Principles of charity and the accompanying values. The ideological causes of AGBU’s creation. Areas of charity and investments: long-term and short-term programs. Education as a primary area of charity. Attempts of establishing social equality. The historical path of collaboration between the AGBU and the Armenian Apostolic Church.

• Speaker: Marina Mkhitaryan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The character of giftedness and the methods of its identification. Non-synchronous psychological, mental and physical development of gifted children. The phenomenon of savantism. Psychological issues accompanying the development of gifted children and the peculiarities of their parenting. The necessity of a special pedagogical approach.

• Speaker: Tatevik Abrahamyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The notions about the essence of work in the article “Homo Laborans” by American psychologist Albert Thompson. Work and rest. Religious and philosophical perceptions of work. Incentives to love or hate the work, to be motivated and be disinclinated. The role of professionalism and social status in getting job satisfaction. Prognoses of job prospects.

• Speaker: Anush Manucharyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Crystallization of identity through the documentary film genre. Methods of brief and symbolic representation of national identity in a film. The urgent need for documentation of historical and cultural heritage in the Republic of Armenia and neighboring countries. The documentary film as an ambassador of Armenia on international platforms.

• Speaker: Nare Tadevosyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The aspect of social support that is related to human identity and values. The social service worker as an immune cell of a society. Overcoming the fatigue, despair and  difficult psychological experiences in social work. Beneficiaries of social service and its partner structures. Types of support. The borrowing of the essential principles of social service from the early Church.

• Speaker: Ogita Ghukasyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The geographic boundaries of national identity. The infiniteness of the spiritual connection with historical homeland. Symbolism of Mount Ararat. The deep study of certain provinces of historical Armenia. The nature and historical-cultural monuments of the Armenian Highland. Knowledge of homeland in the RA and beyond its borders.

• Speaker: Gevorg Petrosyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Social network as an arena for expression and realization of identity. Real and virtual egos. Satisfaction of psychological needs in virtual reality. Influence of virtual communication means on personal features. Violation of public and private spaces. Impact of information flows on human consciousness and emotions.

• Speaker: Anna Arakelyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Formation of national perceptions in education system, family, and society. The influence of networked environment and globalism on national consciousness. Distortion and exaggeration of national perceptions. Nationalistic pathos and empty patriotism. The necessity to form civic consciousness and objective perception of history lessons. The voice of national consciousness in the hearts of the young generation.

• Speaker: Mehri Ghazaryan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The main characteristics of Armenian identity as reflected in the essay “The Armenian” by Derenik Demirchyan: David of Sassoun; Christian identity; absence of state mentality; national complexes. Gevorg Emin’s “Astonishing Armenian.” Mixing up the historical and real homelands. The problem of the knowledge of homeland in the poem “The Armenian and Armenians” by Rafayel Patkanyan.

• Speaker: Artur Atanesyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Roger Hart’s Ladder of Participation. Fallacious manifestations of depriving the youth of their own voice and initiative: manipulation, decoration, tokenism. Essential provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and their implementation in Armenia. Manifestations of parental and educational despotism; factors that affect adolescents’ activity. Youth involvement in public life through volunteering, youth NGOs, and non-formal education.

• Speaker: Marine Mkhitaryan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The dreams, visions and traditions that lead nations and define their identity. The vision of St. Gregory the Illuminator. Charents and Teryan’s dream of the Country of Nayiri. Henry David Thoreau: “There are whole nations ... without fancy or imagination.” Plato’s dream of a country ruled by philosophers. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech that reflects the vision of the just society.

• Speaker: Arpine Melkumyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Uncoordinated nature of culture and civilization. Constantly recurring cycles of the history of Armenians. Generation of the future from the perception of the past and present. The vision of the society and authorities about the nation and state. The past, present and future identity issues of Armenian people. The future educational and social tactics.

• Speaker: Marina Mkhitaryan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Philosophical and religious perceptions of love. Completion of human identity through love, and unification with God. Love as a “holy foolishness” and an “active human power.” Building of a society on the basis of brotherly love. Selfless and sacrificial love. Christianity as a belief system entirely built on love.

• Speaker: Arman Gharagulyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The three central ideas in Aristotle’s “Economics”: family, economy and society. Significance of family in Armenian mentality and the modern transformative processes in family. Economic skills and financial literacy. Necessary human qualities for building a healthy society.

• Speaker: Artur Atanesyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The example of the culture as well as the national and religious self-perception of Sassoun’s converted non-Christian and Arabic-speaking Christian Armenians. The Christian faith and Armenian language as pillars of Armenian identity. The “Arabic” identity invented for the purpose of survival. The strong community ties and isolated life of Sassoun Armenians in Turkey.

• Speaker: Sofia Hakobyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The psychological preparation of servicemen in conditions of modern weapons and combat strategies. Formation of a fighting spirit and building an army. Leadership in armed forces. Interrelationship between the fighting spirit of soldiers and the state of society. National factors strengthening the fighting spirit of the Armenian army.

• Speaker: Svetlana Baghdasaryan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Is nature human-centered? The human being as the crown, protector, and cultivator of creation. The problem of society’s poor ecological awareness; the necessity of changes related to the system of values. Eco-educational programs. The young generation as a locomotive of global ecological movement. The network of NABU Armenia’s volunteers and ambassadors.

• Speaker: Lusine Aghajanyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Holy Week as the climax and finale of the Great Lent. Relationship between ecclesiastical and folk rituals. Folk celebrations of Palm Sunday and Easter. The communal and family nature of the folk rituals in patriarchal lifestyle.

• Speaker: Hasmik Baghramyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The Mshakutamet youth initiative and propagation of culture in marzes. Strengthening of the cultural borders of Armenia as a goal. The untiring “cultivator” of culture. The significance of the notion of “for the sake of something” in culture and in education system. "To make a gift of culture is to make a gift of thirst" (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “Citadelle”).

• Speaker: Jemma Manukyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Loss of identity in the example of the Turkification of Armenian children in the years of the Armenian Genocide. The methods of shaping a “new human” that were employed in Turkish orphanages and adopted by the Nazi Germany. The silent struggle of Armenian orphans to preserve their identity. Hamshen Armenians’ partition into three groups with different perception of identity.

• Speaker: Shushan Khachatryan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan