The defense of Tigran Aleksanyan’s dissertation took place at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography

On February 12, the first PhD dissertation defense of 2026 was held in the reading hall of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the NAS RA (IAE). At the session of Specialized Council 007 “Archaeology and Ethnography,” operating under the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Tigran A. Alexanyan presented his dissertation entitled “The Medieval Fortification of Berd Region.”

The session was attended by the Director of the Institute, of Historical Sciences, Arsen Bobokhyan, staff members of various departments, archaeologists, historians, students, and other guests. The meeting was chaired by the head of the Specialized Council, Corresponding Member of the NAS RA, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Pavel Avetisyan. The academic secretary of the Council was Arsen Harutyunyan, PhD. The dissertation was supervised by Dianna Mirijanyan, PhD. The official opponents were Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Hamlet Petrosyan, and Armine Zohrabyan, PhD. The leading organization was Yerevan State University.

The dissertation focuses on the study of medieval fortification structures and defense systems of the Berd region (formerly Shamshadin, later Tavush region, and currently the enlarged community of Berd), located in the northeastern part of the Republic of Armenia. During the presentation, Tigran Alexanyan outlined the general scope, aims, and objectives of the research, noting that it represents the first attempt to systematically study and present the medieval fortification monuments of the region, the available scholarly data, and previous research perspectives. The dissertation addresses the principles of construction of these monuments, their building phases, chronology, and historical development. It also introduces into scholarly circulation photographs, scale drawings, measurements, and a substantial corpus of archaeological materials uncovered during excavations.

Speeches were delivered by Pavel Avetisyan, Arsen Harutyunyan, Dianna Mirijanyan, the official opponents, and other scholars present. As a result of a secret ballot, all 9 members of the Specialized Council voted in favor of the dissertation, and Tigran Alexanyan was awarded the PhD degree.