Armenian Studies in Salzburg/Austria

We have done it again!

I am delighted to share that our associate member in Armenian Studies and at the Centre for the Study of the Christian East, Dr Siranush Parsadanyan of the RAS Institute of Literature, has been awarded another grant by the Armenian Higher Education and Science Committee for the research project “Territory, Memory and Name: Armenian Place Names in German Sources."

She will return to Salzburg for a couple of months next spring for this collaborative investigation...
and hopefully for other joyful activities...

😁such as e.g. Discovering the medieval silver mine in Leogang

No lazy summer time at all...

Save the date and register, if you have time!

Berkeley, Armenian Studies Program
Jasmine Dum-Tragut
August 12, 2026
Soviet to Post-Karabakh times: Sociolinguistic studies of Armenian

online registration
https://berkeley.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JwIOHnEES8G60ykPu6rxbg #/registration

Despite being on vacation, I am working on preparing for the Armenian structure course, my first at Goethe University Frankfurt, July 27th-31th.

More to follow!

It is a pleasure and an honor to participate in and teach as part of the Summer School "Future Roman trails" organized by the Centre for Cultural Property Protection at the University for Continuing Education Krems (Austria).
Trying to apply the concept of "heritage trails" to the Armenian Middle Ages, following the example of the Roman trails north of the Danube.

"Heritage Trailing in Armenia:
Confronting Chaos, conquering challenges, capturing chances"

JESH - Joint Excellence in Science and Humanities (Austrian Academy of Sciences) Fellow Dr. Ovsanna Khachatryan at Armenian Studies in Salzburg

The Centre for the Study of the Christian East, Armenian Studies Division, welcomes Dr. Ovsanna Khachatryan as a visiting scholar for two months. Dr. Khachatryan, a specialist in manuscripts and literature at the renowned Matenadaran – Mesrop Mashtots Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan, Armenia –, has been closely associated with Armenian Studies in Salzburg for years.
She demonstrates her academic expertise through her involvement in the Austrian Science Fond project "Meeting in the Body of the Horse," the receipt of an Artsakh Cultural Heritage Grant, and a one-month internship in the field of Armenian Studies/Digital Humanities.
As an associate member of the ZECO, she has now returned to Salzburg thanks to a JESH fellowship from the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Her interdisciplinary research project, "Healing through Words: Prayers and spells in Armenian Medical Manuscript Tradition," integrates seamlessly into the existing research profile of Armenian Studies in Salzburg.

A few days ago marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of the world-renowned Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann.

I am very proud that my Armenian colleague, collaborator, and associate member of our Center for the Study of the Christian East and its Department of Armenian Studies, Dr. Siranush Parsadanyan, has translated one of Ingeborg Bachmann's major works, Malina, into Armenian.

Many thanks, dear Siranush.

Ehe gestern und morgen auftauchen,
muß ich sie zum Schweigen bringen in mir.
Es ist heute. Ich bin hier und heute.
Ingeborg Bachmann "Malina"

"Before yesterday and tomorrow emerge, I must silence them within me. It is today. I am here and today."
Ingeborg Bachmann "Malina"

Photo (c) Hamlet Vardanyan
#մալինա

We had the great pleasure of welcoming Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nvard Vardanyan, State University Yerevan and Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, to Armenian Studies in Salzburg today and yesterday.

Nvard was in Salzburg for a short visit to discuss above all further collaborations and the current joint project FOLK GAMES AND THEIR FOLKLORIC COMPONENTS IN THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH, in which I am honoured to serve as foreign partner.

We hope for more frequent and longer visits from her and her team in Salzburg.

Our horses are galloping to South Korea…

It is a special honor for me to present the preliminary results of our research project “Meeting in the body of the horse” at an international expert forum during the 46th Congress of the World Association for the History of Animal Health (WAHAH)
On the afternoon of June 25th…

National University of South Corea, College of veterinary Medicine, Schofield Hall.

"Horses Lost in Translation:
Transcultural Knowledge Exchange in Medieval Equine Medicine East of Byzantium"

I am very pleased to announce that, for the first time, Eurasia Pacific Uninet is funding my work in Armenia.
The Armenian-Austrian project, the Arakelots Autumn School 2026, "Documentation, Monitoring, Preservation and Protection of Armenian Monuments," has been fully approved.

The autumn school will take place from October 22nd to 27th in Arakelots, in cooperation with Eurasia Pacific Uninet partners in Austria: the University of Salzburg, the Vienna University of Technology, and the University for Continuing Education Krems; and in Armenia: Yerevan State University and its branch in Ijevan. Together, experts from Austria and Armenia will work with students from Salzburg and Armenia on the 7 Most Endangered Monument of 2025, Arakelots Monastery and Settlement.

This represents another very important step in raising awareness, reaching out to civil society, and building capacity within the Arakelots project.

CAVE: both for students from Ijevan and from Salzburg - there is still time to apply for participation!

The long-awaited report detailing the mission of Europa Nostra and the European Bank Institute in Arakelots has officially been published.

https://www.europanostra.org/european-experts-implement-mission-to-armenia-to-assess-urgent-risks-at-the-arakelots-monastery-and-settlement/

European experts implement mission to Armenia to assess urgent risks at the Arakelots Monastery and Settlement - Europa Nostra From 16 to 22 April 2026, European experts travelled to Armenia for a mission to the Arakelots Monastery and Settlement, listed among the 7 Most Endangered…