ASA Symposium
Program Schedule
We are hosting an in-person Symposium at Arizona State University from October 24-26, 2025. The 2nd biennial Assyrian Studies Association Symposium is a great opportunity for academics and non-academics to gather and create valuable connections and research partnerships. We believe the in-person event provides an unparalleled opportunity for these events.
This is a ticketed event and prior registration is necessary. To learn more about registering, please visit this link.
Friday, October 24, 2025
[10:00am] – Welcome Remarks by Professor Günes Murat Tezcür, Director and Professor, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University.
[10:15am] – Welcome Address by Alexandra Lazar, Executive Director at the Assyrian Studies Association.
[10:30-11:00am] – Keynote Address by Onver Cetrez, Professor in Psychology of Religion, Uppsala University, and Board Member of the Assyrian Studies Association.
Panel Sessions:
- Panel 1 – [11:00am-12:30pm] – Navigating Identity Across Borders: Reflections on Diaspora and Youth
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Chair: Michel Shamoon-Pour
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Panelists:
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Nashie Shamoon, Deconstructing the Assyrian Identity from Within: Autoethnography, Positionality, and Reflexive Approaches to Youth Identity Formation Across Diaspora Landscapes.
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Eamama Daniyal, Memory, Migration, and Belonging: Diasporic Identity Formation among Assyrian Youth in Chicago in the Context of Contemporary American Politics.
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Sahika Karatepe, Assyrian, Nestorian and Chaldean Cultural Heritage in Anatolia.
- Panel 2 – [1:30-3:00pm] – Reimagining Heritage: Destruction, Boundaries, and Parenting Across Diasporas
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Chair: Sargon Donabed
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Panelists:
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Michelle Shamoell, The Assyrian Collective Identity Beyond the Destruction of the Assyrian Artefacts; A View from Down Under.
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Claire Ichou, Affirming, Troubling, or Crossing Boundaries: Narratives from Assyro-Chaldeans born in France.
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Robina Lajin, Parenting in Transition: Assyrian Families Navigating Child-Rearing in the German Diaspora.
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Michel Shamoon-Pour, Rediscovering Assyrian Identity as Genocide Survivors in the Era of Live-streamed Genocides.
Roundtable Sessions:
- Roundtable 1 – [3:15-4:45pm] – Spaces of Identity: Art, Institutions, and Political Representation
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Chair: Helen Malko
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Presenters:
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Shmuel Tamo, From Survival to Self-Expression: Artistic Memory and the Evolution of Assyrian Identity in Diaspora.
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Lawrence Makho, Assyrian Cultural Centers in Iraq after 1972.
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Abdulmesih BarAbraham, Dr. Davud Yusuf: The First Assyrian Representative in the Ottoman Parliament.
Evening Networking Reception – [5:00-7:00pm]
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This reception is only to those who pre-register. To register for the networking reception, select the option in the online registration. This reception is sponsored by the SeyFo Center.
Saturday, October 25, 2025
Panel Sessions:
- Panel 3 – [10:00-11:30am] – From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Performance: Exploring Cultural Heritage and Its Contemporary Relevance
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Chair: Önver Cetrez
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Panelists:
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Helen Malko, The Wisdom of Ahiqar and its Assyrian Past & Present.
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Eve Sada, From Inspiration to Performance: The Journey to Gilgamesh.
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Julye Bidmead, Ancient Assyrian Imagery and Mythology in Contemporary Culture.
- Panel 4 – [1:00-2:30pm] – Mobilizing Resilience: Assyrian Communities in the Face of Political Violence and Digital Innovation
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Chair: Nahrain Bet Younadam
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Panelists:
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Mary Isaac, Second-Generation Mobilization in the Absence of Threat: The Role of Parental Socialization.
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Alexandra Lazar and Shamiram Mako, Effects of Political Violence on Voter Turnout in Iraq.
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Jack Jendo, eAssyria: A Pilot Virtual Homeland in the eNations Initiative.
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Maureen Khoshaba, Quiet Displacement, Slow Erasure: The Low-Intensity Ethnic Cleansing of Indigenous Assyrians in the Pursuit of Ethnic and Territorial Uniformity in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
Roundtable Sessions:
- Roundtable 2 – [2:45-4:00pm] – The Assyrian Genocide in Secondary Education: From Curriculum Design to Implementation
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Chair: Günes Murat Tezcür
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Presenters:
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Timothy Langille, Advancing Education on the Assyrian Genocide: The Need for a High School Curriculum in Arizona.
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Volker Benkert, Educational Policy: The Arizona Task Force and the Approval of an Assyrian Genocide Curriculum.
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Erin Hughes, Historiography and Historical Memory: Pedagogical Considerations in Designing an Assyrian Genocide High School Curriculum.
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Kim Klett, Curriculum Design and Implementation: Efforts Thus Far in Arizona.
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Ramina Samuel, From Policy to Practice: Advocacy and the Implementation of Assyrian Genocide Education in Illinois.
Dinner Reception – [5:00-7:00pm]
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This dinner is only open to those who register. To pre-register for the dinner reception, select the option in the online registration portal. Space is limited. Please register before the symposium.
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Panel Session:
- Panel 5 – [10:00-11:30am] – Faith, Unity, and Sovereignty: Reexamining Assyrian Identity and
Inter-Religious Relations
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Chair: Julye Bidmead
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Panelists:
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Kelly Hannavi, A Spiritual Household: Approaching Community and Subjectivity of the Late Ottoman Syriac Orthodox.
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Candace Lukasik, 'Indigenous, not Christian': Secular Separations and Decolonial Sovereignty in Global Assyria.
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Önver Cetrez, “I didn’t take the vaccine – qit aloho bi’shmayo - there is a God in heaven”: A cultural psychological approach to the COVID-19 pandemic among Assyrians in Sweden.
Film:
- Film – [11:30am-12:30pm] – Return to Babylon
