Category: Zohrab Center Events

REMINDER: Register for Գրաբար Medieval Armenian Poetry reading course

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The Zohrab Information Center is hosting a Գրաբար reading course, “Medieval Armenian Poetry,” on Mondays 2:00–4:00pm ET via Zoom from January 13th to March 31st. Those unable to attend live can have access to the course materials and recordings of the sessions by registering via the Zoom registration linked below.

The course will be taught by Dr. Jesse Arlen with poetic texts chosen from the rich treasury of medieval Armenian literature. Writers include the 8th-century female hymn composers Khosrovidukht Goghtnatsi and Sahakdukht Siwnetsi, as well as Anania of Narek and St. Gregory of Narek, Gregory Magistros, St. Nersess Shnorhali, and others.

It is recommended that participants already be familiar with the basics of Classical Armenian grammar or have reading and writing knowledge of Modern Armenian in order to benefit from the course.

To register for the course, click here. For questions about the course, send an email to: zohrabcenter@armeniandiocese.org.

Dr. Jesse Arlen to speak at Hamazkayin Western Region Literary Unit on January 16th over Zoom

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On Thursday, January 16th at 7:00pm PT / 10:00pm ET, Dr. Jesse Arlen will give a presentation hosted by the Hamazkayin Western Region Literary Unit on St. Nersess Shnorhali and the recently published book by co-authors Jesse Arlen and Matthew Sarkisian Odes of St. Nersess the Graceful: Annotated Translation (New York: Tarkmaneal Press, 2024).

Please register for this online event, whose proceedings will take place primarily in Armenian, at this link.

Zoom meeting ID: 864 7185 3213
Passcode: 406800

The book is available for purchase from the Prelacy Bookstore, NAASR bookstore, Abril Books, AGBU Bookstore or on Amazon.

REMINDER: Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7:00pm — “Frik’s Relatable Freakshow: Echoes of Faith and Endurance for Confronting Today’s Geopolitical Turmoil” by Tamar Purut

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The Zohrab Center warmly invites you to our next in-person event and our last event of 2024, a public lecture by Tamar Purut, entitled, “Frik’s Relatable Freakshow: Echoes of Faith and Endurance for Confronting Today’s Geopolitical Turmoil.”

This interactive lecture will take place in Yerevan Room of the Diocesan Center on Thursday, December 12th at 7:00pm. Enter on 2nd Ave.

All are welcome to attend!

Tamar Purut is a first-generation Armenian-American born and raised in New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Political Science from Seton Hall University, a Master’s Degree in International Security from University College London, and, most recently, a postgraduate degree in Classical Armenian Studies from the University of Oxford. She is seasoned in operating anti-money laundering and compliance programs at first-tier global financial institutions and is presently an Assistant Vice President at BHI Bank. Tamar wishes to continue serving her compatriots while inspiring further discourse on what it means to be an Armenian in the diaspora while remembering and honoring her roots.

Description of Lecture: This talk will explore the life and legacy of Frik, one of Armenia’s most influential medieval poets. Through his eloquent verse, Frik captured the struggles of his time, blending profound theological reflection with poignant political commentary. His work delves into the complex relationship between faith, identity, and the ever-shifting contours of power. The presentation will examine how Frik’s writings, though rooted in the medieval Armenian experience, continue to resonate with contemporary geopolitical conflicts and questions of faith. Tamar will discuss how his reflections on the human condition and the search for divine justice offer timeless insights into the challenges we face today. This will be an opportunity to (re)discover how Frik’s poetic vision still echoes in modern debates about religion, conflict, and the pursuit of meaning in an increasingly fragmented world.

HMML Summer Course: Introduction to Classical Armenian

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In partnership with Dumbarton Oaks and the Zohrab Center of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, HMML will host an intensive four-week course as an introduction to the Armenian language and paleography in the summer of 2025. This course is intended for doctoral students or recent PhDs who can demonstrate a need for Classical Armenian in their research. Priority is given to students who lack opportunities to study Armenian at their own institutions. The program welcomes international applicants but does not sponsor J visas.

  • Funder

    Dumbarton Oaks

  • Location

    The 2025 summer course will be taught on the beautiful campus of Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, USA.

  • Course level

    Introduction to Classical Armenian

  • Course length

    Four weeks

  • Dates

    July 7, 2025 to August 1, 2025

  • Course size

    Up to 14 students

  • Costs

    All course costs are covered by Dumbarton Oaks for the 2025 course. Participants must pay their own travel costs to and from Collegeville, Minnesota, USA.

  • Accommodations

    Students will be housed in dormitory apartments on the Saint John’s University campus. Each participant will have an air-conditioned, private bedroom and bathroom, with shared kitchen and laundry facilities.

    A meal contract at the college Refectory will be provided.

Course overview

  • Sessions are held Monday–Friday in the morning and afternoon.
  • Total instruction time equals 110 hours.
  • The Dumbarton Oaks/HMML 2025 summer course “Introduction to Classical Armenian” will introduce students to the fundamentals of Classical Armenian grammar at the introductory level.
  • The goal of the course is to give students an active command of the language through grammar instruction and reading texts.
  • The textbook for the course will be: An Introduction to Classical Armenian, Robert W. Thomson (Delmar, NY: Caravan Books, 1989, 2nd. ed.), now out of print. Students will be provided in advance with a PDF copy of this book — which they are encouraged to print physical copies of — and any other materials needed for the course. Other supplemental materials prepared by the instructors will also be distributed to the students.
  • Once a sufficient basis of grammar has been covered, a portion of the daily work will be devoted to reading and translating Classical Armenian texts, which may be chosen based on student interest and will include both published texts as well as manuscript images.
  • During the course, students will also be introduced to the primary lexica, manuscript repositories, and print and online resources available to aid them in their subsequent research on pre-modern Armenian texts.
  • By the end of the course, students will be able to independently approach Classical Armenian texts with a comprehensive grasp of grammar and syntax and translate from Armenian into English with confidence.
  • Following this intensive course, students will be able to continue reading on their own or to enter reading courses at other institutions.

Prerequisites

  • Students will be required to learn the Armenian alphabet and practice reading and pronunciation before the course begins.
  • Students will be introduced to both Eastern and Western pronunciation and will be encouraged to pick one pronunciation to make their own.
  • Materials will be provided to aid in mastering the alphabet and for practicing reading and pronunciation.
  • Those with significant prior study of Armenian (e.g., a semester-long class) will not be considered.

Faculty for 2025

  • Guest faculty: Dr. Jesse Siragan Arlen, director, Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America; postdoctoral research fellow, Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University; and Dr. Christopher Sprecher, postdoctoral researcher, Austrian Academy of Sciences/Institute for Medieval Research, Cluster of Excellence “EurAsian Transformations”

Application deadline

February 24, 2025

Application submission

  • Letter of no more than two single-spaced pages describing the applicant’s academic background, including language skills, and an explanation for why learning Armenian is important for future research and teaching. Address letter to HMML Executive Director Columba Stewart, Ph.D.
  • Updated curriculum vitae
  • A transcript of graduate school coursework for those who are currently doing graduate study. This is not required for those who completed a PhD
  • Two letters of recommendation

Applicants

  • Send all materials as email attachments to scholarlyprograms@hmml.org.
  • Add “Armenian 2025 Summer School” in the subject line.

Letter of recommendation authors

  • Letters of recommendation should be sent directly from the author of the letter to HMML. Please send the letter as email attachment to scholarlyprograms@hmml.org.
  • Add “Armenian 2025 Summer School and the applicant’s name” in the subject line.

Selection criteria

  • Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of previous academic achievement, demonstrated need for intensive study of Classical Armenian, and research promise.

Notification of acceptance

  • All awards will be announced by March 14, 2025.
  • Students accepting a place in the course will need to notify HMML by March 28, 2025.
  • Alternates, if space becomes available, will be announced March 31, 2025.

Questions

About Dumbarton Oaks: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection is an institute in Washington, D.C., administered by the Trustees for Harvard University. It supports research and learning internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies through fellowships and internships, meetings, and exhibitions. Located in residential Georgetown, Dumbarton Oaks welcomes researchers at all career stages who come to study its books, objects, images, and documents.

About the Zohrab Center of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America: The Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America was founded in 1987 through a perpetual endowment by Dolores Zohrab Liebmann, in memory of her parents. Her father, Krikor Zohrab, was a renowned Ottoman-Armenian community leader, parliamentarian, lawyer, and writer, who was murdered in the early days of the genocide of 1915. Today the Zohrab Center functions as a research library and community center that promotes the full range of Armenian studies and assists students, scholars, the Armenian community, and general public in deepening their appreciation for Armenian history, civilization, and culture, especially within their overwhelmingly Christian ambit.

Գրաբար Reading Course: Medieval Armenian Poetry

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The Zohrab Information Center is hosting a Գրաբար reading course, “Medieval Armenian Poetry,” on Mondays 2:00–4:00pm ET via Zoom from January 13th to March 31st. The course will be taught by Dr. Jesse Arlen with poetic texts chosen from the rich treasury of medieval Armenian literature.

It is recommended that participants already be familiar with the basics of Classical Armenian grammar or have reading and writing knowledge of Modern Armenian in order to benefit from the course.

To register for the course, click here. For questions about the course, send an email to: zohrabcenter@armeniandiocese.org.

Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7:00pm — “Frik’s Relatable Freakshow: Echoes of Faith and Endurance for Confronting Today’s Geopolitical Turmoil” by Tamar Purut

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The Zohrab Center warmly invites you to our next in-person event, a public lecture by Tamar Purut, entitled, “Frik’s Relatable Freakshow: Echoes of Faith and Endurance for Confronting Today’s Geopolitical Turmoil.” This interactive lecture will take place in Yerevan Room of the Diocesan Center on Thursday, December 12th at 7:00pm. All are welcome to attend.

Tamar Purut is a first-generation Armenian-American born and raised in New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Political Science from Seton Hall University, a Master’s Degree in International Security from University College London, and, most recently, a postgraduate degree in Classical Armenian Studies from the University of Oxford. She is seasoned in operating anti-money laundering and compliance programs at first-tier global financial institutions and is presently an Assistant Vice President at BHI Bank. Tamar wishes to continue serving her compatriots while inspiring further discourse on what it means to be an Armenian in the diaspora while remembering and honoring her roots.

Description of Lecture: This talk will explore the life and legacy of Frik, one of Armenia’s most influential medieval poets. Through his eloquent verse, Frik captured the struggles of his time, blending profound theological reflection with poignant political commentary. His work delves into the complex relationship between faith, identity, and the ever-shifting contours of power. The presentation will examine how Frik’s writings, though rooted in the medieval Armenian experience, continue to resonate with contemporary geopolitical conflicts and questions of faith. Tamar will discuss how his reflections on the human condition and the search for divine justice offer timeless insights into the challenges we face today. This will be an opportunity to (re)discover how Frik’s poetic vision still echoes in modern debates about religion, conflict, and the pursuit of meaning in an increasingly fragmented world.

 

Open Mic Night: Friday October 18th, 7:00pm ET

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On Friday, October 18th at 7:00pm ET in the Yerevan Room of the Diocesan Center, the Zohrab Center is hosting an Open Mic Night in collaboration with Noor (https://www.noormag.org/), a new literary magazine & publishing platform founded in 2024 by Vladimir Mkrtchian and Madeline Berberian-Hutchinson.

Come prepared to share your original poetry, spoken word, music, singing, etc. in English or Armenian. Sign up at the event to reserve your slot. A $10 suggested donation will help support Noor magazine.

Literary Lights 2024: Featuring Lory Bedikian on September 21st

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The final installment of our reading series, Literary Lights 2024, features Lory Bedikian, author of the Raz/Shumaker Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry winner, Jagadakeer: Apology to the Body. Bedikian will be joined by award-winning poet, essayist and professor, Brian Turner. The event, co-sponsored between the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, the International Armenian Literary Association (IALA), the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), and the University of Nebraska Press and Prairie Schooner, will take place virtually on September 21, 2024 at 10:00 AM Pacific | 1:00 PM Eastern | 9:00 PM Armenia time. Register here.

Jagadakeer: Apology to the Body presents the voice of a daughter of immigrant parents, now gone, from Lebanon and Syria and of Armenian descent. In this five-part testimony Lory Bedikian reconstructs the father figure, mother figure, and the self. Using a sestina, syllabics, prose poems, and longer poetic sequences, Bedikian creates elegies for parents lost and self-elegiac lyrics and narratives for living with illness. Often interrupted with monologues and rants, the poems grapple with the disorder of loss and the body’s failures. Ultimately, Bedikian contemplates the concept of fate, destiny (jagadakeer), and the excavation of memory—whether to question familial inheritance or claim medical diagnoses.

“A capacious lyric narrative, of emigration, of history, of interiority, polyglot, with a memory reaching as far as Aleppo and as near as today’s biopsy results.” — Marilyn Hacker, author of Calligraphies: Poems

“Lory Bedikian has created a monument of rage in facing the march of calamities against a life… Jagadakeer’s world will be very disconcerting—yet rewarding—to readers of this exquisitely composed work.” — Ed Roberson, winner of the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry and author of To See the Earth Before the End of the World

 “A consummate craftsperson, Bedikian writes lushly, with power and force, creating images we cannot unsee. Open this book and read her poem ‘Before the Elegy, Speak to Her,’ and see what I mean.” — Dorianne Laux, author of Only As the Day Is Long

 

Lory

Lory Bedikian is is the author of The Book of Lamenting, winner of the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. She was recently chosen for the Poets & Writers “Get the Word Out” Poetry Cohort 2024. Several of Bedikian’s poems received the First Prize Award in the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry as part of the 2022 Nimrod Literary Awards. Her work is published in Tin House, Gulf Coast, The Los Angeles Review, BOULEVARD, The Adroit Journal, Orion, wildness, and was featured on Pádraig Ó Tuama’s Poetry Unbound podcast. Her poem “The Mechanic,” is included in the anthology Border Lines: Poems of Migration, KNOPF, 2020. Bedikian’s manuscript-in-progress received a 2021 grant from the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. Her work also appears in Massachusetts Review’s “Revisiting WOMAN: An Issue, 50 Years Later.” Bedikian earned an MFA from the University of Oregon. She teaches poetry workshops in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Brian Turner

Brian Turner is the author of a memoir, My Life as a Foreign Country, and five collections of poetry— from Here, Bulletto The Wild Delight of Wild Things. He’s the editor of The Kiss and co-editor of The Strangest of Theatres. A musician, he’s written and recorded albums with The Interplanetary Acoustic Team, including 11 11 (Me Smiling) and American Undertow with The Retro Legion. His poems and essays have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, and Harper’s, among other fine journals, and he was featured in the documentary Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, nominated for an Academy Award. A Guggenheim Fellow, he’s received a USA Hillcrest Fellowship in Literature, the Amy Lowell Traveling Fellowship, the Poets’ Prize, and a Fellowship from the Lannan Foundation. He lives in Orlando with his dog, Dene, the world’s sweetest golden retriever. Learn more by visiting http://www.brianturner.org

Literary Lights is a monthly reading series organized, for the second year in a row, by IALA, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), and the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. Each event—held online—features a writer reading from their work, followed by a discussion with an interviewer and audience members. Read along with the series by purchasing titles from the IALA Bookstore or the NAASR Bookstore.

In-Person Book Presentation of Odes of Saint Nersess the Graceful at St. Vartan Cathedral (May 19, after Badarak)

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On Sunday, May 19th at 1:00pm after Pentecost Badarak at St. Vartan Cathedral, Dr. Jesse Arlen, director of the Diocese’s Zohrab Center, and Matthew Sarkisian, a self-taught translator of Classical Armenian from the Binghamton, NY area, will present their recently released book, Odes of Saint Nersess the Graceful: Annotated Translation (New York, NY: Tarkmaneal Press, 2024), a translation and study of 60 hymns by Catholicos Nersess. Copies of the book will be available at the event for sale, and a book signing will follow.

For those unable to attend, books may be purchased via Armenian booksellers (NAASR bookstore, Abril Books, Prelacy Bookstore, AGBU Bookstore) as well as domestically and internationally through Amazon.

