2026 edition of Orbeli International Oriental Studies Summer School held in St Petersburg

The international Oriental studies program, named after renowned Armenian Orientalist Hovsep Orbeli, Founding President of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, is organized through cooperation among leading centers for Oriental studies in Armenia and Russia: Yerevan State University's Faculty of Oriental Studies, St Petersburg State University's Faculty of Asian and African Studies and Moscow State University's Institute of Asian and African Studies. The summer school aims to promote Hovsep Orbeli's scholarly legacy and strengthen international academic cooperation.

Welcoming remarks at the opening ceremony were delivered by the heads of the co-organizing institutions: Mikhail Piotrovsky, Dean of the Faculty of Asian and African Studies at St Petersburg State University, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and General Director of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg; Ruben Melkonyan, Dean of the YSU Faculty of Oriental Studies, Doctor of Historical Sciences and Professor; and Alexey Maslov, Director of Moscow State University's Institute of Asian and African Studies, Doctor of Historical Sciences and Professor. 

Reflecting on the significance of the occasion, Professor Melkonyan said: "The summer school carries forward the warm and friendly academic traditions established and passed down by previous generations of Orientalists. At the same time, it pays tribute to the memory of the great scholar Hovsep Orbeli, thanks to whom bridges continue to be built between peoples and generations to this day." 

Referring to the school's name, Academician Mikhail Piotrovsky emphasized that it fully reflected the essence of the initiative: "Hovsep Orbeli often noted that Oriental studies is a science that teaches us to examine cultures from two perspectives: one's own people and that of another." 

Held from July 1 to 8, the 2026 edition of the summer school brought together 40 students and PhD candidates in Oriental studies from the organizing institutions. Over the course of the week, participants had the opportunity to explore current areas of research in Oriental studies, ranging from manuscript heritage and comparative studies to contemporary geopolitical processes and methodological issues in the field. 

Lectures were delivered by leading scholars from Armenia and Russia. Professor Ruben Melkonyan, Dean of the YSU Faculty of Oriental Studies, and Varuzhan Geghamyan, Associate Professor at the Chair of Turkology and PhD in History, addressed a range of topics relating to the history of the Ottoman Empire, contemporary Turkey and regional developments in the South Caucasus.   

Professor Alexey Muraviev of Moscow State University spoke about Syriac and Armenian manuscripts from Central Asia, as well as the alphabets of the medieval Caucasus and Middle East. Professor Efim Rezvan, Chief Researcher at the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented the history of the formation of the museum's Oriental studies collections. Lectures on methodological issues in contemporary Oriental studies were delivered by Professor Victor Bocharov of St Petersburg State University, and Professor Alexey Maslov of Moscow State University.   

Alongside the school's academic program, participants took part in study visits to scientific, educational and cultural institutions of particular importance to Oriental studies, including St Petersburg State University, the State Hermitage Museum, the Kunstkamera, the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Museum of the History of Russian Oriental Studies.  

The summer school concluded with a formal certificate presentation ceremony at the State Hermitage Museum.

Next year's edition of the Orbeli International Oriental Studies Summer School is scheduled to be held in Moscow.