This year’s 14th Annual International Graduate Student Workshop at the Center for Armenian Studies brought together a vibrant, international group of emerging scholars to explore “The Archive in Theory and Practice in Armenian Studies.” Held over two days in Ann Arbor, the workshop stood out as an interdisciplinary, multimodal convergence of voices and experiences—showcasing how archival research is both deeply theoretical and profoundly personal.
Panelists from institutions around the world shared research that challenged conventional understandings of the archive. Discussions ranged from digital encounters with state documents and the emotional labor of oral histories to navigating positionality and participant refusal in ethnographic research. A particularly moving moment came from a local Armenian community member, Anahit Toumajan, who brought a century-old family archive to life through powerful storytelling—a reminder of how lived experience and familial memory are essential parts of the archival record.
Participants also toured the University of Michigan’s Hatcher Graduate Library, where they viewed rare Armenian manuscripts, maps, books, and artifacts from the Special Collections Research Center, carefully curated by university archivists and librarians. The event culminated in a thought-provoking keynote lecture by Professor Elyse Semerdjian (Clark University), who explored how faint archival traces can illuminate the lives of Armenian women captured during the Armenian Genocide—offering a masterclass in recovering marginalized histories.
With over 100 participants in attendance in-person and online, the workshop underscored the power of archives to generate new knowledge, foster cross-cultural dialogue, and deepen community engagement. It was made possible through the tireless efforts of our faculty, staff, students, and community collaborators.
On behalf of all the organizers, we'd like to thank all those who joined us this weekend, from the brilliant graduate student panelists, to the thought-provoking discussants, to our special guests, keynote speaker, and all those in attendance.
Finally, this was all possible through the tremendous efforts of the three graduate student organizers, who, without them, none of this would have happened. Thank you, Emma Avagyan (Middle East Studies), Allison Grenda (History of Art), and Nazelie Doghramadjian (Information)!
A full recording of the keynote lecture will be available on our Youtube Page.
