PROF. GERARD J. LIBARIDIAN
Alex Manoogian Chair in Modern Armenian History
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (retired)
Curriculum Vitae
June 2015
BornJuly 1945, Beirut
Moved to the USJuly 1964
Marital StatusMarried to Professor Nora N. Nercessian
One daughter, Lorky N. Libaridian, M.D.
EducationPh.D. in History, University of California at Los Angeles.
Areas of specialization:
Armenia/Modern Caucasus
Modern Europe, Near East/Islam, Sub-Sahara Africa
I. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- 1997 - 2012
Professor of History, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Alex Manoogian Chair in Modern Armenian History (2001-2012, retired in 2012)
Director of the Armenian Studies Program, University of Michigan (2007-2012)
Member, Directors’ Council, Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia
(2009-2010)
Courses taught
History of the Armenian People
Conflict and Diplomacy in the Caucasus
The Third Republic of Armenia, 1990 to the Present through
Documents
Turkish-Armenian Relations Since the 19th Century
The Armenian Diaspora
Islam and Armenians
Nationalism of Small Nations
Narrating the “Nation,” Armenian historiography
Co-organizer, Workshop for Turkish Armenian Scholarship .
(WATS, 2002-20011)
Special Series Editor, Armenian Studies;Member, Board of Directors, Transaction Publishing, since 2010
Board of Directors and Corporate Secretary, the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus, (2006-2010), Chicago.
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Demokratizatsiya, a Journal of
Post-Soviet Democracy, Washington, DC.
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Turkish Policy Quarterly, Istanbul.
Member of the Editorial Board, Iran and the Caucasus, Yerevan.
Member of Editorial Board, Central Eurasian Survey, Tehran.
Visiting Professor, Sabanci University, Istanbul, May 28-April 5, 2001,
Graduate Program on Conflict Resolution
Visiting Lecturer, International Institute for Caspian Studies, Tehran,
July 14-28, 2001, mini-course on Conflict Resolution
Consultant on Caspian Projects, International Research
and Exchanges Board, Washington, DC (1998-2000)
Senior Research Fellow, EastWest Institute, NY (1998-2000)
Lecturer, writer, consultant on the Caucasus and conflict resolution
- 1991-1997: Service in the government of the Republic of
Armenia
1.POSITIONS
1991 January - 1991 October: Founder and Director, Department for Research and Analysis of Parliament (Supreme Soviet), Armenian SSR
1991 November -1994 September: Advisor to the first President of the independent Republic of Armenia
1993 March - 1994 September: First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
1994 October - September 1997: Senior Advisor to the President of the Republic for foreign andsecurity policies
Ambassador-at-Large with rank of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador, Special negotiator
Secretary and Member, Security Council of the Republic of Armenia
- NEGOTIATIONS/OFFICIAL AND NON-OFFICIAL/WORKING VISITS
Afghanistan, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Iran,
Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia,
Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United
Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan.
UN, EU, OSCE, World Bank, IMF
3. POLICY PAPERS ON REGIONAL CONFLICTS AND COOPERATION, SECURITY AND STABILITY IN EUROPE, AND ON THE CIS, THE SOUTH CAUCASUS AND THE MIDDLE EAST, PRESENTED AT:
Annual Meeting of Non-Aligned Nations, 1993,Cairo
Conference sur la Pacte de Stabilité en Europe, 1994, Paris.
Center for International Relations, Copenhagen
Institut Français des Relations Internationales, Paris
The Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), London
Institute for International Relations, Buenos Aires
The Carnegie Endowment for Peace, Washington, D.C.
Union des Jeunes Européens (European Union), Paris
US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C.
Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government
Bilkent University, Institute of Foreign Affairs, Ankara
Columbia University, New York
American University of Armenia, Yerevan.
