Armenia: Exploring The Cultural Heritage of Eurasia with Dr. Nina Wieda
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Armenia, the first Christian state of human history, is hidden high in the Caucasus mountains between Iran, Turkey, and two post-Soviet states. Home to several UNESCO-recognized cultural traditions, Armenia carries its millennia-old culture into modernity.
Hidden high in the Caucasus mountains, Armenia is one of the oldest surviving nations in the world. The first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion, Armenia is home to its own Christian tradition and a unique church architecture inspired by the surrounding mountainous landscape. Its mystical musical tradition is recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. Armenia’s mountain slopes, crossroads, and churchyards are studded with ornate ancient cross-stones (khachkars) - another UNESCO treasure with a fascinating history.
In the 1st century BC, Armenia was the most powerful kingdom east of the Roman Republic and left its mark in world history and ancient chronicles. Noah’s Ark is said to have found its rest near the summit of Armenia’s sacred Ararat mountain. Throughout the centuries, Armenia developed its culture in dialog with the great civilizations of the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
Led by an expert on the Caucasus, Nina Wieda, this interactive seminar will introduce its participants to the fascinating cultural heritage of Armenia. Much smaller in size today, Armenia retains its ancient culture in the area nestled between Iran, Turkey, and the post-Soviet states of Azerbaijan and Georgia. Hidden away among some of the highest mountain peaks in Europe, Armenia remains one of the few surviving ancient cultures.
This conversation is part of a four-part series on Eurasian Culture with Nina Wieda. Each session is designed as a stand-alone seminar as well as part of a four-week series.
Armenia: Exploring The Cultural Heritage of Eurasia with Nina Wieda
Azerbaijan: At the Crossroads of the Continents with Nina Wieda
The Baltics: An Introduction to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania with Nina Wieda
Nina Wieda is a native of the Caucasus living in Chicago, USA. She holds a PhD in Slavic from Northwestern University and an MA in Nationalism Studies from Central European University. She worked as a newspaper journalist in the Caucasus and wrote her Master's thesis about the Northern Caucasus region. She teaches at Northwestern University near Chicago.
This conversation is suitable for all ages.
90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.
Armenia is a historic, beautiful and fascinating country and culture, which I knew very little about, and Nina Wieda is a simply wonderful presenter -- knowledgeable, articulate, expressive, very responsive to questions. The photographs in the presentation were very beautiful, the maps were helpful. I enjoyed the videos of traditional music and dance. I would have liked a few minutes devoted to the lives of everyday people, past and present, such as homes, farms, cities, role of women, etc. Also, since Armenia was once a large empire, and now is a very small country, there must have been many periods of conflict and war, most of which Armenia must have lost, no? The presentation did not touch on that at all.
Instructor provided a very broad introduction to the historical culture of Armenia.
Dr. Wieda provided an orientation to the geographic area and how Armenia got diminished in size over time, explaining why some of their historical artifacts are now located in other countries. I appreciated how she included some brief video clips so we could hear how the language sounds, see a traditional dance of men in the mountains, and hear the sound of a musical instrument that was typical. She also showed many gorgeous photos of Mt. Ararat and the churches and monasteries.
Dr Nina Wieda's enthusiasm and love for Armenia is very communicative. I am myself part of the Armenian diaspora (my family was established in France after the genocide, and we moved to the US 12 years ago), and today's expose did link together a lot of notions I had from family discussions. I now have a "whole picture" of Armenia, that articulates together history, religion, geography, culture and more. Thank you. Time to schedule that many times postponed trip.