Diaspora

Diaspora

The third Azerbaijani-American Scholarly Forum held in California

10 December 2008 11:19 (UTC +04:00)

Irvine. Husniyya Hasanova â€“ APA. The Third Azerbaijani-American Scholarly Forum (AASF’2008) was held at the University of California Irvine’s (UCI) Crystal Cove Auditorium on December 6th, 2008. APAâ€™s US bureau reports that the AASF’2008 program consisted of three main panels: "National Identity and Social Development", "Geopolitics, Diplomacy and Grassroots", and "Energy, Economy and Technology" and a special Regional Update panel.

Organized by the Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC) in collaboration with the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, AASF is a one-day conference, bringing together students and scholars for academic exchange on subjects related to Azerbaijan. Speakers Mr. Jason Katz of the Tool Shed Group, Professor Hakan Yavuz of the University of Utah, Ms. Aylin Cicek of the University of Southern California, Ms. Leyla Ismayilova of Columbia University and Dr. Javid Huseynov of AAC focused on the issues of national identity.

Professor Altay Goyushov of UCLA provided a historical overview of the ADR Foreign Office in celebration of its 90th anniversary. Ms. Lisa Grajewski of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) talked about the intergroup and interfaith dialog between AJC and other ethnic, religious and cultural groups in Southern California, including AAC. Mr. Elman Abdullayev of California State University Northridge gave a comprehensive presentation on the methodologies of grassroots influence upon the U.S. legislation. Dr. Adil Baguirov of US Azeris Network (USAN) introduced the U.S. Turkic Network (USTN), the first Turkic-American voter initiative to the audience, emphasized the importance of social networking in grassroots and announced the establishment of Turkica.com, the first Turkic social network.

The forum also focused on the war between Russia and Georgia, its causes and consequences. Dr. Svante Cornell of Central Asia and Caucasus Institute (CACI), in Washington D.C., Mr. David Soumbadze of CACI, Dr. Hakan Yavuz and Mr. Elin Suleymanov, the Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles made speech on this theme. Speakers specifically discussed the role of Russia, Turkey, the European Union and the United States, reviewed the perspectives of their further engagement in the region. The AASF program at UCI also featured a photo exhibition titled "The Progress of Beautiful Baku" by Mr. Colin Rosie and the new album titled "Flying to Baku" by the Azeri-American musician Fuad Javadov.