Armenian Studies Program Newsletter www.umich.edu New Series, No. 2 / Fall 2008 Manoogian Simone Foundation Gives $1.2 Million to U-M for Armenian Studies In this Issue: In September 2007 the Manoogian Simone Foundation made a $1.2 million gift to the “Because of Special Graduate- Armenian Studies Program in the University of the Manoogian Family’s Workshop (page 3) Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA). This contribution will propel the generosity, U-M has been Graduate study of Armenia to a higher level by providing able to attract Students and resources for scholars in the US and Armenia leading Armenian scholars...” Research Grants to conduct the research that will generate new (page 4) historical knowledge and change the way Arme- nian history and culture is taught and preserved Visiting Scholars for future generations. world. The Manoogian Simone Foundation’s gift to (Page 6) the Armenian Studies Program (ASP) will provide The Manoogian family has given millions of funding for graduate and post-doctoral fellowships Manoogian dollars over the years to philanthropic efforts at UM and in Armenia, a visiting scholar program, Simone Post-doc benefiting Armenians, both in the homeland annual international conferences, graduate work- Fellows (page 7) and the diaspora. They have established schools, shops, an expanded Summer Language Institute, centers, churches, and libraries throughout the and an outreach program. (continued on page 2) Lectures & Collo- quia (page 8) U-M to Hold International Conference on “The Armenian Apocalyptic Tradition” Announcements The Armenian Studies Program at the Uni- context, in both literature and the arts. Scholars (page 10-11) versity of Michigan is pleased to announce an from Armenia, Europe and the USA will discuss international conference on “The Armenian eschatological and millennial themes, visions and Call for Papers Apocalyptic Tradition: A Comparative Perspec- prophecies, maledictions and revelations, origins (page 12) tive.” The conference will take place at the and apocrypha, and related topics in this important University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, October but inadequately explored field. Within the larger 16-19, 2008. comparative context, papers will highlight apoca- lyptic themes common to the Syriac, Byzantine, This is the second confer- Coptic, Ethiopic, Slavonic, Georgian and Armenian ence on the theme which traditions, or comparative aspects of one or more the Armenian Studies of these traditions. Papers dealing with visual rep- Programs at the Hebrew resentations of such elements in these traditions University of Jerusalem will illustrate their reflection and interpretation in art. and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, had It is hoped that the comparative approach adopted independently conceived by the conference will shed much new light on the but jointly planned. The prescience of seers and the imaginary and imagi- first conference was native ways in which they reflected the religious- organized by the Hebrew cultural concerns and social-political aspirations of University of Jerusalem their respective traditions. The proceedings will be and took place in Jerusalem in 2007. published as a volume in English. Professor Kevork The Ann Arbor conference will highlight the B. Bardakjian is the main convener of the confer- Armenian Apocalyptic tradition in the broad- ence. The conference is open to the public. est sense of the word, and in a comparative PAGE 2 Message from the Director As the new director of the Armenian Studies Program at and Marie Manoogian Foundation, and now the Manoogian the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, I follow in the foot- Simone Foundation as well as of many members of the steps of two extraordinary scholars and program builders. larger community. Finally, we have made progress because Professor Ronald Suny was the first holder of the Alex of the common vision that brings us together. Manoogian Chair in Modern Armenian History; Ron es- tablished the program here and imagined it as an endeavor The Armenian Studies Program at the UM places high val- larger than courses being offered in the field, more as a ue on a number of dimensions: (a) the preparation of and forum where analytical discourse reaches out to the com- support for the next generation of scholars; (b) the open- munities within and without the University and academia. ing up of the field to fields beyond history, language and He was succeeded by Professor Kevork Bardakjian, holder art such as sociology, political science, and anthropology, of the Marie Manoogian Chair in Armenian Language and in other words a multi-disciplinary approach to Armenian Literature. Kevork held the fort and continued building up studies, in line with major advances in the socials sciences the program for over a decade. and humanities; (c) the recognition that the history, culture and arts of the Armenian people cannot be understood Our Program has come a long way, first due to the close and fully appreciated in isolation; and (d) the appreciation