CENTERS FOR ARMENIAN STUDIES IN EUROPE

24.02.2015

CENTERS FOR ARMENIAN STUDIES IN EUROPE

Arestakes Simavoryan
Head of the Centre for Armenian Studies, Noravank Foundation

Armenian Studies have deep roots and traditions in Europe. In various historical periods reputable centers for Armenian Studies existed at various academic and religious institutions in European countries. As many authors note, development of Armenian Studies coincided with the European Age of Enlightenment and periods thereafter, with Mekhitarist Congregation playing a unique role in it. The Armenian Studies activities of the Congregation resulted in further increase of European interest in Armenian language and history. Although Armenian Studies had been a subject of ample interest in France, Italy, Germany, and the UK, for many years the Mekhitarist Congregations in Venice and Vienna remained unique European centers for Armenian Studies along with a handful of university chairs and departments.

University chairs and departments

The university chairs and departments include:

- Armenian Studies department at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, INALCO) in Paris, France,

- Chair of Armenian Language and Literature at University of Provence (Aix-Marseille University), France,

- Chair of Armenian Language and Literature at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy,

- Chair of Armenian Studies at Department of Philology of the University of Bologna, Italy,

- Calouste Gulbenkian Professorship of Armenian Studies at the University of Oxford, UK,

- Department of Armenian Studies at Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium,

- Department of Armenian Studies at University of Salzburg, Austria.

The example of Calouste Gulbenkian Professorship of Armenian Studies at the University of Oxford. The Armenian Studies at the University of Oxford have been pursued since mid-19th century. The Professorship of Armenian Studies was founded in 1965 at the Oriental Institute of the University of Oxford through donations from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. At undergraduate level Armenian Studies are offered as part of the joint course in Theology and Oriental Studies. At the graduate level a separate Master’s program is offered in Classical Armenian alone. In Master of Philosophy program Armenian is a component part of the Eastern Christian Studies. It may also be studied as a part of the Master’s degree program in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, and in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology. Advanced research may lead to a D.Phil. in Armenian. Master of Studies (M.St.) in Classical Armenian Studies involves a core course in language, literature, history, and culture of Ancient and Medieval Armenia, and then separate courses on key Armenian literary genres¹. Research works are implemented in collaboration with other institutions.

A few aspects of the activities of chairs and departments for Armenian Studies are presented briefly presented below.

All chairs and departments for Armenian Studies maintain coordinated and regular programs to ensure educational, research, cooperation and general activities. The educational programs may change every year, whereas research activities are primarily carried out within frameworks of long-term programs.

Educational activities. Various branches of Armenian Studies are taught, including modern Armenian language (Eastern and Western Armenian, Classical Armenian), linguistics, literature (ancient and medieval), Armenian history, Diaspora history, Armenian art history, history of the Armenian Apostolic Church, etc. Some chairs conduct courses of Armenian Studies in a phased approach, which may last 3-4 or even 5 years for novices, undergraduates, those pursuing Master’s or PhD degrees. Post-graduate courses are offered at some of the university chairs.

Research activities. Most of the research work is implemented within long-term programs with various subjects, such as dialectology (Armenian Studies department at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations, INALCO)², ancient and medieval literature (University of Oxford), theology and Christianity (Université catholique de Louvain), etc. In other cases research is focused mainly on Armenian history, Armenian philology, Armenian culture, ethnography, and some other scientific disciplines.

In the chairs and departments most research work is dedicated to Armenian language, history of art, ancient and medieval history, Armenian diaspora communities, etc. V. Calzolari notes that there are very few centers where modern Armenian literature can be studied or theses prepared³.

Cooperation. University chairs and departments cooperate in several forms, such as joint supervision of research theses, exchange of specialists and work experience, etc. The cooperation experience of Chair for Armenian Studies at University of Venice can be brought as an example. It implements scientific exchange programs with Yerevan State University and University of Geneva, as well as chairs at University of Bologna, Catholic University of Milan (also for the alumni). Generally, all chairs of Armenian Studies collaborate with academic and non-academic institutions both in their countries and abroad, but sometimes this collaboration may be formal. Usually, the ties created thanks to collaboration enable performing joint research, while after collaboration is over, these institutional links turn into personal ones or vice versa.

