During the second half of 2019, NAASR and the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies received the largest ever number of requests and issued the most grants to scholars around the world since the beginning of their partnership in 2007. The following recipients received grants during this period (July-December 2019).
Nora Bairamian, graduate student, Columbia University, Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia University, travel grant to conduct research for MA thesis, “Reassessing the Legacy of Mkrtich Khrimian.” Grant issued by NAASR.
Sargis Baldaryan, Ph.D. student, Armenian History Chair, Yerevan State University, travel grant to access manuscripts for preparation of critical text of 17th century trade manuals of Constant of Julfa. Grant issued by Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Emre Can Daglioglu, Ph.D. student, History Department, Stanford University, travel grant to conduct archival research for doctoral thesis “‘Unintended Fatalities’: Armenian Victims of the Pontian Genocide.” Grant issued by NAASR.
Prof. Salah Mahgoub Edris, Faculty of Arts, Dept. of Oriental Languages, Cairo University, travel grant to conduct research for research/translation project on the Armenian-language version of the Story of the Seven Sages and Sinbad, known in Armenian as Patmutiwn kaysern Pontsianosi ew knojn ew ordwoy norin Diokghetianosi ew eotn imastasirats. Grant issued by Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Dr. Danny Fittante, visiting scholar, Center for Advanced Studies in Sofia (CAS), grant to support fieldwork for research project “Armenian Mobilization/ Intermediation in Contemporary Romania.” Grant issued by Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Stas Gorelik, Ph.D. student, Department of Political Science, George Washington University, travel grant to conduct focus groups in Armenia for dissertation covering comparative analysis of Armenia’s Velvet Revolution, Moldova’s anti-corruption protests in 2015-16, and Ukraine’s Euromaidan. Grant issued by NAASR.
Khachik Grigoryan, Managing Director, Ankyunacar Publishing (Yerevan), grant to support compilation, translation, and publication of the Armenian full text of “Commentary on the Epistle to Hebrews” by Cyril of Alexandria. Grant issued by NAASR.
Onnik Kiremitlian, PhD student, Oriental Institute of the Catholic University of Louvain, travel grant to participate in the 18th International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford, August 19-23, 2019, presenting paper relating to Armenian-Syriac cultural relations, “Newly-discovered gems from Syriac literature: Armenian translations of Syriac works by Marutha of Tagrit.” Grant issued by Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Dr. Sergio LaPorta, Haig and Isabel Berberian Chair of Armenian Studies, CSU Fresno, and Dr. Allison Vacca, Associate Professor of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, grant to support inclusion of maps in forthcoming new English translation and edition with an introduction and commentary of the Historical Discourse (Patmabanut‘iwn) of Łewond, to be published by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Grant issued by NAASR and Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Dr. Khatchig Mouradian, lecturer, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department (MESAAS), Columbia University, travel grant to participate in the 2019 Special Session of “Lessons and Legacies” conference in Munich, Nov. 4-7, 2019, to present paper “Unarmed and Dangerous: Resistance in Holocaust and Genocide Scholarship.” Grant issued by Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Sona Nersisyan and Lusine Tanajyan, researchers and PhD students, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA), travel grant to present joint paper “Diasporic Identity and Cross Cultural Issues” at 17th International Polish Sociological Congress, 11-14 September in Wroclaw, Poland. Grant issued by NAASR.
Dr. Milena Oganesyan, Research Associate, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., travel grant to conduct research in Los Angeles for publication project on American theater and film director Rouben Mamoulian’s Armenian heritage as it relates to his art. Grant issued by Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Dr. Janice Okoomian, Assistant Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, Rhode Island College, grant to support translation and transliteration of interviews with staff and clients of women’s resource centers in Yerevan and other areas for planned academic publication. Grant issued by NAASR.
Dr. Hayk Paronyan, Associate Professor, Regional Autonomous University of the Andes (UNIANDES), Ecuador, travel grant to participate in Central Eurasian Studies Society 20th Annual Conference, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., Oct. 2019, to present paper “Political crisis in Armenia in 2018: Reasons and Consequences.” Grant issued by Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
James Robins, author and journalist, grant request to support travel and source material acquisition for forthcoming book project “When We Dead Awaken: Australia, New Zealand, and the Armenian Genocide.” Grant issued by NAASR.
Dr. Lusine Sargsyan, Junior Researcher, Matenadaran (Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts), and visiting lecturer at Chair of Armenian Art History and Theory, Yerevan State University, travel grant to participate in 12th International Congress of South-East European Studies, September 2019, in Bucharest, Romania, presenting paper on the codicological, paleographic, iconographic and stylistic analysis of the Armenian Gospel, copied in 1354 in Surkhat' (Crimea), in the session entitled “From Ani to Romania: History, Tradition and Iconography.” Grant issued by NAASR.
Dr. Alvard Semirjyan, Associate Professor, Faculty of Armenian Philology-Chair of Theory of Literature and Literary Criticism, Yerevan State University, travel grant to participate in Surrealisms 2019 (2nd Conference of the International Society for the Study of Surrealism [ISSS]), University of Exeter, August 2019, to present paper “Surrealism in Contemporary Armenian Art and Literature.” Grant issued by NAASR.
Dr. Ani Shahnazaryan, Senior Researcher, Matenadaran (Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts), travel grant to participate in Digital Armenian Conference at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris, October 2019, to present paper on “A digital critical edition of Aghvesagirk.” Grant issued by Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Dr. Khachatur Stepanyan, Chair of History of Armenia, Armenian State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan, travel grant to conduct research in the ARF archives in Watertown, MA, fall 2019, for project “The Activity of the ARF in Soviet Armenia, 1921-1933.” Grant issued by NAASR.
Sipana Tchakerian, PhD candidate in archaeology, University of Paris 1–Panthéon Sorbonne, Labex RESMED, and University Aix-Marseille, travel grant to carry out field research in Armenia and Georgia for thesis “Les monuments crucifères à stèle quadrilatère d’Arménie et d’Ibérie orientale de l’Antiquité tardive au haut Moyen-Age.” Grant issued by Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Grant Deadlines and Academic Committee
All relevant grant proposals are reviewed four times per year (March 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15) by NAASR’s Director of Academic Affairs Marc A. Mamigonian and the NAASR Academic Advisory Committee, currently consisting of Prof. Kevork Bardakjian, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Prof. Valentina Calzolari, University of Geneva; Prof. Michael J. Connolly, Boston College; Prof. Bedross Der Matossian, University of Nebraska; and Prof. Christina Maranci, Tufts University.
Guidelines for potential applicants are available online at https://naasr.org/pages/grants-academic-outreach. Questions and inquiries can be directed to Marc Mamigonian at marc@naasr.org.