News & Events

The Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) announces the recipients of its Spring 2025 Graduate Research and Conference Grants. The five recipients are: Annika Topelian, for her research that investigates the acquisition of Western Armenian by children living in diaspora communities, Lori Pirinjian to present her paper entitled “Caught Between Two Powers: Gender, Nationalism, and Armenia’s Domestic Violence Law” at the 29th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN), Anoush Sargsyan for her research on the adaptation of the Zodiac Man diagrams in the Armenian manuscript tradition, Hayarpi Hakobyan for her research on medieval Armenian book production and illumination in the Lake Van region, also known as Vaspurakan, from the last quarter of the thirteenth to the mid-fourteenth century, and Başak Yağmur Karaca for her research analyzing the role of the Amiras, in the urbanization and functioning of the city, across imperial, communal, and spatial levels.

Each of the winning recipients received a $1,000 grant awarded by the Society.

SAS President Barlow Der Mugrdechian congratulated all of the awardees. “We are proud to fund such excellent graduate students. The nature and the depth of their work demonstrates the multi-disciplinary aspect of Armenian Studies as a field of inquiry,” said Der Mugrdechian. “I would like to encourage all those who are interested in the activities of SAS to support us so that we can support such promising young scholars to achieve their goals.”

Annika Topelian

“I am extremely grateful to the Society for Armenian Studies for sponsoring this award and selecting me as a recipient. These funds will allow me to complete my dissertation research on the acquisition of Western Armenian in diaspora communities and fulfill the requirements for my Ph.D. in Linguistics. As an aspiring Armenian Studies scholar, it is incredibly encouraging to receive support from an organization which does so much to promote and further the field. It is my hope that the research this award supports will also serve the greater Armenian community by contributing to current and future maintenance efforts for the Western Armenian language in the diaspora.”

 

 

 

Lori Pirinjian

“Having the support of SAS as part of my academic endeavors has been invaluable. It is through SAS’s generosity that I am able to travel across the country to present research, publicize my work, and meet potential future collaborators. SAS has played no small part in my continued academic growth, and, for that, I am incredibly grateful.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anoush Sargsyan

“The SAS Graduate Research and Conference Grant enabled me to participate in an exceptional international workshop on tables and diagrams in Middle Eastern manuscript traditions, organized by the ERC project ZODIAC at Freie Universität Berlin (Mathieu Ossendrijver), in cooperation with the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (George A. Kiraz, Sabine Schmidtke), and the renowned independent scholar Sonja Brentjes. Presenting my research on Armenian manuscript diagrams alongside leading scholars in the field was a deeply enriching experience that will significantly shape the future direction of my work.”

 

 

 

Hayarpi Hakobyan

“In the context of my research on manuscripts produced in the Lake Van region before 1350, the collection of the Mekhitarist Congregation in Venice holds particular importance. It represents the second most significant corpus after the Matenadaran. A brief research stay in Venice will allow for essential first-hand examination of key manuscripts. This visit marks a crucial step toward the completion of my dissertation. I am deeply grateful to SAS for their generous support, which has made this phase of my work possible.”

 

 

 

 

Basak Yagmur Karaca

“I truly appreciate the research grant from the Society of Armenian Studies (SAS). This wonderful support will allow me to dive deeper into my archival research on the significant impact of Armenian moneylenders in shaping the urban landscape and infrastructure of Istanbul during the 19th century. I appreciate SAS for their financial support in promoting scholarship in Armenian studies.”

The Society of Armenian Studies is an international body, composed of scholars and students, whose aims are to promote the study of Armenian culture and society, including history, language, literature, and social, political, and economic questions; to facilitate the exchange of scholarly information pertaining to Armenian studies around the world; and to sponsor panels and conferences on Armenian studies.

 

 

The SAS Graduate Research and Conference Grants were made possible through the generous institutional support of the Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair of Armenian Genocide Studies, Clark University; the Armenian Studies Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; the Meghrouni Family Presidential Chair in Armenian Studies, University of California, Irvine; the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR); the Armenian Communities Department, Gulbenkian Foundation; the Armenian Studies Program, California State University, Fresno; the Institute of Armenian Studies, University of Southern California, the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute; the Armenian Studies Program, University of California Berkeley; and the Mashtots Chair in Armenian Studies, Harvard University.