C. 1969 TO 1991
1. TEACHING/1973-1987
(In History Departments, unless otherwise indicated)
Institutions
1987Tufts University/Experimental College (Visiting Associate
Professor)
1986University of Massachusetts, Boston (Visiting Associate
Professor)
1985University of Pennsylvania (Visiting Associate Professor)
1979-1981University of La Verne (Associate Professor, Chair of
Department of Armenian Studies)
1978University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington (Teacher
Education Program, Lecturer)
1977Rutgers University (Visiting Lecturer, Armenian Studies
Program)
1976University of Southern California (Visiting Lecturer,
Anthropology Department)
1976California State University, Los Angeles (Lecturer)
1975Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles (Lecturer)
1973-4The University of California at Los Angeles, (Teaching Ass't)
(1969-1971Editor, Asbarez semi-weekly, Los Angeles)
Main Courses taught
Western Civilization, European History
Comparative Studies in Fascism
Religion and Politics in Sub-Sahara Africa
Armenian History, Political Institutions, Diaspora
2. ACADEMIC: OTHER (1982-1990)
Editor, Armenian Review (Quarterly), Boston (1983-1988)
Director, Armenian Archives, Boston (1982-1988)
Co-founder, Director, Zoryan Institute for Contemporary Armenian
Research and Documentation, Cambridge, Mass. (1982-1990)
3. MISCELLANEOUS
Member, Council, Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Tel-Aviv,
(until 2000)
Member of Board, Center for Armenian Studies, University of Bochum, Germany (until 1998)
Founder and Member (until 1996), editorial Board, and co-founder, Diaspora, A Journal Of Trans-National Studies, Oxford University Press, currently based at the University of Toronto
Member of Doctoral and Masters' thesis committees for students at
the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, University of
Toronto, Temple University, Rice University, University of Geneva, Boston University, Tufts University, Western Michigan University, University of Michigan, inhistory, anthropology, religion studies, political science.
- MAJOR LECTURES/PAPERS/CONFERENCES/
SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS
- 1997-2015
“Historical Agency and Eternal Victimhood: Do Armenia and Armenians Matter in History,” UCLA conference on the 100th Anniversary of the Genocide, April 2015.
“The Armenian Genocide and the Politics of Denial and Recognition,” panel at California State University, Long Beach, April 2015.
“Revisiting Turkish-Armenian relations,” New Histories for Enduring Conflicts Conference, Carnegie Endowment for Peace, Eashington DC, January 2015.
“The History of Imperial Politics and the Politics of imperial History,” Cambridge University, June 2014.
“The South Caucasus after Ukraine,” at Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, Tbilisi, June 2014.
“South Caucasus Regional Development: Challenges and Risks after 20 Years of Independence,” Tbilisi State University, June 2014.
Open Forum Lecture Series, March 2014, Yerevan (in Armenian)
«Պատմաբանը որպես խոհարար պատմության խոհանոցում» (The Historian as a Cook in the Kitchen of History)
«Ապագան կանխատեսելն հեշտ է։ Անցյալի կանխատեսումն է որ դժվար է» (The Future is Easy to Predict; It Is the Past That is Unpredictable)
«Պատահական դիւանագետ. Պատմաբան, յետոյ դիւանագետ,ու հետո նորից պատմաբան. Ինչն է փոխվում» (Incidental Diplomat. Historian, then Diplomat, Then Historian Again, What Changes?)
“A Reassessment of Relations Between Turkey and Armenia since Independence,” Tufts university, April 2013.
“Mkrtich Khrimian: Revolutionary Traditionalist or Conservative Revolutionary?” MESA Annual Meeting, New Orleans, October 2013.
“Ideology and Reality: Hnchakian Paradoxes at Birth,” Los Angeles, November 2012.
“The Forging of the Future of the Caucasus: The past 20 years and Its Lessons,” Baku, June 2012.
“From Historian to Diplomat,” University of Michigan, November 2012.
“The Armenian Genocide in Perspective,” lecture to World History Workshop, University of Michigan, December 4, 2010.
“Russia, Turkey and Armenia: The Second Round,” lecture in Southfield,
Michigan, October 9, 2010.
“Human Rights and Civil Society,” Mid-West Workshop for Teachers,
August 6, 2008, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
“Kosovo and Karabakh,” Second Workshop on the Impact of Kosovo and
the Georgia-Russia War, May 8-9, 2010, Geneva, Switzerland.
