On September 19-23, 2024, the Armenian-Austrian autumn school “Re-searching our local heritage” was held. The autumn school was organized in cooperation with the „Interdisciplinary Armenian Cultural Heritage Studies“ 23RL-6A006 remote laboratory (with the support of Higher Education and Science Committee) of the IAE, NAS RA, the YSU Ijevan branch, the Armenian Studies Division of the Center for the Study of the Christian East, University of Salzburg, Austria, and the Blue Shield Armenia. The 5-day autumn school consisted of theoretical lectures and practical fieldwork.

The school was attended by the students of the faculty of history and department of tourism, YSU Ijevan branch, as well as two students of Salzburg University. The lectures were read by Jasmine Dum-Tragut, director of the Center for the Study  of the Christian East of the University of Salzburg in Austria, head of the Armenian studies division of the center, and principal  investigator of the „Interdisciplinary Armenian Cultural Heritage Studies“ lab of the IAE, NAS RA and Haykuhi Muradyan, lecturer at the Department of Cultural Studies, YSU, and co-instigator of the „Interdisciplinary Armenian Cultural Heritage Studies“ lab.

Fieldwork began on the second day of the autumn school.

On the first day of the practical fieldwork, the students visited the Jukhtak Monastery with Jasmine Dum-Tragut and Haykuhi Muradyan, and got acquainted with the architectural structure and history of the monastery.

On the second day of fieldwork, Tigran Sargsyan, a researcher of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, and Seda Grigoryan, a co-founder of the „Blue Shield Armenia“, joined the group. The group visited Makaravank. After getting acquainted with the interesting aspects of the architecture and history of Makaravank, Tigran Sargsyan presented the specifics of the archival work to the students, after which the students conducted several interviews, among them also with the priest of Makaravank, Father Arshavir.

On the third day of fieldwork, the team members of the „Interdisciplinary Armenian Cultural Heritage Studies“ lab Hamazasp Abrahamyan, Anush Safaryan and Artyom Ananyan joined the group. The group continued fieldwork in Arakelots Monastery. Before that, the group had a meeting with the administrative head of Acharkut community. They were introduced to the monastery and some remains of the medieval settlement of Arakelots: the oil mill, the caravanserai, and the Sranots bridge.

During fieldwork, students were able to apply theoretical knowledge about researching cultural heritage in practice. They acquired the necessary skills for reading inscriptions, recognizing types of khachkars and church architecture. Seda Grigoryan, co-founder of the „Blue Shield“ Armenian Committee, gave the students introductory information about the international network for the protection of endangered heritage, which has been operating since 1974 under the mandate of the Hague Convention. The school was implemented with the support of the „European Heritage Hub“ program of the European Heritage Protection Association „Europa Nostra“ funded by the European Union.

The last day of the autumn school was spent in Aghavnavank, where, after summarizing the most important aspects of the autumn school, the students were awarded with certificates.