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PRESS RELEASE
For Further Information, please contact:
Ms. Gloria Caudill, Administrator
Armenian Studies Program
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Tel: (734) 763-0622
Email: [email protected]
PROFESSOR DADOYAN LECTURES ON "ISLAM AND ARMENIANS"
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
The University of Michigan Armenian Studies Program hosted Professor
Seta B. Dadoyan, for a well-attended lecture in the International
Institute on January 27, 2009. Dr. Dadoyan is a renowned specialist in
Armenian social-political and intellectual cultures in the medieval
and modern Near Eastern world.
In her public lecture, Dr. Dadoyan spoke about "Islam and the
Armenians: Paradigms of a Near Eastern Dialectic." She finds that
there is a gap between the lived Armenian experience with Islam and
the record of those interactions, where Islam is commonly ethnicized
and viewed as the faith of hostile ethnic groups. Further, the model
of religious difference and persecution, which is commonly used to
explain interactions with Muslims, more accurately describes
exceptions than general patterns. She argues that a new paradigm of
Armenian-Islamic history could yield a more intriguing Near Eastern
landscape that is historically more accurate, philosophically more
consistent, and intellectually more challenging. Since Armenians lived
and live in the Near Eastern world, their history should be written as
a part of regional history. In response to a question about what makes
a Muslim Armenian an Armenian, Professor Dadoyan replied that this is
a big issue because a fixed notion has developed that Armenians have
to be Christian, but Muslim Armenians also maintained their ethnic
consciousness. 
Dr. Dadoyan is the author of nearly 50 articles and five books. Her
manuscript, The Armenians and Islam: Paradigms of Medieval
Interactions, is forthcoming with E.J. Brill. Professor Dadoyan
currently teaches at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in New Rochelle, NY
and at Queens College, CUNY. She previously taught at Haigazian
University and the Lebanese-American University, and was a professor
of cultural studies at the American University of Beirut from
1986-2005.
While visiting the University, Prof. Dadoyan also guest lectured in
Professor Gerard Libaridian's class, "Islam and Armenians."
For Further Information, please contact:
Ms. Gloria Caudill, Administrator
Armenian Studies Program
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Tel: (734) 763-0622
Email: [email protected]
PROFESSOR DADOYAN LECTURES ON "ISLAM AND ARMENIANS"
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
The University of Michigan Armenian Studies Program hosted Professor
Seta B. Dadoyan, for a well-attended lecture in the International
Institute on January 27, 2009. Dr. Dadoyan is a renowned specialist in
Armenian social-political and intellectual cultures in the medieval
and modern Near Eastern world.
In her public lecture, Dr. Dadoyan spoke about "Islam and the
Armenians: Paradigms of a Near Eastern Dialectic." She finds that
there is a gap between the lived Armenian experience with Islam and
the record of those interactions, where Islam is commonly ethnicized
and viewed as the faith of hostile ethnic groups. Further, the model
of religious difference and persecution, which is commonly used to
explain interactions with Muslims, more accurately describes
exceptions than general patterns. She argues that a new paradigm of
Armenian-Islamic history could yield a more intriguing Near Eastern
landscape that is historically more accurate, philosophically more
consistent, and intellectually more challenging. Since Armenians lived
and live in the Near Eastern world, their history should be written as
a part of regional history. In response to a question about what makes
a Muslim Armenian an Armenian, Professor Dadoyan replied that this is
a big issue because a fixed notion has developed that Armenians have
to be Christian, but Muslim Armenians also maintained their ethnic
consciousness. 
Dr. Dadoyan is the author of nearly 50 articles and five books. Her
manuscript, The Armenians and Islam: Paradigms of Medieval
Interactions, is forthcoming with E.J. Brill. Professor Dadoyan
currently teaches at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in New Rochelle, NY
and at Queens College, CUNY. She previously taught at Haigazian
University and the Lebanese-American University, and was a professor
of cultural studies at the American University of Beirut from
1986-2005.
While visiting the University, Prof. Dadoyan also guest lectured in
Professor Gerard Libaridian's class, "Islam and Armenians."