Norian Armenian Programs

The effort to bring Armenian Studies to the University of Connecticut (UConn) began in 1984 when a small group of volunteers started a fund raising campaign.  In 1993 Dr. Ludmila Haroutunian of Yerevan State University (YSU) made a number of presentations at the University and at meetings with Connecticut's Armenian-American community. Dr. Haroutunian's presence at UConn in 1993 was in association with what has become the cornerstone of the UConn-YSU-Armenia relationship, close academic ties between UConn's School of Social Work and YSU's Faculty of Sociology.

In 2004, the University of Connecticut received a bequest from the estate of Alice K. Norian, to be used to educate students and the general public about Armenian culture and history, and to gather Armenian-Americans for both these purposes. The first annual Alice K. Norian Lecture, in 2004, was delivered by Dr. Arman J. Kirakossian, Armenian Ambassador to the United States. At this time, stewardship of Armenian programs at UConn became the responsibility of the Norian Armenian Programs Committee, which is co-chaired by the Dean of the School of Social Work and the Vice President for Global Affairs.

A summer field school in archaeology was established in 2009 in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. Directed by Daniel Adler, Associate Professor of Anthropology, the summer field school enrolls students from UConn and YSU.

Click here for a retrospective on Armenian Programs at the University of Connecticut.

To support Armenian Studies at the University of Connecticut, please visit the Secure Giving Site of the University of Connecticut Foundation. Your gift should be designated Norian Armenian Studies Programs.

The Office of Global Affairs in collaboration with the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute and the Department of Digital Media & Design are offering students the chance to create a variety of digital media telling the Armenian and Armenian-American story-- ensuring that history and heritage are not lost.

The Dildilians: A Story of Photography and Survival

Learn more about the project and see a selection of archival films and digital exhibitions.