Center for Armenian Studies, University of Michigan

05/22/2026

05/04/2026

Join us Sunday, May 10, 3:00–5:00 PM at the Helmut Stern Auditorium (UMMA) for the VEM Ensemble (UCLA Armenian Music Program).

The VEM String Quartet performs works by Suni, Gazarossian, Saryan, and Komitas, with presentations by Dr. Melissa Bilal, Dr. Ronald Grigor Suny, and Dr. Anoush Tamar Suni.

Cosponsored by the UCLA Armenian Music Program and Tekeyan Cultural Association - Greater New York

05/04/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us on April 24 for Shared Memories: The Armenian Experience Through Objects and Stories.

This event is always one of the most meaningful moments of our year, and it is entirely shaped by the community. Through the objects you brought and the stories you shared, you transformed the space into something deeply personal, reflective, and powerful. Together, we created a space in Ann Arbor for thoughtful commemoration of the 111 years since the Armenian Genocide.

Please enjoy a few photos from the evening
Armenian Students' Cultural Association at the University of Michigan University of Michigan International Institute National Association for Armenian Studies and Research - NAASR University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

04/26/2026

Some memorable moments from our 15th Annual International Graduate Student Workshop (April 10-11, 2026):

Armenians Apart: Connections, Disconnections, and Tensions in Premodern and Modern Diasporas co-organized by Armen Abkarian & Michael Pifer and Kachig Tölölyan!

04/22/2026

This week!

4th Annual Shared Memories: The Armenian Experience Through Objects and Stories

Friday, April 24, 2026 | 4:00-5:30 PM ● Weiser Hall 1010

In recognition of the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, the Center for Armenian Studies at the University of Michigan, in partnership with the Armenian Students Cultural Association and the Multidisciplinary Workshop for Armenian Studies, invites the community to the fourth annual Shared Memories: The Armenian Experience Through Objects and Stories.

This gathering centers on the power of objects as vessels of memory, survival, and identity. Across generations and geographies, Armenians have preserved history not only through archives and texts, but through everyday items carried, saved, and passed down. Photographs, letters, jewelry, textiles, books, religious objects, and household items often bear stories of loss, resilience, migration, and continuity that written records alone cannot capture.

Community members are invited to bring an object and, if they wish, share their story connected to it. These stories may speak to the Armenian Genocide, life in the Ottoman Empire, displacement and refuge, the Michigan Armenian experience, or the broader American Armenian story. Sharing is informal and conversational, creating space for reflection, dialogue, and intergenerational connection.

No prior expertise is required, and participation is flexible. Attendees are welcome to listen, reflect, and engage even if they do not bring an object.

Refreshments will be provided.

This event is open to the public.

Co-sponsors:
Armenian Students' Cultural Association at the University of Michigan
Multidisciplinary Workshop for Armenian Studies, U-M
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research - NAASR
University of Michigan International Institute

04/18/2026

Seminar. Reading Armenian Manuscripts: Mediterranean Studies Summer Skills Seminar. Registration until April 26. Seminar dates: June 29-July 2 (Remote). From the fifth century CE onward, Armenian writing has spanned an incredible geographic and cultural scope. This intensive and introductory course will guide participants to decipher medieval and early modern Armenian manuscripts, from the work of professional scribes at the Cilician chancellery to the personal correspondence of travelers, far from home, to equally well-traveled romances in the worldly vernacular.

Faculty

Michael Pifer is Marie Manoogian Professor of Armenian Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies. His research seeks to situate medieval Armenian language and literary history within broader contexts of multilingualism and cultural exchange. He is a team member of the European Research Council funded project, Armenia Entangled: Connectivity and Cultural Encounters in Medieval Eurasia, 9th - 14th Centuries, based in Florence. Pifer is the author of Kindred Voices: A Literary History of Medieval Anatolia (Yale University Press, 2021) and the co-editor of the volume An Armenian Mediterranean: Words and Worlds in Motion (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). He has previously taught courses in Classical Armenian at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, Fresno State, and the University of Michigan.

See the announcement

04/16/2026

4th Annual Shared Memories: The Armenian Experience Through Objects and Stories

Friday, April 24, 2026 | 4:00-5:30 PM ● Weiser Hall 1010

In recognition of the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, the Center for Armenian Studies at the University of Michigan, in partnership with the Armenian Students Cultural Association and the Multidisciplinary Workshop for Armenian Studies, invites the community to the fourth annual Shared Memories: The Armenian Experience Through Objects and Stories.

This gathering centers on the power of objects as vessels of memory, survival, and identity. Across generations and geographies, Armenians have preserved history not only through archives and texts, but through everyday items carried, saved, and passed down. Photographs, letters, jewelry, textiles, books, religious objects, and household items often bear stories of loss, resilience, migration, and continuity that written records alone cannot capture.

Community members are invited to bring an object and, if they wish, share their story connected to it. These stories may speak to the Armenian Genocide, life in the Ottoman Empire, displacement and refuge, the Michigan Armenian experience, or the broader American Armenian story. Sharing is informal and conversational, creating space for reflection, dialogue, and intergenerational connection.

No prior expertise is required, and participation is flexible. Attendees are welcome to listen, reflect, and engage even if they do not bring an object.

Refreshments will be provided.

This event is open to the public.

Co-sponsors:
Armenian Students' Cultural Association at the University of Michigan
Multidisciplinary Workshop for Armenian Studies, U-M
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research - NAASR
University of Michigan International Institute

03/27/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the 2026 Annual Dr. Berj H. Haidostian Distinguished Lecture, Threading the Tapestry for a Future Armenia, with artist Levon Kafafian in conversation with the visual culture scholar Marie-Aude Baronian.

Levon Kafafian’s accompanying exhibition, Հմայարան / Hmayaran, originally scheduled to close on March 30, will now run through April 30 in the International Institute Gallery (Room 547, Weiser Hall). If you were unable to attend the opening, please visit this immersive installation.

We would like to thank our cosponsor the Institute for the Humanities (Amanda Krugliak) at UM and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research - NAASR

03/26/2026

Check out Հմայարան / Hmayaran by Levon Kafafian in Weiser Hall 547 in Ann Arbor, MI until April 30th!

03/18/2026

Armenian Studies Needs your Help this Giving Blue Day!

Click here to donate: https://myumi.ch/dgddj

Your gift is pivotal in driving forward our mission to educate about all things Armenian and provide a nurturing intellectual community for our students and early-career scholars. Your confidence in our efforts is deeply appreciated, and we invite you to join us in shaping the future of Armenian Studies. We could not do this without your generous support!

Join me and support what you love about LSA on Giving Blueday!