Current Year

Diaspora studies tends to emphasize a set of loosely shared commonalities across space and time. This international graduate student workshop leans the other direction, and instead asks: what can aspects of life that are not easily shared across a broader space teach us about the formation and maintenance of “diasporas,” premodern or modern?We invite graduate students and early career scholars (such as postdoctoral fellows within the first three years of completing a dissertation) to explore tensions and overlooked connections across the Armenian diaspora, as well as to envision fresh possibilities for writing local history against a broader geographic, cultural, or...

NAASR and the Belmont Public Library invite you to a reading of Armenian-American Tenny Arlen's posthumously published, bilingual book of poetry To Say With Passion: Why Am I Here? presented by her brother, Dr. Jesse Arlen.

The lecture and exclusive exhibition accompanying it examine the life and intellectual legacy of Garabed Kapikian (1864–1925), a prominent Armenian pedagogue, botanist, lexicographer, ethnographer, politician, and public intellectual from Sepastia (Sivas). The presentation first addresses Kapikian’s scholarly formation, pedagogical career, and political life and struggles, including his engagement as a key member of the Social Democratic Hunchakian Party, situating his work within the Late Ottoman intellectual milieu. Emphasis is placed on his pioneering contributions to Armenian natural history and linguistics, especially his botanical research and lexicographic documentation of the Sepastia dialect, which remain foundational sources in Armenian studies.  Central to...

Last month, at the behest of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI), Dr. Edita Gzoyan, was forced to resign. The reason stated by the Prime Minister was that Gzoyan had engaged in “a provocative act, contrary to the foreign policy pursued by the government” during U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance’s visit to the AGMI in February. The act in question appears to have been giving Vance a tour of the AGMI and presenting him with several publications relating to the Armenian Genocide and violence against Armenians in the early 20th century. In...

Notice: This event is now available on Zoom through the registration link above. Attendees may choose to participate remotely or gather in Father O’Connell Hall. Please note that Dr. Evans is unable to attend in person and will deliver her lecture via Zoom, with the presentation streamed to the Hall audience through the AV system. Domed churches, intricate sculpted images, elaborately illuminated manuscripts, gilded reliquaries, richly decorated textiles — Armenian art is the multifaceted visual voice of the Armenian people. It defines how Armenians view themselves, as well as the important role they have played over the centuries, and still...

Notice: this event is now being held via Zoom. Registration has closed. A recording of the seminar will be posted here at a later date. Domed churches, intricate sculpted images, elaborately illuminated manuscripts, gilded reliquaries, richly decorated textiles - Armenian art is the multifaceted visual voice of the Armenian people. It defines how Armenians view themselves as well as the important role Armenians played, and still play in the larger world over the centuries. Once studied primarily as a national tradition, this talk shows that Armenian art is also evidence of Armenia's importance to the world and its art.

The psalmic architecture of the Armenian Žamagirk‘ (Book of Hours) reveals the central role of fixed and responsorial psalmody in shaping the Daily Hours. Within this structure are preserved archaic strands of Christian hymnody embedded in scriptural recitation. While elucidating these elements, Bishop Findikyan will focus on psalm refrains and early liturgical adaptations likely reflecting Jerusalemite and other early traditions.

This seminar uses the Armenian marriage rites—from betrothal to crowning to post-crowning rites—as a case study in the practice of Eastern liturgiology. The focus is methodological: how to read liturgical texts historically, how to discern ritual stratification across manuscript and printed traditions, and how to integrate textual criticism, comparative analysis, and sacramental theology into a coherent interpretive framework. By examining the Armenian evidence in conversation with broader Eastern Christian sources, we will explore how liturgical study moves from text to theology to ecclesial application. The session aims not only to analyze a rite, but to model a disciplined approach to studying and interpreting ancient liturgical traditions in the service...

The compendium of the Armenian Church's Daily Services, the Žamagirk' ("Book of Hours") amounts to a spiritual autobiography written in psalms, hymns, and heartfelt supplications. In its pages resound the Christian faith, repentance, grief and gratitude of the Armenian people, and their longing for mercy and eternal life. This presentation introduces a new, complete translation that invites English-speakers into this sacred rhythm of faith and prayer, inviting them to enter and share in Armenia's living Christian worship.

Join us for an afternoon of storytelling and games in Armenian led by Ardemis Megerdichian.