Armenian

 

An illuminated manuscript painting by Sargis Ptisak, who was a 14th century Armenian artist. First Page of the Gospel of Mark, Cod. 2627, fol. 436 r. (Matenadaran). Work of Sargis Pitsak scanned from B. Choukaszian, Sargis Pitsak, printed in Finland, 1986

Armenian studies have been pursued at Oxford since the mid nineteenth century. More recently, the establishment in 1965 of the Calouste Gulbenkian Professorship has guaranteed a permanent place for Armenian in the broader field of the Near East.

Within the long span of Armenian history study of Armenia at Oxford concentrates on the period when Armenian sources give valuable information not only about Armenian culture itself, but also about neighbouring peoples of the Near East. Emphasis is therefore given to the study of the classical and medieval forms of the language and to Armenian literature from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries. Oxford is the only university in the UK where Armenian may be studied. The Armenian resources of the Bodleian library are excellent; Pusey Lane also houses a working library for students.

Armenian may be studied as an additional language option at the undergraduate level in conjunction with Arabic, Classics, Persian, or Turkish.

Current People
Former People

Former Postdoctoral Fellows in Armenian Studies

Dr Karen Hamada (2020-2022)

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellow (1 April 2020-31 March 2022)

 

Dr Vazken Davidian (2019-2022)

Calouste Gulbenkian Postdoctoral Fellow (1 October 2019-30 September 2022)

 

Dr David Zakarian (2017-2019)

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow (1 Jan 2017- 31 Dec 2019)

Junior Research Fellow, Pembroke College 

 

Dr Belçim Özlem Galip (2015-2016)

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow 2015-2016

Faculty Associate 2013-2015

Research interests: Kurdish literature, novelistic discourse, Kurdish Women Intellectuals in Europe,  Armenian Studies, Diaspora Studies.

Marie Curie Fellow, 2018-2020, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford

 

Dr Nikoloz Aleksidze (2014-2018) 

Armenia & Georgia

The Cult of Saints European Research Council Research Project - Principal Investigator Dr Bryan Ward-Perkins

http://cultofsaints.modhist.ox.ac.uk

Junior Reseach Fellow, Pembroke College

 

Dr Emilio Bonfiglio (2013-2016)

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow 

Junior Research Fellow, Pembroke College

Faculty Associate (2016-2017)

 

Dr Irene Tinti (2013-2014)

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow (Jan 2013 - Dec 2014)

“The Armenian Translation of Plato’s Timaeus: Language and Ascription”

(http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/staff/ec/itinti.html)

 

Former Visiting Researchers

Dr Federico Alpi

Visiting Research Scholar, Hilary Term 2016 

Jointly teaching Grigor Magistros' Letters to the Tondrakians; Grigor Aknerc‘i, History of the Nation of the Archers
Visiting Research Scholar, Trinity Term 2014, Trinity Term 2013

PhD Candidate (University of Pisa),
Thesis subject: Grigor Magistros - A life's Chronology
Thesis supervisor: Dr Alessandro Orengo (Pisa)  

 

Prof Thomas F. Mathews

The John Langeloth Loeb Professor of the History of Art, Emeritus Institute of Fine Arts, NYU

Leverhulme Visiting Professor in Early Christian, Byzantine and Armenian Art 

Visiting Fellow, Pembroke College (HT & TT 2010)
TT 2010 Lecture Series: Armenian Art on the International Stage
HT 2010 Lecture Series: Cultic Paintings from Antiquity to the Renaissance

Projects and Activities