Armenia and America: A Shared History

Welcome Բարի գալուստ

Welcome to "Armenia & America: A Shared History." This blog, or "open notebook," hosted by Professors Todd Gernes and Anna Ohanyan of Stonehill College in Massachusetts, traces our journey as we embark on our new undergraduate learning community, Swords, Saviors, and Saints: Global Security and Humanitarianism in Practice. We invite you to tune in and join us, virtually, on the road where East meets West!

International Education

2020 brings a new chapter for the LION Program at Stonehill College. As our four courageous young LION scholars embark--amid the COVID-19 Pandemic--on virtual (or remote) internships with major NGOs in Yerevan, Anna Ohanyan and I sat down for a Zoom discussion and webinar with host Adrian Erlinger, Senior Program... Read more →

Denial of Violence

Fatma Müge Göçek, Denial of Violence: Ottoman Past, Turkish Present, and Collective Violence against the Armenians, 1789-2009 (Oxford University Press, 2015). Denial of Violence is an important contribution to the history of state violence against ethnic and religious minorities in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic due to its... Read more →

Silencing the Past

Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (Boston: Beacon Press, 2015 [1995]). In his elegant meditation on history, power, and perception, Silencing the Past, Michel-Rolph Trouillot "deals with the many ways in which the production of historical narratives involves the uneven contribution of competing groups and... Read more →

The Last Ottoman Generation

Michael Provence, The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Michael Provence, a scholar of Middle East History at the University of California, San Diego, explains how the "modern Middle East emerged out of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, when Brittain... Read more →

The Thirty-Year Genocide

Benny Morris and Dror Ze'Evi, The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894-1924 (Harvard University Press, 2019). The historiography of the Armenian Genocide has been most often described as a segmented sequence of related events that led up to the tragedy of 1915-1916, in the context of the... Read more →

Until Next Time Armenia, by Hillary Ferreira

Before coming to Armenia, I was unsure of the expectations I would have upon arrival. I honestly did not expect to fall in love with it the way I did. I absolutely adored everything from my internship, the people, the views, and the food. I honestly could not find anything... Read more →

Tatev, by Hillary Ferreira

Out of all the places in Armenia, The Tatev Monastery became my favorite place at just the first glance, and it was one of the most famous tourist destinations in Armenia. Let me first start off by discussing the gorgeous views that we all saw just trying to get to... Read more →

Subway Similarities, by Brenna Kueter

As someone who has taken the Washington D.C. metro nearly every day of my teenage life, the idea of using the Yerevan subway was in no way scary or out of my comfort zone. While I have a love-hate relationship with the metro at home, I also consider it to... Read more →

The Perfect Last Day, by Hannah Presad

As Friday approached, we discussed in amazement at how the past three weeks had passed so quickly. It did not seem like three weeks had passed, or that we would be leaving Saturday night. Friday was our last outing day, where we would be venturing to Tatev Monastery on a... Read more →

Final Thoughts, by Leo Field

I had a wonderful time in Armenia. There was so much to do in the short time we were there. The weekend trips to monasteries outside of Yerevan were beautiful. The food was amazing, even when it was staring at me. I will miss the fresh cherries and gata. My... Read more →

The Art of Wine, by Nicole Buchanan

On Friday, we were fortunate enough to have dinner, and a wine tasting at a small family owned winery called Areni. I was excited about the wine tasting, as I had never been to one before. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a lot more to wine... Read more →

Yerevan Drivers, by Leo Field

Yerevan has the best, and worst, drivers I have ever seen. In the three weeks we spent in the city, I never witnessed any accidents, although I did see the aftermath of such incidents. There were times when I believed we would be in a car accident. A few of... Read more →

Yerevan Journal, Days 19-21

In our last remaining days in Armenia, Linda and I took an overnight excursion to Goris, a small city in Syunik Province nestled in the mountains of southern Armenia. The history of Goris dates back to the Stone Age, the Middle Ages--and, at the risk of collapsing history, there were... Read more →

Family values in Armenia vs the United States, by Glendy Alvarez

Throughout my experience in Yerevan, I have come to the realization of how family oriented Armenians are. Armenians cultivate the importance of love, care, and passion through their relationships. Armenian family life is filled with warm and sincere conversations. These talks are especially common when gathering together for dinner. All... Read more →

Anti-Gender Movements in Armenia, by Glendy Alvarez

Throughout my research at my internship, I learned about anti-gender movements. Armenia is a patriarchal society, in which gender-based stereotypes and patriarchal attitudes are passed on. Although there are several NGO’s in Armenia working on dismantling barriers for individuals who are discriminated against, there are also anti-human rights movements that... Read more →

Monasteries of Armenia, by David Trombly

Throughout this trip, we got the chance to see many monasteries in the mountains of Armenia. These monasteries are centuries old and bear the mark of the Christian faith that has been rooted in Armenian culture. It constantly amazes me how these monasteries were built in the times when they... Read more →

Armenian Genocide Museum/ Memorial, by David Trombly

Download IMG_1072 2 Download IMG_1073 2 The other day, we got the honor of visiting the genocide museum in Armenia’s capital of Yerevan. Not only did we visit the museum, but we also got to see the memorial that commemorates this horrible act of humanity. While going through the museum,... Read more →

Jack, The Wine Connoisseur, by Jack Herndon

After our stops at Noravank and Tatev, we stopped at a small family-owned restaurant for dinner. We had a wonderful meal, and as the sun disappeared, we were invited to a wine tasting. As we entered the wine cellar, I chuckled to myself, I didn’t know anything about wine, other... Read more →

Noravank & Tatev, by Jack Herndon

Yesterday, our group made the 9-hour round trip drive to Tatev, with a stop at Noravank monastery. While the journey was long, it was filled with beautiful scenery and red colored cliffs. Driving through the canyons was surreal and it reminded me of the southwest region of the United States.... Read more →

Yerevan Journal, Days 15-18

Last night, Linda and I had the pleasure and privilege of touring Victory Park in Yerevan with an informed and hospitable local tour guide, Dr. Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan, Chief Executive Officer of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF). Dr. Ter-Gabrielyan, who cares deeply about Yerevan and the Armenian people, is also a... Read more →