News

The Armenian Weekly – Armenian Memory Project

By Lillian Avedian, The Armenian Weekly | Feb 9, 2022

"In the spring of 1915, Nigoghos Mazadoorian and his father Garabed came across an early ripening mulberry tree while walking through their orchards in Ichmeh, a village in the Ottoman Armenian province Kharpert. As per the traditional way of collecting mulberries, Nigoghos climbed the tree and shook the branches, and the father and son gathered the fruit that fell to the ground.

“We have tasted the first mulberries of the season. We shall not die this year,” Garabed prophesied.

This is one of many family stories Harry Mazadoorian has shared with the Armenian Memory Project. His grandfather Garabed was imprisoned that year in Soorp Nigoghos Church and later massacred. Mazadoorian’s parents, Nigoghos and Yegsa Aharonian, survived the Armenian Genocide and resettled in Connecticut."

Read the full article in The Armenian Weekly.

UConn Filmmakers Premiere Armenian Memory Project

Thursday October 29, the University of Connecticut and other co-sponsors premiered “The Dildilians: A Story of Photography and Survival” on YouTube. The film was produced by students in the UConn course “Variable Topics: Visual Representations of Armenian Memory” taught by filmmaker Catherine Masud, in close collaboration with Dildilian family historian Armen Marsoobian.

The film tells the story of a family of Armenian photographers, the Dildilians, who captured a way of life in central Turkey that disappeared during the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The documentary is brought to life through the voices of family descendants, supplemented by historical photographs and documents from the family archive.

The online screening platform allowed people to watch together from all over the country and around the world in countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Canada.

“Hello all together from Germany!” YouTube user Heinrich Geuther commented during the film.

The virtual film screening on YouTube was followed by a live panel discussion opened by MC Zahra Ali, Director of Global Partnerships and Outreach who introduced the panelists. The panel, moderated by Heather Elliott-Famularo, included Masud, adjunct instructor for UConn Digital Media & Design and the Human Rights Institute, Marsoobian, Professor of Philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University, and School of Fine Arts students Aidan Brueckner, Jonathan Pico and Bridget Sweeney who all contributed to the production of the film.

The students worked with Marsoobian’s family photography archive which included scanning glass negative photographs to create graphics for the film. It was a process they had to be very careful with, but one of the best parts of the project Sweeney said. “I had never even held a glass negative before that class,” Sweeney said. “To think that they’ve been around for so long was so incredible. I really enjoyed holding the physical archives.”

Stories from the past can play an important role in fostering dialogue among different peoples, Marsoobian said. We have to bear witness to those ancestors. “Whether they’re Armenian ancestors in Ottoman Turkey or they’re ancestors in Ireland,” Marsoobian said, “it’s important to give those ancestors a voice and it’s also important for our own identity to understand who we are and where we’ve come from.”

The story of our ancestors is our story that we carry through the past, with us in the present and into the future, Masud expressed. We need to connect those dots and feel that sense of responsibility to acknowledge our history.

“It’s very important to look at this story of the Dildilians and the Armenian genocide as also, in one way or another, the story of us all,” Masud said.

The event was co-sponsored by the University of Connecticut (Norian Armenian Programs, Office of Global Affairs, School of Social Work, Human Rights Institute, Digital Media and Design), the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives, Inc. and the Ararat-Eskijian Museum.

UConn Virologist Joins International Effort to Eradicate PPR in Armenia & Georgia

Guillermo Risatti, an associate professor in Pathobiology and Veterinary Science, is coordinating an international research team with the support of a $1.6 million grant award from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), an agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD), to detect and monitor Peste des Petites Ruminants (PPR) in Armenia and Georgia. The two-year biosurveillance project will involve the work of the Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia; The Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia; the National Veterinary Institute of Sweden and the University of Connecticut. The project aims at aligning their activities with the FAO and OIE joint strategy to combat the disease. Read more at https://naturally.uconn.edu/2019/04/16/virologist-joins-international-effort-to-eradicate-deadly-animal-disease.

Snapshot: Dan Adler in Armenia

Dan Adler Armenia

Anthropology professor Daniel Adler (top left) directed excavations at an archaeological site in northern Armenia. (Photos courtesy of Dan Adler)

In July 2018, UConn associate professor of anthropology Daniel Adler and Keith Wilkinson, University of Winchester, UK, co-directed excavations at an Early Pleistocene archaeological site in northern Armenia known as Hahgtanak-3. The site documents the earliest human occupation of Armenia, and may be more than 1 million years old.

