News

In line with the recommendations of public health and medical experts relating to the coronavirus, NAASR has made the difficult decision to postpone all public events through the end of April 2020. The health and safety of the entire community are primary concerns. Every effort will be made to reschedule the many events affected by this decision. In due course, we will let you know about events in May and beyond. Similarly, the NAASR Vartan Gregorian Building will be closed to the public until the end of April, at which time we will reassess the situation. If you are interested in buying a book,...

The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 Dr. Sona Aronian Book Prizes for Excellence in Armenian Studies: Prof. Tamar M. Boyadjian for The City Lament: Jerusalem Across the Medieval Mediterranean (Cornell Univ. Press) and Prof. Jennifer M. Dixon for Dark Pasts: Changing the State’s Story in Turkey and Japan (Cornell Univ. Press); and Prof. Peter Balakian and Aram Arkun for the translation of Krikor Balakian’s The Ruins of Ani (Rutgers Univ. Press). NAASR’s Aronian Book Prizes were established in 2014 by the late Dr. Aronian and Dr. Geoffrey Gibbs,...

Hand carved in high relief, in dark walnut from Yeghegnadzor, Armenia and standing just over 8 feet in height, NAASR's exterior front door features artist Mels Yeghiazaryan's interpretations of traditional Armenian decorative motifs in meticulous detail. This stunning work of art, gift of K. George and Carolann S. Najarian, MD, invites one to open the door to learning and community. Mels Yeghiazaryan explains that the ornamentation and designs incorporated in NAASR's front door are derived from biological and geometrical elements that have inspired the development and blossoming of the old Armenian miniature art that reached its peak in the 13th and 14th...

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...