Dr. Stella Gevorgyan-Ninness, adjunct professor of modern languages, presented a paper titled “Hübschmannarmenisch: German and European Influences on Early Soviet Orientalists” at the 38th annual German Studies Association Conference in San Diego.

In addition to presenting this research, Gevorgyan-Ninnes attended panels on Orientalism in the Balkans and the Habsburg Empire that coincided with and helped inform her current research on early Soviet linguists and Orientalism. After recently submitting an article to Kritika titled “Reflections on Said, Armenian Linguistics, and Russian Orientalism,” Gevorgyan-Ninnes learned at the conference that whether or not Edward Said’s book Orientalism is still needed is a burning issue among academics.