ASA Symposium
Register Now! Join us at the 2023 ASA Symposium held at Stanford University!
Speakers. Networking. Connections.
The Assyrian Studies Association, in partnership with Stanford University's Humanities Center, is organizing the 2023 ASA Symposium from August 11-13, 2023. This year's theme is Formative History, Challenges, and New Directions. The 2023 program chairs, Alexandra Lazar (Assyrian Studies Association & University of California, Davis), Professor Sargon Donabed (Assyrian Studies Association & Roger Williams University) Professor Hannibal Travis (Assyrian Studies Association & Florida International University), Daniel Tower (University of Sydney), and Cynthia Yonan, look forward to your attendance. This event is open to the public.
Our Program
View our Tentative Schedule
Friday, August 11
(9:00am)
Continental Breakfast
Provided by Assyrian Studies Association
Welcome Remarks
(9:30am)
(9:45am)
Introduction
Helen Malko, Stanford Humanities Center
Sargon Donabed, Roger Williams University
(10-11:30am)
Roundtable Discussion
Status of Assyrian Studies as a Discipline
(11:30am - 1:00pm)
Lunch (on your own)
(1-2:30pm)
(2:30pm-4:00pm)
Panel
Panel
Modes of Cultural Preservation
Ethnographic Methodologies: Assyrian Folklore, Modern Culture, and Expressions
(4-5:00pm)
Artistic Event
Assyrian Prayer Bowl Archive Showcase with Esther Elia
(5-7:00pm)
Cocktail Reception
Cocktail reception sponsored by Lamassu Arak and Miner Family Wines
Saturday, August 12
Continental Breakfast
(9:00am)
(9:30-11:00am)
Panel Session
(11:00am-12:30pm)
Panel Session
Provided by Assyrian Studies Association
Social and Political Movements
Inclusivity and Acknowledgement: History and Policy
(12:30-2:00pm)
Lunch (on your own)
(2-3:30pm)
(3:30-4:30pm)
(4:30)
Panel Session
Assyrian Diaspora: Exploring Historical Expulsions, Resettlements and Contemporary Perspectives
Panel Session
Assyrian Struggle: Grievances, Genocidal Impact, and Marginalization
Break
(5-6:00pm)
Roundtable Discussion
Assyrian Identity in the Genomic Era: Lessons From History and Contemporary Usage
Preview Film Viewing of Assyrians in Motion with Ruth Kambar and Annie Elias.
(6-7:00pm)
Entertainment
Sunday, August 13 (TBA)
Sponsors
Thank You for your Support
The Center sponsors advanced research in the humanities and the interpretive social sciences by investing in experiences—fellowships, workshops, lectures, and other events—that enrich knowledge in and across the disciplines. Through a partnership with the renowned Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA), the Humanities Center embraces emerging digital methods to complement traditional kinds of analysis and interpretation. Together, the Stanford Humanities Center and CESTA serve as the hub of an international network of fellows, visiting scholars, students, and alumni
Roger Williams University is inextricably connected to Roger Williams, the 17th-century leader devoted to freedom of conscience and social justice who founded a community in Rhode Island based on those tenets. Roger Williams' philosophy, and what has been called his 'lively experiment,' nurtured the growth of vibrant and open societies. Our pursuit of excellence in education, academic accomplishment and community service is rooted in his focus on intellectual exchange, critical thinking, inclusiveness and innovation as a means of improving a free society. It is this legacy that inspires our core purpose.
Founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX, the University of Salamanca was Spain’s first institution of higher learning. By 1254 it had received acknowledgment from Pope Alexander IV as being one of the four great world universities, along with the universities of Oxford, Paris and Bologna.
The Nineveh Chair was created within the institutional framework of the University of Salamanca, founded in 1218, which since its inception has been creating over the years Extraordinary Chair with a relevant role in the transmission of knowledge concerning a figure or important culture. On the other hand, it has also been a secular objective to offer its spaces to welcome other cultures and spread the knowledge of them
Through research, seminars, debates, meetings with scholars, magistrates, journalists, artists, the Nineveh Chair will seek to promote knowledge of Assyria in its various socio-cultural and linguistic aspects. These activities will respond to a planning that will involve the various cultural, social and political institutions and associations present in the territory and will focus on current or historical issues.
The story of Lamassu Arak begins decades ago when co-founder Nahrain Kamber immigrated from the Middle East to the US in the 1980s. She was raised in the American Midwest. She grew her career as a Ph.D. chemist over the last 15 years as an industrial researcher. Her career mixed with her appreciation of fine wines, spirits, and food from around the world, helped to form the early iterations of Lamassu Arak. Historically unfamiliar to the US market, arak – a spirit with anise- has been familiar to the Middle East and the Mediterranean for centuries. Inspired by traditional family recipes and techniques from Nahrain’s ancestors in Northern Iraq, Lamassu Arak harmoniously balances the familiarity and the traditions of Middle Eastern arak in a refreshed, American craft-style offering.
The Assyrian Foundation of America (“AFA”) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, tax exempt organization registered in the state of California established to help needy Assyrians around the world, support Assyrian education, and preserve and promote the Assyrian language and culture. The AFA has no affiliation with any church or religious group, or any political group or organization.
Get in Touch
Assyrian Studies Association
P.O. Box 632
Woodland Hills, CA 91365
About ASA
The Assyrian Studies Association (ASA) is a nonprofit organization established in 2019 with a 501(c)(3) status. ASA is dedicated to promoting the academic study of the Assyrian heritage through supporting research, teaching, and intellectual collaboration among scholars in various fields, such as history, archaeology, cultural heritage, religion, language, literary studies, social sciences, arts and architecture, and law.
ASA recognizes the growing need to protect Assyrian culture and heritage, therefore created the Preserving Assyria program. This program consists of four initiatives: Heritage Archive, Oral History, Giving Back, and Educational Initiative. The aim of the program is to showcase the work of Assyrians in these fields and beyond, bringing them together to illustrate a vibrant, robust, and authentic experience of Assyro-Mesopotamian heritage.