Bilingualism: The Challenges and Benefits of Learning and Living in Multiple Worlds

Join us for a discussion on:
BILINGUALISM: THE CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS OF LEARNING AND LIVING IN MULTIPLE WORLDS

MODERATED by Dr. Anna Ohanyan, Richard B. Finnegan Distinguished Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Stonehill College

FEATURING
Dr. Lisa Gulesserian, Preceptor on Armenian Language and Culture, Harvard University
Dr. Vartan Matiossian, Executive Director, Armenian Prelacy of the Eastern United States
Dr. María Luisa Parra-Velasco, Senior Preceptor in Romance Languages & Literatures Harvard University

Soccer or Saturday School? Parents in diasporic communities routinely grapple with the challenge of carving out time for their children to engage with and experience their ancestral cultures. This panel discussion will discuss the value of bilingual education, looking at experiences of other ethnic communities in the U.S. and around the world, with a particular focus on the specificities of the Armenian experience, including the special challenges facing Western Armenian, which has been classified as an “endangered language,” the fruitful cohabitation of Western and Eastern Armenian, and the specific challenges of researching and teaching the Armenian language.

In recognition of the increased attention to these and related issues, portions of the St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School documentary “Armenian Bilingualism in America: Preserving Language & Identity” will be shown and copies of the volume Western Armenian in the 21st Century: Challenges and New Approaches, edited by Bedross Der Matossian and Barlow Der Mugrdechian, published by the Society for Armenian Studies, will be available for purchase.

CO-SPONSORS
Harvard Armenian Student Association
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research – NAASR / Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian Lecture Series on Contemporary Armenian Issues
St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School

Free and open to the public.