“Remembering fort Self, Remembering for History,” Holocaust/Genocide
Day annual lecture, EWayne State University, April 20, 2010.
“Bridges Hrant Built and Armenian/Turkish Relations,” Memorial lecture,
University of Chicago, April 12, 2010.
“Assessing Scholarship on Turkish/Armenian Relations,” Workshop VII on
Armenian/Turkish Scholarship,: March 4-6, 2010, University of
California, Berkeley.
“Opportunities Gained and Lost: The South Caucasus, 1988/9-1998/9,
Conference of the 9’s, Weiser Center, University of Michigan, December 3-5, 2009.
“Turkish/Armenian Understanding and Reconciliation Workshop II,”
Princeton University, October 28-30, 2009, co-organizer.
“NATO in the Post-Soviet World,” Friedrich Neumann Foundation
seminar, Yerevan, Armenia, 2008.
“Minorities in the Middle East,” University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2008.
“A Challenge for the Present: How to Think of the Past When Thinking
about the Future,” Wayne State University, April 20, 2007.
“Pipelines, Peace, and Politics: The BTC and Conflict Resolution,”
Conference on Energy and security, Aleksandrine University, February
2007, Helsinki, Finland.
“Report on WATS (Workshop for Turkish Armenian Scholarship.”
“The Armenian Church and Political Parties,” University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, 2006.
“Politics, Peace, Pipelines,” paper presented at Seventh Annual Conference of Central Eurasian Studies Society, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, September 2006.
“Levels and Forms of Turkish/Armenian Dialogue: The Role of Scholarship,” paper presented at a symposium on Armenian-Turkish Dialogue and the Direction of Armenian Studies,” the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, Boston, September 2006.
“Reinterpreting the Armenian Genocide,” Facing History and Ourselves Workshop, Detroit, October 2005.
“Reinterpreting Turkish/Armenian Relations,” Haigazian University (Beirut), September 2005.
“What Was Revolutionary about Armenian Revolutionary Parties,” paper presented at Fourth Meeting of Workshop for Armenian/Turkish Relations, Salzburg, April 2005.
“Paradoxes in Security Concepts and realities in the South Caucasus,” paper presented at Workshop on Caucasus Security, organized by the Ebert Foundation (Germany) in Yerevan, Armenia, April 2005.
“What Questions Should We Be Asking Today?” paper presented at Colloquium on: Wanted for the Future: Clarification! Armenians, Turks, and Europe in the Shadow of World War I, held at the University of Basel, Switzerland, May 2005.
“Tracking State, Nation, and Democracy Building,” paper presented at Conference on Contemporary Armenia, Columbia University, March 2006.
“Conflict and Confrontation in the South Caucasus,” Center for Russian and
East European Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, February
2004.
“Integration or Isolation: The Foreign Policy of Armenia,” NY, January
2004. (Public lecture)
“Central Eurasian Political Development and Stability: Effects of
International and Regional Actors,” paper presented at Annual Meeting of the Central Eurasian Studies Society, Harvard University, October 2003.
“The South Caucasus in Transition,” Conference on the South Caucasus,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey and Galatasaray University,
June 9-10, 2003, Istanbul, Turkey.
“The Role of Institutions in Armenian Studies,” NAASR Conference on the
State of Armenian Studies, Belmont, Mass., October 2002.
“Civil War and Civil Peace: Democracy and Security, a Conference on
Security and Insecurity in Central Asia and the Caucasus,” Yale University, Center for the Study of Globalization, September 19-21, 2002.
“Conflicts and the Caucasus since September 2001,” NGO seminar (Baku),
June 2002; Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, Georgian Institute for Public Administration (Tbilisi), Ebert Foundation Seminars (Yerevan), July 2002.
“The European Union and Caspian Energy,” EastWest Institute Workshop
in Brussels, June 2002.
““Turkey-Armenia Relations since 1991,” paper presented at the Second Meeting of the Workshop for Armenian/Turkish Scholarship, held at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, March 2002.