collaboration of the previous directors and associated of an approach that is self-critical and self-confident. faculty such as Professor Kathryn Babayan, who serves on the Executive Committee of the program along with Pro- To pursue expansion in these directions, we have intensi- fessors Bardakjian and Suny; second, due to the extraor- fied collaboration with other programs and departments dinary assistance from the University of Michigan admin- at the University, including the Armenian Research Center istration, including Dean Terry McDonald and his staff, the at the Dearborn campus, as well as programs at other uni- Director of the International Institute and his staff, the versities and organizations that promote Armenian studies chairs of the History and Near Eastern Studies, and the di- around the world. rectors of the Center for Russian and East European Stud- ies and the Center for Middle Eastern and North African As part of our outreach program, we are expanding our Studies; third, due to the continuing support from the Alex website (www.ii.umich.edu/asp) where details of ASP activi- ties will be found readily. Manoogian Simone Foundation Gives $1.2 Million (continued from page 1) On behalf of the Armenian Studies Program I would like to express The Foundation is headed by Lou- “This transformational gift will enable my deep and sincere gratitude for ise Manoogian Simone, daughter of the Armenian Studies Program to the wholehearted and professional the late Detroit businessman Alex become a leading area study center support we have received from all, Manoogian and sister of Rich- among universities around the world,” not least our staff and the staff of ard Manoogian, who is Executive said LSA Dean Terrence J. McDonald. the International Institute, where the Chairman of Alex Manoogian’s “The Manoogian family is dedicated Program is housed. Fortune 500 Taylor, Michigan-based to preserving and expanding our company, MASCO Corporation. knowledge about Armenia and has As the information in this News- “My parents started the Armenian demonstrated this commitment at letter will reveal, we have had a Studies Program at U-M,” said U-M through the years.” number of exciting years and we are Simone, “and this gift will expand looking for an even fuller range of the program by providing funds for The Manoogian family established the activities next year which prom- young scholars to study Armenian Alex Manoogian Chair of Modern ises to be even more intense and language and history, both in Michi- Armenian History in LSA more than productive. gan and Armenia.” 30 years ago, followed by the Marie Manoogian Chair of Armenian Professor Gerard Libaridian Language and Literature. Because Alex Manoogian Chair in Modern of their generosity, UM has been Armenian History able to attract leading Armenian scholars. (The last issue of the ASP Newsletter was published in April, 2003, as “New Series No. 1.” For comments or additional copies of The Manoogian Simone Founda- this issue, please contact the ASP) tion gift is part of LSA’s fundraising effort for the $2.5 billion “Michigan Difference” campaign. International Conference Considering the Concept of ‘Nation’ PAGE 3 on Georgia A special workshop for Graduate students in Armenian Studies By Ronald Grigor Suny As part of its expanding program The Case of Armenian Democratization;” Caught between Russia and the of activities, the Armenian Studies Sebouh Aslanian (PhD, Columbia Middle East, for centuries the passage Program at the University of Michigan, University, 2007, recipient of Best Dis- from East to West, the small republic Ann Arbor, convened a special work- sertation Award, then Visiting Lecturer of Georgia has seldom in recent years shop that brought together senior at Whitman College, Washington State, had the spotlight of scholarship turned scholars, advanced and newly gradu- currently post-doctoral fellow at U-M), full force on its fascinating history ated PhD students, and current troubles. The Armenian and starting graduate Studies Program of the University of students. The purpose “Rather than merely offer an opportunity Michigan in Ann Arbor sponsored the of the workshop was for students to cover disparate topics, we first international conference in mid- to provide an oppor- invited those whose research involved or May 2008 to look at the “making of a tunity for emerging would have an impact of the concept of scholars to discuss national culture” in that South Cauca- ‘nation’ in Armenian history...” sian country. More than thirty scholars their work and con- from Europe, Asia, the United States, sult with each other Canada, and Georgia itself gathered and with senior scholars. “From Coalition to Nation: The Collapse of to hear and discuss papers on such the Julfan Trade Network and its Trans- far-flung topics as Iranian influences The workshop, held from April 16 to formation;” Sossie Kasbarian (PhD, in medieval Georgia, the appeal of rap 19, offered a special format for the School of Oriental and African Studies, music among Georgian young people gathering of some 21 participants.