On February 21, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, Hayern Aysor’s correspondent sat down for an interview with Academic Programs Director of the AGBU Armenian Virtual University (AVU) Hasmik Khalapyan. In her interview, she stressed the fact that the AVU also fosters the preservation and dissemination of the Armenian language in the Diaspora, the solution to the key issues related to preservation of the Armenian identity and the strengthening of Armenia-Diaspora relations with its activities.

Hayern Aysor: When was the AGBU Armenian Virtual University founded? What is its mission?

Hasmik Khalapyan: The idea of creating the Armenian Virtual University (AVU) was conceived by the AGBU back in 2004. The AGBU assessed the need for such an educational institution and took relevant steps to turn the idea into a reality.

The first academic year of the AVU started in 2009. The goal of creating the University was to, first and foremost, touch upon the issue of preservation of the Armenian language in the Diaspora and be consistent with the dissemination of distance learning, which is becoming wider every day.

It was these circumstances that founding President of the AVU and member of the AGBU Central Board Yervant Zorian considered pressing when he decided to give an impulse to the teaching of Armenology through online education and the latest technologies. The AVU creates virtual classrooms for students who can’t attend Armenian schools and provides them with the opportunity to learn Armenological subjects through innovative methods and high-tech approaches. As an online project, the AVU is actually creating an online training community, consolidating all Armenians of the world in a digital environment and strengthening their cultural, educational and social ties.

The courses are eight-week courses, not counting week “zero” during which students get to know each other, learn about each other’s future plans and the opportunities that technologies have to offer. The courses are open to people between the ages of 14 (if the participant is not a participant of a “hybrid” course) and 83. There are many young people between the ages of 20 and 30. After finishing the courses, each student receives a certificate of completion. The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia has given us the authority to confer a Master’s degree.

We collaborate with Armenian schools and communities of the Diaspora through mixed (hybrid) education, which is a agglomeration of conventional and remote methods. By being in touch with the communities, we also address the issues of preservation of the Armenian identity.

For instance, due to close collaboration, we opened the AVU Laboratory in the Armenian community of Rostov-na-Don where our Russia-based compatriots gather and do their jobs. The courses also help enhance interpersonal relations and strengthen bonds within the Diaspora.

Hayern Aysor: How was the AVU recognized in the Diaspora following its creation?

Hasmik Khalapyan: Only after we stood on solid ground did we think about disseminating and popularizing the idea of the University in the Diaspora. Of course, the network of the AGBU was the first network that we relied on in this regard.

What was especially helpful and effective was our collaboration with the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia, and our collaboration continues. Minister Hranush Hakobyan was one of the first to express willingness to work with us and welcomed the idea of creating the University.

The young Diaspora Armenian participants of the Ministry’s “Ari Tun” Program also visit the headquarters of the Armenian Virtual University during their stay in Armenia. When they visit us, we try to connect them to Armenia and awaken in them the love for the Armenian language, as well as Armenian history and culture.

We also work with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia.

Hayern Aysor: What subjects are taught online?

Hasmik Khalapyan: In the beginning, there was only a Department of Armenian Language and History. Now, we also offer a course devoted to the history of Armenian culture, with its sections devoted to Armenian music and architecture.

When we found out that chess was included in the curricula of general education schools as a mandatory subject in 2012, in 2013, we teamed up with the Chess Federation of Armenia and started offering chess courses.

Following the developments in the global market, we expanded our “products”, the biggest one of which was the creation of e-books. As we all know, the use of electronic books is gaining momentum, and we can truly see the lack of electronic books in the field of Armenology.

The electronic books are devoted to a wide range of topics related to Armenia, including Armenian history and culture and tourism in Armenia. They also cover economy, politics, pop-culture and other current topics.

The AVU also has a series of multimedia books and offers courses devoted to Armenian language, history and culture in six languages, including Armenian (Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian), English, French, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.

With this, we want to help many Diaspora Armenians learn Armenian. We publish books in the mentioned languages, paying special attention to the publication of Western Armenian-language books and fostering preservation of Western Armenian.

Hayern Aysor: How many Diaspora Armenians have visited the Armenian Virtual University and from which countries?

Hasmik Khalapyan: The AVU has had over 10,000 students from 87 countries around the world, including the USA, Russia, Europe, Georgia, Latin America, the South African Republic and Venezuela. About 24,000 users have access to the AVU’s electronic books.

Hayern Aysor: Do you have foreign students who wish to learn Armenian and study Armenian culture and history?

Hasmik Khalapyan: The AVU also serves foreign students (7-8%), who have decided to learn Armenian through the latest methods for various reasons. Among them are many people whose spouses are Armenian as a result of mixed marriage.

I would like to share an interesting story. A Russian woman, who moved to Paris after getting married to a French-Armenian, followed our Armenian language courses so attentively and with such a high sense of responsibility that now she reads fairy tales in Armenian for her three children when putting them to sleep. There are also foreign students who write us letters in Armenian.

Hayern Aysor: February 21^st is International Mother Language Day. How does the AVU celebrate?

Hasmik Khalapyan: The AVU and its students always celebrate International Mother Language Day with great excitement. We urge them to think about preserving the purity of the Armenian language in a foreign environment and organize virtual journeys and other kinds of events for them.

This year, we have prepared a special video based on Silva Kaputikyan’s poem “Message to My Son”. Our students recite the lines of the poem in different countries and recite the whole poem together at the end.

Interview by Gevorg Chichyan