“The Impact of 9/11 on the Caucasus,” Annual Conference of the Institute
for Political and International Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Tehran, December 2001.
“Perspectives on the Resolution of Regional Disputes,” TESEV Conference
on Stability in the Caucasus, Brussels, October 2001.
“The Economics of Conflict in Nagorno Karabagh,” at Workshop on the
Political Economy of Civil Wars, Stanford University, August 2001.
“Nagorno Karabagh and International Mediation,” UN Workshop at the
International Peace Academy, Vienna, July 2001.
Seminar on Armenia and the Caucasus, Foreign Service Institute, US
Department of State, May 2001.
Commentator, “Multiple Silences of Prejudice: Turkish Locations,”
University of Michigan, April 2000.
“Security in the Caucasus,” Chun-tu Hsueh Lecture, IREX, DC, April 2000.
“Conflict Resolution in the Post-Soviet Era: The Case of Nagorno
Karabagh,” University of Michigan, University of Columbia, University of London, February-March 2001.
“Re-Thinking the Past, Re-Imagining the Future,” Turkish-Armenian
Historians’ Workshop, University of Chicago, March 2000.
“An Assessment of Armenia’s Path since Independence,” UMAF, Paris,
February 2000.
“Why is the Nagorno Karabagh Conflict Not Resolved,” presented at School
for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University,
December 2000.
“The Caspian Region and the Problem of Definition,” Kennedy School of
Government, Harvard University, conference on “US-Russian Relations: Implications for the Caspian Region,” October 2000.
“Armenia’s Foreign Policy,” IPIS, Tehran, October, 2000.
“Conflicts and Regional Policies,” IICS, Tehran, October 2000.
“Politics, Economics, and Culture in the Caspian region: Iran’s Role,” IREX
executive Seminar, Istanbul, October 2000.
“Identifying Opportunities for Cooperation in the Caucasus,” at EastWest
Institute Workshop, Istanbul, June 2000
“Re-Imagining the Past, Rethinking the Present: The Future of
Turkish-Armenian Relations,” at Conference on Turkish-Armenian relations sponsored by the President of the French Senate (abridged version), June 2000; full version at Workshop on Turkish-Armenian relations at the University of Chicago, March 2000.
“Regional and Sub-Regional Security in the South Caucasus,”
at EWI-ARI Movement conference in Istanbul, June 2000.
“Security Pacts Affecting the South Caucasus in the context of
International Security Concepts,” Ebert Foundation seminar in
Yerevan, June 2000.
“Nagorno Karabagh and Nation/State Building in Azerbaijan and
Armenia,” Roundtable on the south Caucasus, Association for
the Study of Nationalities, April 15, 2000 Columbia University.
“Regional Dynamics,” at conference on “Re-Orientations, Internal
Transitions, and Strategic Dynamics,” organized by the National
Intelligence Council, April 5-7, 2000, Airlie, VA.
“The Great Game and the Nagorno Karabagh Negotiations,”
at Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University.
“Re-imaging the Past, Rethinking the Present: The Future of Turkish-
Armenian Relations,” University of Chicago, March 2000
“A Perspective on the Nagorno Karabagh Peace Process,” at World Bank, Washington, DC, February 2000.
“An End to Conflict in Karabagh? Perspectives of Two Peacemakers,”
with Vefa Gulizade, at Open Society Institute Forum at Brookings
Institution, Washington, DC, February 2000.
Series of three seminars for faculty and graduate students on comparative
conflict resolution and one public lecture at Stanford University, February 2000.
“Early Responses in the South Caucasus: The case of Javakheti,” EWI
Workshop I, Tbilisi, October 1999; Workshop II, Brussels January 2000; participant.
“Conflict Resolution in the Post-Soviet Era,” at IREX, Washington, DC,
December 1999; at JFK School of Government, Harvard University, November 1999; at California State University, Los Angeles, May 1999.
“Armenia: Crisis or Opportunity,” at Open Society Institute, NY; at
JFK School of Government, Harvard University, November 1999.
