NAASR and the Knights of Vartan Award 20 Grants to Scholars

BELMONT — In the first 6 months of 2017, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies (FAS) have awarded 20 grants to scholars from around the world. This impressive list of awardees demonstrates the tremendous diversity of the subjects covered by these grants, many of which have been issued to graduate students or recent PhDs, as well as to established scholars and researchers, based in Armenia, Western Europe, and the U.S.

The NAASR and the Knights’ FAS partnership, ongoing since 2007, has helped to help strengthen the field of Armenian Studies by providing grants to a large number of scholars and institutions. In recent years efforts have been made to boost the level of funding available for grants in recognition of the increased demand from scholars and researchers and the shortage of available options for them. In 2016 and 2017, the amount of grants issued was nearly double that of 2014 and 2015.

A listing of grant recipients since 2011 available on www.naasr.org, covering both grants by NAASR and the Knights of Vartan FAS as well as jointly issued grants. Below is an alphabetical list of grant recipients thus far in 2017.

NAASR and FAS Grant Recipients (Since Jan. 2017)
Scott Abramson , PhD candidate, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA. Grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Rosie Aroush , Doctoral Candidate, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA. Grant issued by NAASR.
Gayane Babayan , graduate student, Central European University and Yerevan State University. Grant issued by NAASR.
Melissa Bilal , Visiting Scholar, Dept. of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
George Bournoutian, Professor of History, Iona College. Grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Vahram Danielyan, Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Armenian Literature, Yerevan State University. Grant issued by NAASR.
Iván Gaztañaga González, PhD. Candidate in Genocide and International Law, University of Granada, Spain. Grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Vahagn Hakobyan, PhD student, Institute of Oriental Studies, National Academy of Sciences, Armenia. Grant issued by NAASR.
Ani Kasparian, independent researcher and Assistant Director, Armenian Research Center, Dearborn, MI. Grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Whitney Kite, MA student in Art History, Tufts University. Grant issued by NAASR.
Péter Kránitz, graduate student, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest. Grant issued by NAASR.
Dr. Umit Kurt, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University. Grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Jennifer Manoukian, Doctoral student, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA. Grant issued by NAASR.
Caroline McCune, Masters Candidate in Art History and Museum Studies, Tufts University. Grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Lilit Melikyan, PhD student in Diaspora studies, Yerevan State University. Grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Laura Samvelyan, independent researcher and Assistant Creative Director, Publicis Armenia. Grant issued by NAASR.
Marine Sargsyan, PhD Student, Leiden University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute for History. Grant issued by NAASR.
Ani Shahinian, Doctoral student, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA. Grant issued by NAASR.
Theo van Lint, University of Oxford, on behalf of AIEA (Association Internationale des Etudes Arméniennes, grant in support of the 14th General Conference of the AIEA, to be hosted at Pembroke College, Oxford, August 10-12, 2017. Grant issued by NAASR and by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.
Tigran Yepremyan, PhD Candidate in World History, Yerevan State University. Grant issued by the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.

All relevant grant proposals are reviewed by NAASR’s Academic Advisory Committee in consultation with NAASR Director of Academic Affairs Marc A. Mamigonian. The committee consists of Prof. Kevork Bardakjian (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), Prof. Michael J. Connolly (Boston College), Prof. Christina Maranci (Tufts University), Prof. Dennis R. Papazian (University of Michigan, Dearborn, retired), Prof. James R. Russell (Harvard University, retired).

For more information about NAASR and the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies grants, visit https://naasr.org/pages/grants-academic-outreach.