Vartan Gregorian Scholarship Program Announces Call for Applications

ArmenPress, Armenia
Oct 12 2018


 Vartan Gregorian Scholarship Program Announces Call for Applications


YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
announces a call for applications for new research grants, IDeAsaid in
a press release.

The Vartan Gregorian Scholarship (Research Grants) Program will
support exceptional early-career scholars and researchers, with a
specific focus on historians and social scientists, in their efforts
to study the unexplored questions of the 20th century history of
Armenia.

The first phase of the five-year scholarship program will focus on
Armenian scholars and researchers from Armenia under the age of 35.
The second and third phases of the scholarship program will be
expanded to include scholars and researchers in the global Armenian
diaspora and beyond. The scholarship program will award two $30,000
grants per year. “Universities and scholars play a critical role in
asking and answering the questions that concern mankind. The Vartan
Gregorian Scholarship supports the spirit of inquiry and study that
Vartan himself embodies. We are proud that the scholarship will enrich
the body of knowledge about Armenia and will augment the contributions
of Armenian scholarship”, said Ruben Vardanyan, Co-founder of the
Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. “We are making this announcement
today, on Holy Translators Day, in the spirit of commitment to the
foundational, cross-cultural exchange that the 5th century Translators
introduced to the Armenian world. The Vartan Gregorian Scholarship
will celebrate this man and this tradition.” The Vartan Gregorian
Scholarship (Research Grants) Program was created to strengthen
connections between Armenian and international research institutions,
building on the deep and rich scholarly tradition of Armenia. With the
support of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and experts in the field
of Armenian Studies, the Scholae Mundi education platform will play a
key role in the implementation of the program. The scholarship program
was created by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative in consultation with
experts in the field of Armenian Studies, to advance scholarly
research in Armenia and on Armenian topics internationally. The
experts who were consulted by the Initiative have included: Hratch
Tchilingirian, Associate Faculty Member of Faculty of Oriental
Studies, University of Oxford; Hayk Demoyan, Doctor of Historical
Sciences and former Director of the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute; and Levon Chookaszian, Head of Chair of History and
Theory of Armenian Art, Yerevan State University. Each application
will be reviewed by a five-member international Selection Board
comprised of prominent scholars: • Ronald G. Suny, the William H.
Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History, University
of Michigan and Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History,
the University of Chicago • George Bournoutian, Senior Professor of
History, Iona College • Hratch Tchilingirian, Associate Faculty Member
of Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford • Levon
Chookaszian, Head of Chair of History and Theory of Armenian Art,
Yerevan State University • Hayk Demoyan, Doctor of Historical Sciences
and former Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
Welcoming the call for applications, Ronald G. Suny said, “A small
investment in a promising scholar at the beginning of her or his
career rebounds many fold as that researcher continues through time to
contribute to our knowledge of the world. The Vartan Gregorian
Scholarship will bear fruit many decades after its first seeds are
planted.” The application process will be conducted online and will be
open until December 1, 2018. All applicants will be requested to
submit: • A research proposal in English (maximum of 2,000 words,
double spaced, 12pt font) • A CV with a list of publications • A cover
letter • At least one academic letter of recommendation. ### Dr.
Vartan Gregorian is a co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
and President of Carnegie Corporation of New York. Born in Tabriz,
Iran, of Armenian parents, Dr. Gregorian received his elementary
education in Iran and his secondary education in Lebanon. In 1956 he
entered Stanford University, where he majored in history and the
humanities, graduating with honors in 1958. He was awarded a PhD in
history and humanities from Stanford in 1964. He was founding dean of
the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania in
1974 and four years later became its twenty-third provost until 1981.
Following an academic career spanning two decades, Dr. Gregorian
served as President of The New York Public Library. He is widely
credited with restoring the status of the library as a cultural
landmark. In 1989 he was appointed president of Brown University. Dr.
Gregorian is the recipient of numerous fellowships, including from the
John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned
Societies, the Social Science Research Council, and the American
Philosophical Society.