About the Book

St. Nersess the Graceful (Nersēs Shnorhali, 1102–1173 A.D.), catholicos from 1166 until his death in 1173, was one of the great figures of the medieval Armenian Church. His most popular work is the prayer of twenty-four stanzas commonly known as “With Faith I Confess” (Havadov Khosdovanim), which has been translated into more than thirty languages. He was also a prolific author and composer of hymns and other poetic works, many of which remain little known today. This volume presents the Armenian text and an English translation of sixty of St. Nersess’s liturgical odes (tagh), fifty-eight of which have never been previously translated into English. These profound songs of praise were composed to enhance the celebration and reflect on the mystery of the various feasts and commemorations that make up the Christian liturgical year. The translation is accompanied by an introduction and extensive annotation, which brings to light the Biblical, theological, and poetic features of these literary treasures, making them accessible to the general reader in the twenty-first century.

About the Authors

Jesse S. Arlen is the director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center at the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America in New York and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University. He has published a number of studies on medieval Christian spirituality and literature.

Matthew J. Sarkisian is a self-taught translator of Classical Armenian who lives in the Binghamton, New York area. He previously collaborated with Jesse Arlen on an annotated translation of an Armenian prayer scroll (hmayil), published in 2022 by the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center.

About the Press

Tarkmaneal Press was founded in 2024 by Matthew J. Sarkisian and Jesse S. Arlen with the goal of bringing bilingual editions of classical Armenian texts with annotated English translations available to a wide audience. Sarkisian is a self-taught translator of Classical Armenian who lives in the Binghamton, New York area. He previously collaborated with Jesse Arlen on an annotated translation of an Armenian prayer scroll (hmayil), published in 2022 by the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. Arlen is the director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University. He has published a number of studies on late antique and medieval Christian spirituality and monastic literature.

Praise for the Volume

“St. Nersess Shnorhali, Nersess the Graceful, belongs to the rank of those Church Fathers and Doctors who rightfully can be declared “the lyre of the Holy Spirit.” One of the earliest European Armenologists, the Jesuit Fr. Jacques Villote, admiring the sublime touches of heavenly inspiration emanating from Shnorhali’s verses, called his poetic masterpiece — named in Armenian Յիսուս, Որդի (Jesus, Son) from its incipit — “The Divine Elegy.” Nersess Shnorhali is one of the most exceptional figures in the history of the universal Church for more than one reason, but above all for his passionate search for the unity of the Church, and for his deep understanding, in the wake of St. Gregory of Narek, of the fragility, the conventionality, the inadequacy of human language in speaking of Divine mystery. The Odes in this volume, masterfully translated and commented upon by Matthew J. Sarkisian and Jesse S. Arlen, are among the most vibrant, genuine, and touching expressions of Shnorhali’s spirituality.”

— Abp. Levon Zekiyan, Emeritus Professor of Armenian Studies, Ca’ Foscari, Venice, and the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome

“St. Nersess Shnorhali’s hymns are known for their literary beauty and spiritual sublimity. Sarkisian and Arlen convey both aspects in their mellifluous translation. The substantial annotation they provide further defines their mastery of the classical text.”

— Abraham Terian, Emeritus Professor of Armenian Patristics and Theology, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary

“Thanks to Jesse Arlen and Matthew Sarkisian for this carefully prepared labor of love and learning. They have curated for us a trove of lesser-known, spiritual gems from the vast storehouse of St. Nersess Shnorhali’s writings.”

— Roberta Ervine, Professor of Armenian Christian Studies, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary

Odes of Saint Nersess the Graceful: A Conversation with Jesse S. Arlen and Matthew J. Sarkisian

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On Monday, April 15th at 4:00pm ET, authors Jesse S. Arlen and Matthew J. Sarkisian will discuss their new book, Odes of Saint Nersess the Graceful: Annotated Translation, in conversation with Prof. George Demacopoulos. The Zoom webinar is hosted by the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University and co-sponsored by NAASR and the Zohrab Information Center.

Register for the Zoom webinar here.

The book is available to purchase from Armenian booksellers, including the NAASR bookstore, AGBU bookstore, Abril Books, and the Prelacy Bookstore as well as via Amazon.