Events

The Centre of Western Armenian Studies and Ghent University are delighted to present this year's Taniel Varouzhan Annual Lecture, which will be held at Ghent University.

Prof. Andrei Zorin will explore the enduring cultural myth of the "true tsar" in Russian history - a figure believed to lead the nation from disaster to triumph. The talk will conclude with a reflection on Vladimir Putin as a contemporary embodiment of this powerful myth.

In this talk, held on the occasion of the publishing of his book on the subject, professor David Lewis of the University of Exeter will explain how Russia seeks to subjugate and ‘re-format’ the occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces through a mixture of violent repression, political engineering, collaborationism, economic coercion and propaganda.

Yerofeyev, whose novels include the infamous "Russian Beauty" (1990) and "The Good Stalin" (2004), began work on his "horror comedy" before the war, but did not publish it until October 2024. On 13 February, the writer will be in Ghent to talk about the role of culture and literature in contemporary Russia.

Abkhaz, Armenians, Azerbaijani and Georgians have long co-existed in a region framed as the South Caucasus. These different ethnic categories result from socio-political constructions that are rarely questioned. Playing a pivotal role in the wars that have unfolded in the region, ethnic categorization is particularly central in shaping current antagonizations

Konstantine Eristavi’s research explores the link between neoliberal reforms and authoritarianism in post-Soviet Georgia. Mainstream accounts wrongly assume that authoritarian practices are somehow accidental to the neoliberal project implemented in the region.