Read the story in UConn Today.

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator: Discovering Armenian Heritage & Culture

Panel Discussion

By The Armenian Mirror-Spectator | Apr 18, 2019

"HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut was home to a program of music, demonstrations, a panel of renowned scholars and Armenian food on Saturday, March 30 as the University of Connecticut presented a comprehensive program and festival titled "Discovering Armenian Heritage and Culture.

Held at the historic Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, the program drew some 150 people from Connecticut and the northeast eager to learn more about all things Armenian."

Read the full article or download the most recent edition of The Armenian-Mirror Spectator.

UConn’s Steven Enoch Playing Well For Armenian Team In FIBA Under-20 Event

UConn's Steven Enoch is spending part of his summer playing for the Armenian under-20 team. (Brad Horrigan / The Hartford Courant)
UConn’s Steven Enoch is spending part of his summer playing for the Armenian under-20 team. (Brad Horrigan / The Hartford Courant)

UConn sophomore Steven Enoch had 30 points and 15 rebounds to lead his team, Armenia, to a 74-68 victory over Estonia in the consolation round of the FIBA under-20 European championships Friday in Halkida, Greece.

Click here to view Hartford Courant article.

New PAGES being turned in the human evolutionary story

Dr. Daniel Adler from the University of Connecticut's Department of Anthropology is working on a  team of archaeologists and geologists, led by Dr Keith Wilkinson (University of Winchester), set to examine the history of early humans in Eurasia after being awarded funding to further its research.

The £387,792 grant for the Pleistocene Archaeology, Geochronology and Environments of the Southern Caucasus (PAGES) project comes from the Leverhulme Trust, which aims to support original research that advances world knowledge in the fields of the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences.

The project team comprises scientists from Universities of Connecticut, Royal Holloway, University of London, Armenian Academy of Sciences, University of Glasgow, University of North Carolina (Greensboro), and the Senckenberg Research Institute.

The team will carry out fieldwork in the the Hrazdan and Debed river valleys of Armenia in 2016 and 2017, while collected samples will be studies in laboratories of the University of Winchester, Royal Holloway, and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre at the University of Glasgow.

For more information on the project, visit here

ARISC Collaborative Heritage Management in Armenia Grant – Deadline extended

Date Due: Rolling (all annual funds will be distributed by August 31, 2016)

Contact Information: info “at” arisc. org

Project Description:

The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus invites proposals from collaborative teams in support of the preservation and conservation of the Republic of Armenia’s archaeological and historical heritage. This ARISC program, generously funded by Project Discovery! and private donations, seeks to foster joint work between American and Armenian scholars and institutions dedicated to the proper curation and preservation of heritage materials such as artifacts, sites, and manuscripts. Successful applications will demonstrate substantive collaborations that not only contribute to heritage conservation but also demonstrate efforts to build capacity and enhance local knowledge of current techniques and approaches to heritage management. These grants require active participation of both American and Armenian principal investigators in all aspects of the collaborative project.

Examples of potential projects include:

  • Restoration of threatened archaeological remains
  • Stabilization of historical resources
  • Long-term protection for archaeological sites or historical monuments
  • Curation and permanent exhibition of heritage materials
  • Cataloging and recording of collections
  • Digitization of heritage materials for wider public access
  • Enhancement of conservation lab facilities
  • Advanced training for specialists

Given the level of funding, these awards can also be used as seed grants to demonstrate the feasibility of a pilot program and/or in concert with funds from parallel sources.

Grantees will be required to either give a talk or run a workshop pertinent to the subject of the grant while in Armenia.

Eligibility:

Proposals are submitted jointly by a team of two or more scholars and/or specialists. At least one must be a citizen of the U.S. and one a citizen of the Republic of Armenia. Proposals must show evidence of endorsement from all relevant institutions in Armenia in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the undertaking. These grants are not intended for primary research. The participants must demonstrate that the project requires true collaboration between both PIs, as well as active participation by both PI’s in all aspects of the work required to complete the project.

Late, incomplete, or ineligible applications will not be reviewed.

