On November 28, a panel discussion was organized in the ISTC hall of Yerevan State University to talk about the books translated with in the first phase of the Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series project. The moderator of the panel was Naira Mkrtchyan, the Associate Professor of YSU Social Philosophy, Ethics and Aesthetics Chair. The speakers were Razmik Panosyan, the Director of Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Nazaret Karoyan, an art critic and a curator, the Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Harutyun Vermishyan, the Head of YSU Sociology Theory and History Chair, and Yeznik Mirzoyan , the Director of YSU Sargis and Mari Izmirlyan Library.
The purpose of the discussion was to present the activities of the Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series, the published books, and to discuss the importance of circulation of the translated books in universities, as well as their usage in the educational processes, and scientific activities.
Razmik Panosyan spoke about the importance of having the modern valuable philosophical works in Armenian and their application by various specialists and students dealing with the disciplines in humanities and using that knowledge for professional purposes.
Nazaret Karoyan, the translator of Michel Foucault’s work The Archeology of Knowledge published within the framework of the project, talked about the obstacles he encountered during the translation process and about the creation of new terminology in Armenian.
In his speech, Harutyun Vermishyan, the Head of YSU Sociology Theory and History Chair, once again highlighted the importance of modern philosophical works being translated into Armenian, because due to the lack of necessary resources, students are forced to look for such materials in other languages and then reproduce them in Armenian, which very often leads to inaccuracies.
The Director of the YSU library spoke about the functions of the library, the demand for books and the need to translate textbooks into Armenian.
You can watch the full video of the panel below (in Armenian).