A Two-Day Conference:
November 20-21, 2026
Boston, MA
Organized by the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS)
In conjunction with the Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting
Recent developments in digital humanities, Artificial Intelligence (AI), handwritten text recognition (HTR), computational analysis, and digital preservation are reshaping how scholarship is produced, taught, and disseminated. For Armenian Studies, these developments present not only new technical possibilities, but also broader methodological and conceptual questions concerning archives, interpretation, pedagogy, and cultural heritage.
The Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) invites proposals for an interdisciplinary conference examining the relationship between Armenian Studies and digital research practices. The conference aims to bring together scholars from across the field, including history, literature, linguistics, art history, archaeology, religious studies, manuscript studies, diaspora studies, media studies, and related disciplines, to explore how digital tools and computational methods are transforming research and teaching in Armenian Studies.
We welcome theoretically grounded and methodologically innovative contributions that engage with the opportunities and limitations of AI-driven and digital approaches. While proposals involving specific tools and platforms, such as AI applications, large language models, Transkribus, eScriptorium, GIS mapping, or 3D imaging, are encouraged, the conference is equally interested in critical reflections on verification, bias, scholarly responsibility, and the broader implications of conducting Armenian Studies in digitally mediated environments.
The conference also seeks to situate Armenian Studies within wider conversations in digital humanities and related fields. Contributions are encouraged to place Armenian materials and case studies into broader comparative, multilingual, transregional, and interdisciplinary frameworks.
Papers may engage materials ranging from premodern manuscripts and inscriptions to archives, visual culture, architecture, archaeology, oral history, and born-digital media. The conference especially welcomes work involving multilingual and cross-script materials, including Armenian sources in dialogue with Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Syriac, Greek, Russian, and European languages.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Theoretical and methodological reflections on Armenian Studies in digitally mediated research environments
- AI and digital tools in research: transcription, corpus analysis, mapping, network analysis, and multilingual workflows
- Digital philology, editing, annotation, and manuscript studies
- Handwritten text recognition (HTR), OCR, and cross-script computational challenges
- Archaeology, architecture, and heritage preservation through digital documentation, GIS, and 3D imaging
- Art history and visual culture in digital environments
- Digital archives, open-access initiatives, and questions of cultural stewardship
- Computational approaches to diaspora, mobility, media, and transnational cultural production
- Ethical and epistemological questions surrounding AI, digitization, data, and algorithmic bias
- Risks of misinformation, misattribution, and historical distortion in digital environments
- Teaching Armenian Studies through digital literacy and critical technological engagement
- Public-facing and collaborative digital humanities projects
Scholars at all career stages are invited to submit proposals.
Please submit:
- an abstract of approximately 250-300 words
- a brief biographical statement (ca. 150 words)
to execsecretary.sas@gmail.com.
Submission Deadline: July 17, 2026
Notification of Acceptance:
Limited travel and accommodation support will be available for selected applicants. Selected papers may be considered for inclusion in an edited volume of the Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies (JSAS) or published as part of a separate volume.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact SAS Executive Secretary Flora Ghazaryan-Abdin at execsecretary.sas@gmail.com.
SAS Call for Papers