On December 6^th, 2018, YSUIB Student Scientific Society (SSS) of the Faculty of Humanities in partnership with the Department of Armenian History and Social Sciences organized a discussion on “History of the Armenian State, Main Stages and Characteristic traits (1918-1920)” dedicated to the Historian’s Day.

The discussion was attended by lecturers of the Department of Armenian History and Social Sciences A. Azatyan, V. Poghosyan, Ph.D., Assistant N. Grigoryan, Assistant Professor of Tourism Management and Cultural Studies, Ph.D. L. Beginyan, students of different courses of “History” specialization.

Azatyan touched upon the difficulties of the statehood establishment, the patriotic activity of the great contributors, the stages of the short-term period of the republic and their peculiarities, noting that in the meantime, Prime Minister S. Vratsyan divided the history of the First Republic of Armenia in two stages: survival and creativity.

“Armenia was a small, poor country, full of hungry people and immigrants, and cholera spread in the country in autumn, and also a typhus, so it was a priority for everyone to save people from epidemics and starvation. Under such circumstances, a delegation headed by H. Kajaznuni was leaving for the United States to get help. In 1919, May, American aid came to Armenia, which was a salvation for us. Despite being poor, hungry and blockaded by the three sides, the Armenian government has managed to take steps aimed at making the newly created state closer to civilized values of time”, Azatyan emphasized.

It was shown that in the Soviet period quite a lot of realities created in the First Republic were attributed to the Soviet state. For example, the foundation of YSU, compulsory education.

It was such an impression as if the Bolsheviks brought compulsory education to Armenia.

It was indisputable that the elimination of illiteracy in most of the former Russian Empire was associated with Soviet Union, but it was mentioned that it did not refer to the Armenian reality, because Armenians always had an aspiration to get education. In the Soviet period, the fact that primary education in Armenia was introduced during the First Republic was ignored. At the same time, the state had an army, orphanage problem; so many schools became barracks, orphanages and hospitals because there were no ready-made buildings. And under such difficult conditions, the organization of the educational work was not ignored.

Later on, with the participation of lecturers and students (in particular, Mher Ghalumyan, Larida Ghazumyan and Shirak Gasparyan), a heated debate and discussion took place on the effectiveness of democracy and parliamentary system. Comparisons were made between the policies of the First and Third Republics of Armenia.

 On December 3, 2018,  Ararat Alikhanyan, coordinator of Tavush region World Vision Armenia youth programs had a meeting with YSU Ijevan Branch students.

During the meeting A. Alikhanyan presented the “The Young:  partner of Self-Governing Bodies” program to the students, which is implemented by the World Vision Armenia Ijevan Office in partnership with Ijevan municipality. It was underlined that the project became possible due to the EU project “For Youth, Skills for the Future” (2018-2020), implemented by the European Union in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine.

It was noted that the capabilities and knowledge of about 15 young people would be strengthened within the framework of the project in the spheres of advocacy, needs assessment and surveys, community planning and implementation, mechanisms in the decision-making process.

It was noted that the participation of young people in the decision-making process of the local self-governing bodies is low, confirmed by the results of the online survey on Facebook social network. 41.3% of the respondents think that the young does not participate and does not attach importance to decision-making at the community level, as he is not aware of the activities of local self-governing bodies. 29.3% of the respondents think that youth does not have the skills and knowledge necessary to work in partnership with local self-governing bodies and implement civic initiatives. The main problem is the ignorance of young people about the work of local self-governing bodies.

Alikhanyan underlined that the project participants would get necessary skills and knowledge on identifying community-citizen issues and strategies of solving problems, work with the council and develop a package of proposals for the Municipality of Ijevan for financing youth initiatives by the budget of Ijevan community. The program also complies with the RA State Youth Policy Strategy, which sets the factor of youth participation at social, civil and other levels as a priority.

WW Tavush Region Youth Program Coordinator added that the program was in line with the development program of Ijevan community of 2017-2021: a five-year program whose main goal is to activate the participation of residents in local self-governance through the introduction of new methods and forms of participation and gradual development.

The capacity development trainings will soon be launched for the newly formed group.

 On December 3, 2018, a  discussion entitled “Priorities of the Internal and Foreign Policy of the Republic of Armenia” took place at YSUIB, on the initiative of the head of  YSUIB library V. Poghosyan and Associate Professor of the Department of Armenian History and Social Sciences, Ph.D., G. Balasanyan.

The discussion was attended by the lecturers of the Department of Armenian History and Social Sciences, other members of the administrative and professorial staff of the University, and the students of  “History” specialization.

During the discussion G. Balasanyan touched upon the role of RA in internal and foreign policy, international relations and the problems of the political agenda. He drew the attention of the participants to the possible development of the Armenian-Azerbaijani and Artsakh-Azerbaijan border issues, tensions and military achievements of Azerbaijan.

He highlighted especially the position of Minsk Group Co-Chair countries regarding the maintenance and revision of the status quo in the settlement of the conflict and the establishment of peace. According to the speaker, the geography of the re-equipping of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and the recent purchase of the latest anti-aircraft defense equipment from France, could definitely break the balance of the armed forces. Touching upon the internal economic policy, it was emphasized that the state should directly control over the economic situation, create equal conditions for healthy competition, and apply export-oriented tools. During the discussion, the students and lecturers expressed ideas that could contribute to the economic development of Tavush region. Particularly, it was noted that launching or technological upgrading of industrial giant tools of Soviet times would promote the growth and development of human and labor resources of the region.

The head of the library V. Poghosyan expressed readiness to regularly organize such meetings that gives an opportunity to discuss topics that will develop students’ own thinking and worldview.

On December 1-3, 2018, within the framework of the grant provided by the RA Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, a seminar on “Rhetorical Skills Development” was held in Ijevan, the Youth Capital of Armenia, implemented by “Harmony” Psychology Public Development Center.

The seminar was attended by dozens of young people from Tavush region; the majority was YSUIB students and graduates.

The purpose of a rhetorical skill development training course was to contribute to the development of youth communication and public speaking skills. During the three-day intensive training, the young got acquainted with the nuances of rhetorical art, and methods of overcoming excitement and fear.

The seminars were conducted by Ashkhen Mkoyan, President of “Harmony” Development Center, YSUIB lecturer of the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology , psychologist, author of numerous books, Hrachya Amiryan, Managing Partner of “Mkoyan and Partners Law Firm”and expert Samvel Mkoyan.

The seminar was conducted through interactive methods; the participants strengthened their knowledge through practical exercises. The trainers tried to give as much useful knowledge as possible, which would really help to develop the skills of the participants.

The participants listened with great enthusiasm to all the speakers, presented their views and opinions, spoke about their impressions and knowledge.

On the third day, the participants performed speeches and demonstrated all the skills they had gained during the training course.

Ashkhen Mkoyan, President of “Harmony”, the program responsible, summarized the program with the following words: “Responses to our training course are very encouraging, and I am so happy in this connection. Seeing the vigorous aspiration and enthusiasm of youth, we are again convinced that such programs should be frequent. Congratulations to us and all the participants for the successful project”.

At the end of the seminar, the participants received certificates.

The program information partners were YSUIB Student Council, Tavush Region Youth Center, “Lucky Woman” Youth NGO and “Union of Creative Youth” NGO.