In the novel The Hakawati by Druze Lebanese author Rabih Alameddine, the narrator describes the grandfather figure and titular character as among a generation who “escaped to Lebanon during the great Armenian orphan migration” (84). Alameddine here refers to the genocide of Armenians, understood in Armenian Studies as a totality of violent events from 1915-1923 that so defines the Armenian diasporic experience. While the history of this forced migration has traditionally anchored approaches in Armenian Studies for the study of Armenian identity negotiation outside of a territorial Armenian homeland, scholars such as Khachig Tölölyan have demonstrated the limitations of the singular rubric “the Armenian Diaspora” when modern globalization is taken into account. Relatedly, scholars such as Sebouh David Aslanian have articulated that Armenian mobility transpired by other means before the removal of Armenians as part of the 1915 Catastrophe. Displacements during and after the Soviet Union and due to the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh provide additional avenues to conceptualize Armenian belonging. Taking cues from recent scholarship, this course turns to diverse media (literature, print culture, art, and song) to offer a relational approach for the study of Armenian diasporic experiences. Relational encompasses both time and space, which allows us to juxtapose migrations pre- and post-1915 as well as to situate different geopolitical sites of upheaval in conversation (Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine). Ultimately, this course will appeal to students within and beyond Armenian Studies as it situates Armenian migrations and ensuing lived conditions within connective, regional, and global paradigms.

Course Requirements:

Assignments will include readings, participation, presentation and discussion facilitation, a short paper on working with digital archives, and a final research paper, including abstract and bibliography.