Society for Armenian Studies Spring 2026 Graduate Research and Conference Grants Recipients

FRESNO — The Society for Armenian Studies is pleased to announce the recipients of its Spring 2026 Graduate Research and Conference Grants. The recipients are Armen Manuk-Khaloyan, for his paper on “Whose Empire? Late Ottoman Armenian and Greek Cultural Discourses and the Reshaping of Empire,” presented at the 6^th Mid-Atlantic Ottomanist conference held at Rutgers University in April 2026 and Diana Yayloyan, for her archival and library research for her dissertation, “Fugitive Ecologies in the Ottoman Borderlands: 1870-late 1930.”

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

SAS President Barlow Der Mugrdechian congratulated each of the awardees. “SAS is continuing in its mission to support such promising young scholars. Their fields of research demonstrate the multi-disciplinary aspect of Armenian Studies,” said Der Mugrdechian. “We encourage other young scholars to join SAS.”

Recipients expressed their thoughts on their awards.

“I am deeply grateful for being awarded the Society for Armenian Studies travel grant. For years, the Society has made it possible for scholars to share their findings at conferences and other professional venues, and I am delighted that I was afforded the opportunity to present my latest research regarding Ottoman Armenian history. As the field of Armenian Studies continues to grows in stature and importance, so it remains incumbent upon us not only to maintain support but to expand such initiatives,” said Armen Manuk-Khaloyan.

“I am very grateful to the Society for Armenian Studies for awarding me the Graduate Research Grant and enabling me to conduct archival research in Paris, which is essential for my dissertation ‘Fugitive Ecologies in the Ottoman Borderlands, 1870–late 1930s.’ The dissertation asks how contests across the Ottoman-Transcaucasus borderlands over terrain, mobility and property regime shaped both the everyday lives of communities, and the broader processes of imperial and post-imperial transformation across the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,” said Diana Yayloyan.

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 Society for Armenian Studies website can be found at: https://societyforarmenianstudies.com/

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 Armenian Research Center, University of Michigan, Dearborn; the Meghrouni Family Presidential Chair in Armenian Studies, University of California, Irvine; the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR); the AGBU Nubar Library, Paris, France; the Armenian Studies Program, California State University, Fresno; the Institute of Armenian Studies, University of Southern California; the Armenian Studies Program, University of California, Berkeley; the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, New York; the Mashtots Chair in Armenian Studies, Harvard University; and through a generous donation from Mr. Dean Shahinian.