In the last decade university chairs and departments in Europe have cooperated with Yerevan State University, Matenadaran, National Academy of Science and other scientific/educational institutions within various programs, and developed mutual scientific cooperation through exchange of students and scholars, publishing articles, participation in conferences on Armenian Studies, etc.

Institutes for Armenian Studies

Seven European institutes involved in Armenian Studies have been considered. Some of the institutions are think-tank-style analytical structures that conduct research of Armeniancy’s problems and these were not regarded as centers for Armenian Studies. However, they can implement substantial lobbying activities in their respective societies, because their research involves some politically important contemporary issues that are not well covered in Europe, such as condemnation and international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian Cause, the problem of Artsakh, etc. The “intellectual output” with these characteristics produced by analytical structures is very different from the Armenian Studies publications and activities of universities. However, different structures have a great potential for complementing each other. Some institutions are independent analytical or academic structures and others are research units attached to universities.

These institutions include:

- Gomidas Institute (UK),

- Armenian Institute (UK),

- Institute for Armenian Questions (Institut für armenische Fragen, Germany),

- The Chobanian Institute (Institut Tchobanian, France),

- Sayabalian Institute for Armenian Studies (Institut Sayabalian d'Etudes Arméniennes, France),

- Mediterranean Institute for Armenian Studies (Institut Méditerranéen de recherches Arméniennes, France),

- Armenology Institute of Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania).

Activities of some of these institutes are briefly described below.

Armenian Institute is located in London and was established in 2001. Its activities are financed by private investments. It also receives grants from NGOs in UK and international organizations. Through innovative programs the Institute conducts public lectures, academic courses, exhibitions and theatrical performances for the Armenian community and the British public. Research projects are carried out jointly with other scientific structures; for instance, the Armenian Dictionary Project was implemented together with the University College London, while the Azokh cave⁴ project with Blandford Town Museum and University College London. It can be stated that the Institute has no particularly preferred topics, and any offer for collaboration is considered from the perspective of its relevance and topicality.

The Institute has cooperation experience especially with Armenian establishments, scientific and cultural institutions of UK and USA, such as Centre for Armenian Information and Advice in London, National Association for Armenian Studies and Research in the USA, Land & Culture Organisation in London. It cooperates also with centers for Armenian Studies in other countries (e.g. Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno) and other scientific/educational institutions (e.g. the Grotowski Institute), as well as with individual scholars of Armenian Studies.

Within the framework of this research questionnaires were sent out to structures for Armenian Studies, and with regard to Armenian Institute it was found out that it has no experience of cooperation with any scientific center in Armenia, although the level of collaboration with individual scholars of Armenian Studies and other experts is quite high. Numerous individual researchers are involved with the Institute in such thematic works as traditional costumes, “Namus” of Shirvanzade, “The 1988 Spitak Earthquake in the British Press”, etc.

The educational program includes Eastern and Western Armenian languages, and a course of Armenian history is currently introduced. Bardez/Partez newsletter is issued where journalistic and scientific articles are published on Armenian Studies. The Armenian Institute has published a number of valuable works on Armenian identity and Armenian communities. The Institute maintains a library consisting of 10,000 multilingual books and periodicals on Armenian Studies.

In addition to the above said, the Institute currently faces two main challenges: the problem of space and financial difficulties.

Institut Tchobanian conducts scientific and analytical work, which is not solely dedicated to Armenian Studies, as the latter is just one of the research directions. It can be stated that the institute is the only Armenian analytical center in Europe with multiethnic staff. It has been established in Paris in 2004 on the occasion of 50th anniversary of Archag Tchobanian’s death. The institute collaborates with Armenian and foreign scholars of Armenian Studies, political science and other specializations, as well as with various scientific structures. The institute does not receive assistance from any government and is not affiliated with any political party. Its budget is formed through membership fees and donations. Armenian Studies are conducted in two main directions. As Jean-Varoujan Sirapian, Founding President of the institute notes, the research involves the Armenian Cause and geopolitical issues that encompass both Armenia and Diaspora⁵։

The institute implements the following activities:

- Publication of bilingual French/English journal Europe & Orient and books on political, economic, regional and other problems of Turkey, South Caucasus and Middle East.

- Publication of articles and books related to the Armenian Cause, Armenian history, art, culture, and key political issues of Armeniancy.

- Organization of conferences and seminars on developments, current political processes and trends related to Armeniancy and occurring around the world.

