Artsakh State University (Armenian: Արցախի Պետական Համալսարան) was a university in Stepanakert. It was the oldest and largest university in the self-proclaimedRepublic of Artsakh, and it produced over 20,000 graduates in 60 fields of study over the course of its 50-year history.
At the time of its establishment, the university was called the Stepanakert Branch of Azerbaijan State Pedagogical Institute named after Lenin and had only two Chairs: the Chair of Language and Literature and the Chair of Mathematics. Education was conducted in Armenian, Azerbaijani, and later in Russian.
In 1973, the university got an independent status and was renamed into Stepanakert State Pedagogical Institute.
In the late 1980s, during the Karabakh movement, the institute became a centre of political activism among Armenian students and faculty.
As a result, classes at Stepanakert State Pedagogical Institute were temporarily suspended, and the university moved to Vanadzor Pedagogical Institute. After the Spitak earthquake of December 7, 1988, the university lecturers and students had to return to Stepanakert, as Stepanakert branch of Vanadzor Pedagogical Institute.
Artsakh State University
In October 1992, the Government of Armenia made a decision to merge the Stepanakert branch of Vanadzor Pedagogical Institute with Stepanakert branch of Yerevan Engineering University, renaming the newly established university into Artsakh State University, ASU.
In the 2008–2009 academic year, the university adopted a three-tier degree structure (bachelor's, master's, and doctoral studies) aligned with the Bologna Process, offering both full-time and part-time instruction.
Prior to 2023, the campus consisted of an administrative building and three academic buildings, housing five faculties with approximately 3,000 students and 50 doctoral candidates. The academic staff of 200 included 16 professors, 78 associate professors, 53 senior lecturers, and 15 assistants.
Educational centres at the university included:
Armenological Centre
Ethnographic Centre
Centre of Friends of Russian Culture
Knowledge Testing Computer Centre
Campus facilities included computer and science laboratories, an observatory, two gymnasiums, two conference halls, an assembly hall seating over 300, a library holding 100,000 print volumes and 40,000 digital volumes, and an in-house publishing unit that issued the Academic Bulletin, Armenological Magazine, and a monthly university periodical.
The campus included three canteens, a 250-room dormitory for students from outside Stepanakert and visiting faculty, and a memorial dedicated to 75 students killed during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.[citation needed]
Faculties and research
Artsakh State University was organized into five faculties housing 16 academic chairs:
Faculty of Natural Sciences
Faculty of Philology
Faculty of Pedagogy and Sport
Faculty of History and Law
Faculty of Economics
Faculty and students conducted research in political science, agricultural studies, and archaeology. Beginning in 2006, students and researchers from the university participated alongside an international archaeological team in excavations at Azokh, a prehistoric site noted for Neanderthal remains.
Study abroad and partner institutions
In 2011, in coordination with the US-based non-profit Artsakh Development Group, the university established a summer study abroad program with California State University, Dominguez Hills, hosting 12 to 15 students for courses on regional history, politics, and economics.
↑Nagorno Karabakh Republic Artsakh. Office of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the USA (Government of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic). Retrieved 18 February 2014.
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