ASA Symposium
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.
Program Schedule
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 – [12:30pm-1:30pm] – Return to Babylon
Let's Work Together
Are you interested in volunteering at the 2nd Biennial Assyrian Studies Symposium? If so, we are looking for volunteers like you who can help us during the event! To learn more, click here.