PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Contact: Marc Mamigonian
Tel: 617-489-1610
Fax: 617-484-1759
E-mail: hq@naasr.org
Web:
TALK ON HISTORY OF ARMENIAN DISSIDENCE
AT NAASR BY DR. SETA DADOYAN
Dr. Seta Dadoyan, currently of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, will give
a lecture entitled "Armenian Dissidence: Highlights of an Unwritten
History," on Thursday, September 20, at 8:00 p.m., at the National
Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA. This will mark the resumption of NAASR’s
lecture series which has been on hiatus during the summer.
There is a legacy of Armenian dissidence, the history of which has yet
to be written. In this talk, her first at NAASR, Dr. Seta B. Dadoyan
will analyze highlights of Armenian dissidence as reactions against-and
yet also essential parts of-the cultural legacy of Armenians. By
dissidence Dadoyan means sets of beliefs/values and/or courses of action
that are liberal in essence and reformist in motives. As such they run
contrary to the prevailing value systems and narratives.
Wide Range of Movements, Groups, and Individuals
Dissidence covers religious, reformist, syncretistic, and egalitarian
social movements (such as the Tondrakians) that also had literary
aspects (such as the work of Grigor Narekatsi). Pro-Eastern policies
and the careers of individuals and groups (such as the Armenians in the
Islamic world), and Cilician ecumenism (exemplified by Nerses
Lambronatsi) in turn ran counter to mainstream "national" ideology. In
many ways, Armenian popular culture and humor are "dissident" in their
liberalism and cosmopolitanism. Dadoyan’s objective is to bring out
alternative intriguing sides of Armenian culture and to suggest a more
critical perspective than otherwise stereotyped accounts.
Dr. Dadoyan taught for many years at the American University of Beirut
and Haigazian University and more recently at Columbia University. She
will be teaching at St. Nersess Seminary in 2007-2008. She is the
author of numerous articles in scholarly journals and several books,
including Pages of West Armenian Philosophical Thought (1987), The
Fatimid Armenians: Cultural and Political Interaction in the Near East
(1997), and The Armenian Catholicosate from Cilicia to Antelias: An
Introduction to the Political History (2003). At present she is working
on an extensive work on the Armenians in the Near East.
Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). The NAASR
Center is located opposite the First Armenian Church and next to the
U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available around the building and in
adjacent areas. The lecture will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.
More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing hq@naasr.org, or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.