Award Information:

Awards are usually made for a period of 12 months during which the work described in the proposal must be completed. Extensions will be granted only with the explicit approval of ARISC. Award checks will be sent to the US collaborator. Awardees are responsible for tax payments in association with this award, either in the US or in Armenia. Grants will typically not exceed $4000.

Grant recipients are eligible to reapply for a second CHM grant two years after their most recent award.

For further information, application form, and eligibility, please see the full call at here

ARISC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, physical or mental disability, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, or status as a covered veteran.

American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) Funding Opportunities

ARISC Graduate Fellowships
The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) announces the availability of US graduate fellowships in support of research in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and/or Georgia). Awards will be made for a maximum of $1500 each. Projects in all fields in the social sciences, humanities and related sciences are eligible. Proposals will be judged on their quality and on the potential of the research to strengthen scholarship on the South Caucasus. The purpose of the fellowship is to help cover travel and/or living expenses in the South Caucasus. During his/her stay in the South Caucasus, the fellow is expected to give an ARISC-sponsored presentation on a subject related to his/her research. The fellow will acknowledge ARISC in any publication that emerges from the research carried out during the fellowship.
Application requirements: Please send a complete application including the application form, a project statement of not more than 3 pages, work schedule, budget, and curriculum vitae, by Friday, December 18, 2015, to info@arisc.org. Two letters of recommendation must also be submitted. All information must be received by Friday, December 18, 2015, in order for the applicant to be considered for the fellowship, as well as in any presentations of the research results.
For details, eligibility, and to download the application form, please visit here.

ARISC Junior Research Fellowship 
The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) announces the availability of US graduate student, postdoctoral and junior scholar fellowships in support of research and mentoring activities in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and/or Georgia). The goals of the fellowship are 1) to support research in and the study of the South Caucasus; 2) to select, recognize and financially support individuals early in their careers who demonstrate high potential to contribute to research in this region; 3) to support a mentoring relationship that will both develop the academic skills of the mentee and strengthen ties between the US and host country. Projects in all fields in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences are eligible, but all projects must include one or more undergraduate and/or graduate students from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and/or Georgia as research assistants/participants. Research awards will be made for a maximum of $4000 each to help cover travel, living, and research expenses in the South Caucasus. For ARISC grant purposes, mentoring is understood to involve integrating a local scholar into a research project in a fundamental way that involves cultivating skills and knowledge of methods that will contribute to the professional development of the local scholar. Proposals will be judged on their quality and on the potential of the research to strengthen scholarship on the South Caucasus.

Application requirements: Please send a complete application including the application form, a project statement of not more than 1500 words, work schedule, budget, and curriculum vitae, by Wednesday, December 23, 2015, to info “at” arisc.org. Three letters of recommendation must also be submitted.  Letters of recommendation should be sent directly from your referee via email to info “at” arisc.org. All information must be received by Wednesday, December 23, 2015, in order for the applicant to be considered for the fellowship.
This fellowship is supported with a grant from the US Department of Education.
For details, eligibility, and to download the application form, please visit here.

ARISC Collaborative Heritage Management in Armenia Grant
Date Due: December 18, 2015. 

The American Research Institute of the South Caucasus invites proposals from collaborative teams in support of the preservation and conservation of the Republic of Armenia’s archaeological and historical heritage. This ARISC program, generously funded by Project Discovery!, seeks to foster joint work between American and Armenian scholars and institutions dedicated to the proper curation and preservation of heritage materials such as artifacts, sites, and manuscripts. Successful applications will demonstrate substantive collaborations that not only contribute to heritage conservation but also demonstrate efforts to build capacity and enhance local knowledge of current techniques and approaches to heritage management. These grants require active participation of both American and Armenian principal investigators in all aspects of the collaborative project.Examples of potential projects include:

  • Restoration of threatened archaeological remains
  • Stabilization of historical resources
  • Long-term protection for archaeological sites or historical monuments
  •  Curation and permanent exhibition of heritage materials
  • Cataloging and recording of collections
  • Digitization of heritage materials for wider public access
  • Enhancement of conservation lab facilities
  • Advanced training for specialists

Given the level of funding, these awards can also be used as seed grants to demonstrate the feasibility of a pilot program and/or in concert with funds from parallel sources.

Grantees will be required to either give a talk or run a workshop pertinent to the subject of the grant while in Armenia.

For details, eligibility, and to download the application form, please visit here.
ARISC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, physical or mental disability, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, or status as a covered veteran.