising Community (Edinburgh University Press 2015) and author of numerous journal articles and book chapters. She is currently working on a monograph entitled The Armenian Middle East - Remnants, Resilience and Reconfigurations. Sossie is co-editor (with Talar Chahinian and Jo Laycock) of Diaspora – a journal of transnational studies.
Tatiana Der Avedissian is the chair of the Armenian Institute’s board of trustees. She is a communications and sustainability expert based in London. She is head of business development for the World Ocean Initiative at The Economist Group and leads her own consultancy, advising organisations on strategic communications, business development and sustainability strategy. Tatiana is the co-founder of Temis Fractal, an organisation helping female-led startups navigate and ‘hack’ the investment ecosystem. She has advised the G7 Women7 and G20 Women20 on climate and gender policy recommendations and continues to champion gender equality and environmental action globally. Tatiana serves on several nonprofit boards in the UK and internationally, including as co-founder of The Armenia Project, co-president of the Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Alumni Network, co-president of Alkionides UK, chair of trustees of the Armenian Institute and a board member of the UK-Cyprus Enterprise Council. She has also lectured on ethics and politics as a guest professor.
Erica Payet is Programme Manager at the Armenian Institute. She is an art historian with a PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, where she specialised in the history of photography and photojournalism, the arts from the Middle East, and the relationship between war and visual culture. She studied art history at Ecole du Louvre, Paris, and an MA in Cultural and Creative Industries at King’s College, London. She has over twelve years of experience working in the art market, the non-profit cultural sector and teaching art history and theory at university level.
