Diasporas are often understood and studied in relation to homelands, specific localities and exiled or migrant communities. The main objective of this one day conference is to critically engage with the notion of diaspora as bounded place – with a particular agenda to unpack the diversity of its meanings for the people living in diasporic settings. As increasingly more migrant communities “demand” the diaspora title (and the number of diasporas proliferate), the conference will aim at discussing what the two terms “diaspora” and the “diasporic” share in common, and whether they constitute alternatives to each other. In doing so, however, the conference does not seek redefinitions. Instead, the papers engage with what the “diaspora does” at an everyday level by going beyond renaming “what it is.”

There will be two sessions in the conference. All papers will be presented in English. Each session will be followed by 30 mins discussion.

Session I on Armenian diaspora(s)

Session II on non-Armenian diasporic contexts.

The conference is organized by Aykut Ozturk in collaboration with the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of NAS RA, Hrant Dink Foundation and Gyumri Youth Initiative Centre within the the Turkey-Armenia Fellowship Scheme, which is implemented with the support of the UK Government's Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.