Interview with the postgraduate student from the University of Federico II of Naples, Italy

From February 28th to May 27th, 2022, within the framework of Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility Program, the ISEC hosted the postgraduate student from the University of Federico II of Naples, Italy, Carmine Urciuoli, who has been studying the coexistence issues of vulnerable groups in Armenia. His scientific supervisor was Z. Hayryan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Head of the Master's Degree Program in Tourism Management of the ISEC NAS RA, who introduced him to the peculiarities of domestic tourism, current problems, and development tendencies, as well as the coexistence of vulnerable groups and the established culture in Armenia.

Below we are presenting the interview of Lilit Adamyan, Head of the Public Relations and Career Department of the ISEC NAS RA, with Carmine Urciuoli.

- Please, introduce yourself in a few words.

- My name is Carmine, I am currently attending the Doctoral School in Social Research and Statistics at the Department of Social Sciences of the Federico II University of Naples, Italy. My research project aims to study cohabitation and cohousing as a welfare system. By training I am a sociologist with a background as a computer analyst and programmer. My main sociological research interests concern digital transformation (and the gap and literacy); gender inequalities; social inclusion. The areas where I mostly apply my work are the study of the territory and of tourist phenomena.

- How did you hear about the ISEC NAS RA? Why did you pick to attend this university?

- My research tutor pointed me to the International Scientific-Educational Center of NAS RA and the ISEC as an excellent place to carry out a field experience. I also had friends who in recent years have been in Armenia to carry out research in other fields, geologists, archaeologists, linguists. It is a custom of my Department of Social Sciences to carry out field experience abroad in the context of institutional courses (bachelor's and master's). As part of the PhD program, this is mandatory. The suspension of field activities due to the pandemic had dramatically stopped these experiences and this certainly caused delays in our research. For a researcher and a scholar in any discipline I think it is essential to "look out" in a field that is not one's own.

- What kind of support is offered to international students here?

- At any time of my stay here, I was able to count on the support of the offices and the extremely helpful people of the International Relations Office of ISEC NAS RA. I could not have met better people from a not only professional but also a human point of view. If I can, this is also an opportunity to thank (in alphabetical order) Anna, Arus, Ella and Lilith, and also the staff of the library, the university restaurants (at the headquarters and also the very kind people at Doctors), and all the people that I met. Shat shnorhakalut’yun!

- What was your experience like?

- I alternated field studies with qualitative methods (meetings, interviews, participant observation, flânerie explorations of places, etc.), with theoretical studies on Armenian history and culture, on the current state of society that emerges from the statistical data processed by national and international institutes. Since Yerevan is not Armenia and Armenia is not Yerevan (and it is the ratio of each capital to each nation), I carried out explorations in cities far from the capital where I lived and worked, also to be able to compare rural cultures with the more urban ones. I also visited Georgia, and met Armenians from Artsakh, to have the opportunity to place the Armenian uniqueness within the Caucasus.

- What did you love most about the International Scientific-Educational Center?

- I went to the library a lot, which is a very efficient and organized service. Occasionally even the university canteen. I have also been able to visit and attend other NAS RA Centers and other services that have high standards.

- How do the values here align with your goals and what you're hoping to gain from your study experience in ISEC? Did it meet your expectations?

- A premise. I deal with innovative and experimental topics and I profess a discipline that is very difficult to practice: everyone does and can do sociology; it is very difficult to use scientific methods to do sociology. When I arrived here I was ready to be able to align my goals to a different field than mine. Initially I had thought of several research hypotheses: on tourism; on digitization processes, that seem more advanced. Also, with my tutor's suggestions I realized almost immediately that the required times should have been longer and I don't have unlimited resources. And then I focused on more specific topics.

- What research are you working on? What current issues have caught your interest in your study?

- Compared to the research hypotheses that I had formulated at the beginning of my stay here, I started working in the field of inclusion of marginal subjects. I could count on enough time and my previous skills. And I was fascinated by the study of the mechanisms that are activated here in social contexts for the inclusion of people in difficulty. This study was possible only by being physically here, Armenia has special characteristics that are very precious and interesting for a social researcher. I have carried out numerous interviews and am about to complete the creation of two questionnaires translated into Armenian and Russian. I hope to be able to make some publications that first can be somehow useful. And I hope in any case that our worlds can be closer and closer, starting from the enhancement of the common cultural elements that certainly exist between Armenia and Italy (and between Armenia and the southern countries of Europe).

- What was one part of Armenian culture that you were excited to experience?

- Well, it would take too much space to list everything and it wouldn't be polite to summarize either as I would definitely omit some important things. I could say, as a tourist: the breathtaking landscapes, the extraordinary cuisine, the ability of every Armenian to make you feel at ease. But I am not (only) a tourist. And I would like to answer using three adjectives: resilience, hospitality, values; and the lines of a poem by Paruyr Sevak: "We are few, but we are called Armenians / We do not put ourselves above anyone / Simply our fortune has just been so different […] See, centuries have come and centuries have passed / Yet over no one have we become tyrants / If we have enslaved, only with our eyes / And if we have ruled, only with our books / If we have prevailed, only with our talents / And if we have ever oppressed, it has only been with our wounds".

- What would you wish for other international students?

- Choose Armenia and the International Scientific-Educational Center of NAS RA with your eyes closed, whatever your research area. Be inspired by people and places. Share your values with those you will find here. You will surely come back enriched with knowledge and motivated. And perhaps you too could aspire of saying to yourself even a little Armenian.

The Public Relations and Career Department of ISEC of the NAS RA