Incidentally, the institute constantly works with western politicians, NGO leaders and journalists to inform and provide explanations regarding security problems that pose threats to the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh.⁶ Despite having scarce resources, the institute has financed and co-financed over a dozen political and geopolitical publications.

Thus, it can be stated that Institut Tchobanian is the only think-tank in France that counters the Turkish propaganda and also is involved in political Armenian Studies.⁷

***

Centers for Armenian Studies face problems, difficulties, internal and external challenges. In the recent years various problems have forced a number of chairs, departments and programs for Armenian Studies in Europe with research and educational dimensions to either close down altogether, or implement sporadic activities, sometimes being demoted from chair or center status to that of a sub-department. The only consolation found here is that the subjects of Armenian Studies were incorporated into wider disciplines, such as Armenian language in Caucasian languages⁸, Armenian history in Byzantine Studies and Eastern Christian or Oriental Studies.

On the other hand, in Europe not only Armenian Studies, but also some other deeply rooted scientific disciplines, such as classical literature, are now viewed as secondary subjects; in Germany they are dubbed “flowery disciplines” and scholars with high reputation have stopped encouraging to pursue those⁹. Some social and humanities disciplines are in crisis, and various strategic programs are developed to strengthen the institutional foundations of humanities.¹⁰

We believe one of the objective reasons for this situation is that in Europe and outside it, both at individual and government levels some humanities are considered unpromising and unprofitable in market terms (as income source).

Several chairs for Armenian Studies in Europe were shut down due to shortage in specialists and students, as well as lack of financing. The first and foremost problem of institutions for Armenian Studies is financing, which is comes from various sources, including budgets of the university and given country’s government, donations from Armenian community and individuals, Diaspora and Armenian government structures. Since some of the university chairs, departments and centers for Armenian Studies are financed from university budgets, due to the global economic crisis they faced most serious problems threatening their very survival. For instance, universities financed by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research in aftermath of the crisis had to shift to partial self-financing.¹¹ In another example, when the question of establishing a chair for Armenian Studies and introducing a relevant curriculum came up at ELTE University in Budapest in 2010, the management of the university refused to finance the program, because due to the economic crisis in the country the funding of the university for 2010-2014 has been cut substantially.¹² In Germany a decision was made to merge three higher education institutions in Berlin so as to face the crisis, in result of which the Free University of Berlin financed the Armenian program at Chair in Comparative and Indo-European Linguistics only till the end of the 2009-2010 academic year¹³, after which it was closed. Financial difficulties prompted the closure of Armenian Studies chair at Leiden University that existed in 1995-2009, although currently the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science undertakes some efforts to reopen it¹⁴. The Centre de Recherche et de documentation de la diaspora arménienne (CRDA, Center for research and documentation of the Armenian Diaspora) of France ceased operations in 2013¹⁵. Because of all these developments the university centers started looking for alternative financial sources to sustain their activities, seeking for grants, donations from and cooperation with other funds and institutions that have financial means.

Thanks to the Ministry of Education and Science a number of programs have been implemented to sustain or reopen centers for Armenian Studies in Europe. In particular, a grant amounting Euro 120,000 was received through support of German academic programs to sustain the Mesrop Armenian Studies Center at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, while the Armenian Studies Center at University of Bucharest was reopened¹⁶.

Despite the existing difficulties, new centers are opened in Europe. For example, in 2014 Armenology Institute was established at reputable Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania¹⁷, while in the Czech Republic an agreement signed between the Armenian embassy and Charles University in Prague enabled to reinstate teaching of Armenian Studies subjects, as the Government of Armenian made a decision to support it financially at the suggestion from the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science¹⁸. Centers for Armenian Studies in different European countries receive funding from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation¹⁹ and other pan-national organizations to carry out educational, scientific programs, research, publishing and conferences.

It has to be noted that most of the institutions for Armenian Studies in Europe are not well represented in the cyberspace. Information about their existence can be found in a few postings. Some centers, for example, Sayabalian Institute for Armenian Studies and the Mediterranean Institute for Armenian Studies have no websites, while others do not periodically update their sites (e.g. Center for Armenian Research at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Society for Armenian Studies), and still some others do not post information about their activities, educational programs, professors, researchers, publications, modus operandi and work contents of their institutions.

