YEREVAN.-  The Armenian Assembly’s 2011 Summer Internship Program (SIP) in Armenia is currently in its twelfth year. Since the program’s inception in 1999, seventy-four interns have participated, working in various government offices, media outlets, non-governmental organizations, and think-tanks.

This year’s intern class includes Anzhela Babayan and Ishkhanuhi Matevosyan from California, as well as Julia Madden and Tatevik Babayan from Massachusetts. Anzhela and Tatevik are interning at the Regional Studies Center (RSC), a Yerevan think-tank managed by well-known political scientist Richard Giragosian. 

While Ishkhanuhi is splitting her time between the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Economics, Julia Madden is interning in the National Competitiveness Council of Armenia.

Over the course of their two-month stay, interns will have the opportunity to visit places of interest throughout Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, meet with various government officials and important figures to discuss issues of concern, and also experience life in Armenia.

 Interns have upcoming meetings with His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians, the Armenian Minister of Defense, U.S. Charge D’Affaires, Armenia’s Ombudsman, and the Mayor of Yerevan, among others.

As part of their homeland experience, the interns are also afforded the opportunity to visit key historical and cultural sites, which have already included the Temple of Garni and the Geghard Monastery, as well as observing the Ani ruins from the Armenian-Turkish border.