News

Have you wondered about the meaning of the exquisite Eternity sculpture created by acclaimed artist Michael Aram and featured in the Eternity Garden in front of NAASR's new building? Cast and fabricated in bronze, this site specific 7 foot by 7 foot sculpture was a gift of the artist on the occasion of the opening of the NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building in November 2019. The Eternity sculpture is Michael Aram's interpretation of a traditional Armenian symbol of eternity as manifested in ancient Armenian architecture, sculpture, and manuscripts. The "Arevakhatch," or "solar cross" has been prevalent in Armenian culture since medieval times, and...

What a spectacular year NAASR has had — opening our magnificent new Vartan Gregorian Building with elements of Armenian culture and history incorporated into every aspect, and hosting a sold-out crowd of nearly 500 at our inspiring 65th Anniversary Gala! We thank the entire worldwide community for making this dream a reality in 2019 and look forward to an even more active 2020!  We count on you to keep the momentum going in NAASR’s exciting new era. Please donate today to advance Armenian Studies and build a global community for the next generation.

World-renowned opera singer Isabel Bayrakdarian will perform songs of Gomidas and Sayat Nova at the sold-out Gala of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, MA, on Saturday, November 2, 2019. A versatile opera singer, and concert and recording artist, Ms. Bayrakdarian has performed to great acclaim with the premier orchestras of the world and will be celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Gomidas (1869–1935), the priest, musicologist, and choirmaster, with her performance at the NAASR Gala. Accompanying her will be the Borromeo String Quartet, one of the most important string quartets of our...

NAASR/Knights of Vartan Grant recipient Dr. Ani Shahnazaryan recently presented a paper on the project “A Digital Critical Edition of Aghvesagirk” at the Digital Armenian Conference organized by the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, the Association pour le Traitement Automatique des Langues (ATALA, Paris), the Calfa Association (Paris), and the French Society for Armenian Studies, with the support of the Laboratory of Excellence EFL (Paris), on October 3-5, 2019. Dr. Shahnazaryan is a Senior Researcher at the Matenadaran in Yerevan Ani writes that “I presented the digital innovation tools I used to create an online critical edition. Digital...

BELMONT, MA -- On Friday, November 1, 2019, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will host the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of its spectacular, new, state-of-the-art global headquarters, named after Vartan Gregorian, President of the philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York. The new building’s official name will be the NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building, fulfilling the request of the building’s principal benefactors, Edward and Pamela Avedisian of Lexington, MA. The public is invited to attend the ceremony from 4 to 7 pm, at 395 Concord Avenue, Belmont, MA. This historic event is the result of a...

Milena Oganesyan, PhD, research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, has been conducting an independent, multi-sited research project on American-Armenian stage and screen director Rouben Mamoulian. Milena received a NAASR grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies to conduct research in the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the Directors Guild of America; and the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, CA.

The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research and the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies are proud to have provided provide grant support for PhD students Julia Hintlian of Harvard University and Onnik Kiremitlian of the Catholic University of Louvain to present papers at the workshop on the Armenian reception of the Syriac Church Fathers, convened as part of the 18th International Conference on Patristic Studies at Oxford on August 23. The conference as a whole featured over 350 scholars from around the world who gathered to examine the theology, philosophy, liturgics, hagiography, philology, of the Church Fathers. Photo...

Grant recipient Tigran Aleksanyan updated his report from the field. As an archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia, Tigran received a NAASR grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies in support of his project to document monuments preserved in the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh associated with the memory of Vardanants' martyrs.   During July 2019, the expedition led by Tigran explored two more monuments in Gegharkunik region: a St. Vardan cave complex in Vardenis and St. Vartan Church in N. Getashen village. Stay tuned to...

In the midst of constructing its new state-of-the-art headquarters in Belmont, MA, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) has also expanded its programs and scholar support worldwide with an unprecedented level of activity in the first half of 2019. Read it in MASSIS Post or continue reading here. Unprecedented Number of ProgramsTo date, in 2019, NAASR has sponsored or co-sponsored 38 programs on a wide variety of subjects and in many locations, the most in its history for a six-month period.  These events have taken place in Massachusetts, California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and,...

Rare books from the 1800s published by Armenian presses around the world as well as precious bound volumes of Armenian newspapers from the early 1900s and other hard-to-find treasures comprise the notable donation in July from the Hairenik Association of Watertown, MA to the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). This collection represents a significant addition to NAASR’s Mardigian Library and will become accessible to the public after NAASR’s new Vartan Gregorian Building opens on November 1, 2019, in Belmont, MA. Read the story in the Armenian Weekly or continue reading below. George Aghjayan, a member of NAASR’s Board of...