“Roundtable on Armenia,” US State Department, December 2000.
“International Forum on Energy and Environmental Issues in the
Caspian Region,” sponsored by the International Institute for Caspian Studies, September 1999, Ramsar, Iran; participant.
Experts' Conference, “Succession and Long Term Stability in the
Caspian Region,” JFK School of Government, Harvard
University, October 1999, participant.
“Coping with Conflict Resolution,” at UNDP Workshop on “Beyond
Transition: Ten Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall,” The Hague, October 1999.
Workshop on Regional Cooperation, sponsored by IREX, Istanbul,
June 1999; participant.
“A Caspian Conundrum: US Policy in Conflict with Itself,” at
conference on geopolitics of Energy development in the Caspian Region: Regional Cooperation or Conflict,” organized by CISAC, Stanford University, May 1999.
“Boundaries Without Barriers: The Role of Sub-Regional Relations
in the Eurasian Space,” EWI Workshop in Yerevan, March 1999; participant.
“Armenian National Identity in Flux?” at forum organized by SAIS,
John Hopkins University, May 1999.
“Ethnic Conflicts in the Transcaucasus: Territorial Integrity versus
Self-Determination?” at conference on “The Caspian Labyrinth: Negotiating Security and Prosperity” organized by the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, March 1998.
“Change and Continuity in Armenia Today,” Berkeley Program in
Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, University of California at Berkely, March 1998.
“Why and How to Promote Regionalism in the CIS,” Roundtable
discussion at conference on “International and Regional Legal Institutions: Opportunities, Risks, and Strategies for Transitioning Economies,” conference organized by the Georgian Consulting Group and the Stanford Program in International Legal Studies, Tbilisi, July 1998; participant.
“Armenia's Foreign and Security Policies in the Caucasus, at conference
on “Conflict in the Caucasus: Yesterday and Today,” organized by the
department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, May 1988.
“Regional Politics: Conflict or Cooperation,” at conference on “Caspian
Pipelines: Building Solutions,” organized by the Cambridge Energy Research Associates in DC, December 1998; participant.
B. TO 1990
Major papers presented
“The Question of Karabagh in the Context of Soviet Nationalities
Policy in the Caucasus.” (1990)
“The Question of Karabagh in the Context of Reforms in the USSR.”
(1989)
“Understanding Recent Armenian History.” (1989)
“Computerization and 'High Tech' as Ideology of Economic
Development in Soviet Armenia.” (1989)
“Turkish and Armenian Views of the Genocide and of
Turkish-Armenian Relations.” (1989)
“The Political Function of 'New' Economic Development Plans in
Soviet Armenia and in the Armenian Diaspora.” (1989)
“Glasnost, Nationalities Policy, and the Question of Karabagh.” (1988)
“The Politics of Armenian Studies in the Diaspora.” (1988)
“The Civil War in Lebanon and the Armenian Community.” (1988)
“The Democratic Movement in Armenia.” (1988)
“Conflict and Change in Armenian Society.” (1987)
“The Politics of Ethnicity in the Ottoman Empire.” (1987)
“Change and Continuity in Diasporas.” (1987)
“Armenian Political Thought in the 1980's.” (1987)
“Religion and Politics in the Context of the Armenian Question.”
(1985)
“What is Wrong with the Study of Armeno-Turkish Relations?”
(1985)
“Revolution and Violence in Armenian Society, 1883-1982.” (1982)
“Armenian Perceptions of Their Recent Past.” (1982)
“Revolution and National Liberation: Problems in Armenian Political Thought.” (1980)
“Peasant Rebellion in Ottoman Armenia.” (1980)
“Soviet Armenia.” 1979.
Presented at
Annual meetings of the Middle East Studies Association
(UCLA, USC, Columbia University)
Annual Meetings of the American Historical Association
(University of Michigan, San Francisco)
Annual Meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of
Slavic Studies, Washington, DC.
Kennan Institute for International Relations
Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (Denver)
Harvard University: Institute of Politics, Russian Research Center,