In spite of the numerous problems and some structural changes, a number of centers and chairs for Armenian Studies manage to maintain and try to develop the traditions of classical Armenian Studies in Europe.

¹ The Faculty of Oriental Studies. M. St. in Classical Armenian Studies (2013-2014), http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/docs/Handbooks/Handbook_MSt_Classical_Armenian_Studies.pdf

² INALCO offers a series of courses within the framework of professional education. See: Yegavian T., The Armenian Identity in France in the grip of memorialization, http://www.repairfuture.net/index.php/en/identity-standpoint-of-armenian-diaspora/the-armenian-identity-in-france-in-the-grip-of-memorialization

³ Կալցոլարի Վ., Եվրոպական հայագիտութեան արդի վիճակը եւ խնդիրները, Հայագիտական միջազգային երկրորդ համաժողով, «Հայագիտությունը և արդի ժամանակաշրջանի մարտահրավերները», Լիագումար նիստի զեկուցումներ, Երևան, 2013, էջ 39:

⁴ Located in Artsakh.

⁵ Սիրափյան Վ., Չոպանյան ինստիտուտի գործունեությունը, 05.10.2012, Աղավնաձոր, http://www.mindiaspora.am/res/Hamajoxovner/2012/Lragroghner6/Varujan Sirapyan.docx

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ For details about Armenian Studies institutions see: Ա.Սիմավորյան, Վ.Հովյան, Տ.Ղանալանյան, Արտերկրի հայագիտական կենտրոնները. ներուժի գնահատում, Երևան, 2014, էջ 68-84։

⁸ Կալցոլարի Վ., Եվրոպական հայագիտութեան արդի վիճակը եւ խնդիրները, Հայագիտական միջազգային երկրորդ համաժողով, «Հայագիտությունը և արդի ժամանակաշրջանի մարտահրավերները», Լիագումար նիստի զեկուցումներ, Երևան, 2013, էջ 40։

⁹ Ibid, էջ 41։

¹⁰ For details see: Գզոյան Է. և ուրիշներ, Հասարակական և հումանիտար գիտությունների արդի բնութագիրը, http://www.csiam.sci.am/pdf/texekagir 2.pdf

¹¹ Վենետիկի համալսարանի հայագիտության ամբիոնը խնդիրներ ունի («Առավոտ» օրաթերթ, դեկտեմբեր 13, 2013) http://www.aravot.am/2013/12/24/417817/

¹² Information provided by Hungarian armenologist Benedek Zsigmond.

¹³ Գերմանիայի «Freie Universitat Berlin» համալսարանի հայագիտության բաժնի գոյատևման հարցը ոչ մի կերպ չի հաջողվում լուծել, http://www.panarmenian.net/arm/details/44753/

¹⁴ Քննարկվել է Լեյդենի համալսարանում հայագիտական ամբիոնի վերականգնման հարցը (21.02.2014), http://www.edu.am/ArticleIndex.php?id=6566&topMenuArt=1

¹⁵ http://www.centre-francais-fondations.org/annuaire-des-fondations/2704

¹⁶ ԿԳ նախարար Արմեն Աշոտյանի հարցազրույցը «Առաջին լրատվական» էլեկտրոնային կայքին, (08.06.2012), http://www.edu.am/index.php?id=5653&topMenu=-1&menu1=205&menu2=205&arch=0

¹⁷ Ռումանիոյ մէջ՝ հայագիտութեան հարուստ աւանդութիւնները վերականգնելու փորձեր, http://asbarez.com/arm/197332/

¹⁸ Պրահայի Կարլի համալսարանի փիլիսոփայության ֆակուլտետում վերաբացվեցին հայագիտության առարկաները (16.09.2014), http://www.mfa.am/hy/press-releases/item/2014/09/16/prague_university/

¹⁹ Regarding the several decades of financial and other support that Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation contributed for development of Armenian Studies see: Ղարախանյան Վ., «Գալուստ Կյուլպենկյան» հիմնարկության հայանպաստ գործունեությունը. 1956-2006թթ., Երևան, 2008, էջ 191-208, Կ.Դալլաքյան, Գալուստ Կյուլպենկյան հիմնարկությունը (Կեսդարյա հոբելյանի առթիվ), «Պատմա-բանասիրական հանդես», 2006, թիվ 3, էջ 3-22։

“Globus” analytical bulletin, No. 1, 2015

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