G.I. Gurdjieff Conference in Armenia September 17-20, 2025

Wednesday: September 17 at the Komitas Chamber Music Hall, 1 Isahakyan St, Yerevan (National Centre of Chamber Music)

7:30: Registration

8 p.m.: Opening Concert: Gurdjieff-de Hartmann Music in the Western tradition

Featured artists: Yleana Bautista de la Torre and Lusine Grigoryan (piano) and Yerevan Voices Choir directed by Hasmik Hovhannisyan

Tickets: Online https://www.tomsarkgh.am/hy/event/49617/

Or call 060-276-000

Thursday: September 18 at Yerevan State University

9:00am: Registration

Opening Session 10-10:30 a.m.

Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Rector of Yerevan State University (YSU)

Vahram Petrosyan, Director of the Institute for Armenian Studies, YSU

Shushan Karapetyan, Director of the Armenian Studies Institute, USC

S. Peter Cowe, Narekatsi Professor of Armenian Studies, UCLA

10:30-11:10: Opening Keynote Address: Dr. Roger Lipsey, (Gurdjieff Foundation, New York): “The Work and the World, Only he may enter here. . .” [prerecorded]

11:10-3:00: Panel 1: Gurdjieff and Religious Thought

Moderator: Prof. Vahram Petrosyan, Yerevan State University

11:10-11:40: Prof. Alexander Safaryan (Yerevan State University), Vahram Petrosyan (Yerevan State University), Arman Safaryan (Armenian-Russian University): “Grigor Narekatsi, Sufism, and Gurdjieff from a Middle Eastern Studies Perspective”

11:40-12:10: Dr. Joseph Azize (Dept. of Studies in Religion, University of Sydney): “The Surb Patarag (Holy Eucharist) of the Armenian Orthodox Church as Interpreted by Reference to Gurdjieff”

12:10-12:40” : Dr. Steven Sutcliffe (Dept. of Study of Religion, University of Edinburgh): “Gurdjieff and the Multipolar Guru Field: From West Asia to Europe”

12:40-1:40pm: Lunch Break

1:50-2:30pm: Second Keynote: Dr. Michael Pittman (Director of General Education, American University of Armenia): “Gurdjieff’s View of Education in Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson (Revisited)”

2:30-4:40pm: Panel 2: Gurdjieff and Science

Moderator: Dr. Robert Sukiasyan, Institute for Armenian Studies, Yerevan State University.

2:40-3:10pm: Dimitri Peretzi (Gurdjieff Foundation of Greece): "How Scientific is Gurdjieff's Science?" [prerecorded]

3:10-3:40pm: T.J. Clark (Neuroscientist, NJ): “Sacred Neuroscience”

3:40-4:10pm: Prof. Davit‘ R. Mosinyan (Dept of Philosophy, Yerevan State University): “Self-Designation as a Linguistic and Ontological Challenge”

4:10-4:40: Ani Bostanian (Los Angeles/Yerevan): “The Teaching of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff: A Fourth Way to Conscious Evolution by Fulfilling Being-Partkdolgduty”

4:40-5:00p.m.: Coffee Break

5:00-6:00pm: Panel 3: The Study of Gurdjieff’s Teaching in Russia

Moderator: Prof. Valter Berberyan (Department of Armenia Language, Yerevan State University)

5:00–5:30 Mikhail Koshubarov (Moscow Gurdjieff Group): “Gurdjieff's Fourth Way in Modern Russia”

5:30–6:00 Dr. Alexey Iskakov (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russian Academy of Sciences): “Meetings with Remarkable Men as an Allegory of Spiritual Work in the Teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff”

7:30-9:30pm: Screening of Michael Goorjian’s film “Amerikatsi” (2022)

Followed by Q&A with the director on the influence of Gurdjieff’s teaching on his work

2nd Day: Friday, September 19

Registration: 9:00-9:55: Registration

Exhibition of Gurdjieff Publications (YSU Main Library)

9:55-10:00: Introduction

10:00-10:40: Third keynote address: Prof. Carole Cusack (Dept. of Religious Studies, University of Sydney): “Gurdjieff and Modernity: Science Fiction as a Work Textual Technique” 

10:40-12:40: Panel 4: Gurdjieff and his Formation in Southern Caucasia

Moderator: S. P. Cowe, UCLA

10:40-11:10: Dr. Gayane Shagoyan (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Yerevan): “Gurdjieff’s Alexandrapol: Urban Humor and Cultural Habitus”

11:10-11:40: Prof. Elke Shoghig Hartmann (Institute of Ottoman Studies and Turcology, Free University of Berlin): “Gurdjieff and Kars”

11:40-12:10: Prof. Levan Khetaguri (Arts Research Center of Georgia, Gurdjieff Institute, Tbilisi): “Gurdjieff and Tbilisi”

12:10–12:40: Avetik Melik-Sargsyan (Gurdjieff Armenian Center, Gyumri): “George Gurdjieff’s Armenian Identity”

12:40-1:40: Lunch

1:40-2:10: Panel 4: Gurdjieff and the Arts

Moderator: Prof. Michael Pittman (Director of General Education, American University of Armenia)

1:40-2:10: Larry Rosenthal (composer, musicologist): “Gurdjieff-de Hartmann Music: Exploring Musical Theory” [prerecorded]

2:10-2:40: Prof. Lusine Grigoryan (Komitas Yerevan State Conservatory): “The Music of Gurdjieff/de Hartmann and Contemporary Musical Life in Gyumri and Tiflis”

2:40-3:10: Prof. Lilit Yernjakyan (Institute of Art of the Armenian Academy of Sciences): “Gurdjieff’s Music and its Near Eastern Context”

3:10-3:30: Coffee Break

3:30-5:25: Panel 5: The Gurdjieff Movements

Moderator: Dr. Anatolii Tokmantcev, Pázmány Peter Catholic University, Budapest

3:30-4:55: Film Screening: “Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff: The Seekers of Truth” by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky

4:55-5:25: Vergine Gulbenkian (Gurdjieff Foundation, London): “A Living Practice: Reflections on Working with Gurdjieff’s Movements”

3rd Day: Saturday, September 20

Final Session in the Black Fortress (Sev Berd), Gyumri, Armenia

3:30-4:10: Final Keynote Address: The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault: “G.I. Gurdjieff, Trinitarian Master”

5:00-6:30 Concert by the Gurdjieff Ensemble directed by Levon Eskenian with the participation of the Gyumri State Music Academy Choir; the concert will be free to attendees and open to the public