Our Program
The Armenian Studies Program is housed in the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, an Organized Research Unit within the VCRO, and includes a faculty position in the Department of History and another one in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. Dr. Dzovinar Derderian has been serving as the Executive Director of ASP since 2023, and has also been appointed as Associate Ajunct Professor of History. In addition, Dr. Myrna Douzjian, who has been teaching at UC Berkeley since January 2016, is a full-time Continuing Lecturer in Armenian Language and Literature in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.
The Armenian Studies Program is an interdisciplinary program that offers two history survey courses, seminars in history, introductory and continuing language courses in Western and Eastern Armenian, literature and culture courses as well as seminars and directed studies to undergraduate and graduate students of different fields and disciplines. Each semester the program regularly enrolls 40 to 60 students of both Armenian and non-Armenian descent. These courses have been approved by the University, and are accepted for credit by a number of majors. Students also can minor in Armenian Studies or have a major concentration in Armenian Studies through the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. ASP faculty have and continue to work with graduate students from various departments, including the departments of Geography, Linguistics, History and Art History. The program is further enriched by regular lectures organized during the academic year, as well as conferences and symposia that bring speakers of various disciplines including literature, history, anthropology, art history, political science, as well as speakers whose scholarship focuses on Armenians and Armenia from ancient times to the contemporary era.
Our Vision
Our goal is to strengthen the academic significance of the Armenian Studies Program by collaborating with various departments, programs and institutes, as we believe that Armenian Studies as an academic field has much to offer to other area studies and disciplines. We also believe that such collaboration would strengthen and further grow the academic standing of Armenian studies. Having two faculty members on campus, Dr. Myrna Douzjian and Dr. Dzovinar Derderian who focus on modern and contemporary Armenian literature and history, our goal is to make UC Berkeley the premier program for the study of modern and contemporary Armenian studies, and we aim to do this by attracting more graduate students on the UC Berkeley campus focusing on Armenians.
Sutainability and Growth
The Armenian Studies Program (ASP) was created in 1992 thanks to the generosity of the Bay Area Armenian Community and at the initiative of the UC Berkeley Armenian Alumni Association. It is supported by two Endowments in the College of Letters and Science: the William Saroyan Endowment (established in 1992) and the Krouzian Endowment (established in 1996).
To ensure the growth and sustainability of the Armenian Studies Program we aim to create an endowed lectureship position in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, and a full time faculty position in the History Department, both of which will require significant fundraising in the next few years. In addition, we aim to create funding opportunities geared towards both undergraduate and graduate students to support and encourage scholarship in Armenian studies.