Ara Sanjian, Ph.D.

Ara Sanjian is Associate Professor of History and the Director of the Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He received his master’s degree in history from Yerevan State University (1991) and PhD in Modern History of the Middle East from the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London in 1996.

From 1996 to 2005 Sanjian was the Chairman of the Department of Armenian Studies, History and Political Science at Haigazian University in Beirut. In fall 2003, he was the Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno.He joined the University of Michigan-Dearborn in January 2006.

Sanjian’s research interests focus on the post-World War I history of Armenia, Turkey and the Arab states of Western Asia. More recently he has also become interested in the development of Armenian historiography.

Ph.D., School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Books

Turkey and Her Arab Neighbors, 1953-1958: A Study in the Origins and Failure of the Baghdad Pact (2001), Slough, UK: Archive Editions, 2001

Monographs

Celebrating the Legacy of Five Centuries of Armenian-language Book Printing, 1512-2012: A Joint Exhibit of the Armenian Research Center, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Mardigian Library, University of Michigan-Dearborn, October 18-November 16, 2012 [and] the Alex and Marie Manoogian Museum, Southfield, the Alex and Marie Manoogian Museum, Southfield, December 11, 2012-January 31, 2013. Dearborn: Armenian Research Center, University of Michigan-Dearborn, 2012.

The Negotiation of ‘The Contract of the Century’ and the Political Background to the Revival of Azerbaijan’s Oil Industry. Yerevan: The Armenian Center for National and International Studies, September 1997.

Articles and book chapters

In English

2021    “Irredentism at the Crossroads of Nationalism, Communism and Diverging Interpretations of the Soviet Experience: The Armenian Diasporan Press on Mountainous Karabagh, 1923-1985”, E-SAS: Entries of the Society for Armenian Studies, 6 January 2021.

2017    “What Was the Price of a Four-Page Newspaper in Yerevan 100 Years Ago?”, Journal of Society for Armenian Studies, vol. 26 (2017), pp. 106-110.

2011    “The ARF’s First 120 Years: A Brief Review of Available Sources and Historiography,” The Armenian Review, vol. 52, nos. 3-4 (Fall-Winter 2011), pp. 1-16.

2009    “Commentary: Armenian Studies in the United States under Renewed Assault: Can Calm Be Restored after the Storm?” Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, vol. 18, no. 2 (December 2009), pp. 25-32. (co-authored with Vartan Matiossian).

2007    “Homeland-Diaspora Relations under Khrushchev and Brezhnev: Soviet Embassy Reports from Beirut on the Armenian Community in Lebanon, 1959-1982 (A Preliminary Study),” in Michel Bruneau, Ioannis Hassiotis, Martine Hovanessian and Claire Mouradian (eds.), Arméniens et Grecs en diaspora: approches comparatives (Athènes, 2007), pp. 273-282

2003    “The Armenian Church and Community in Jerusalem and the Holy Land (From their origins until the modern era),” in Anthony O’Mahony (ed.) The Christian Communities in the Holy Land: Studies in History, Religion, and Politics (University of Wales Press, 2003).

2001    “The Armenian Minority Experience in the Modern Arab World,” Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (Amman, Jordan), Volume 3, Number 1 (Spring/Summer 2001), pp. 149-179.

1997    “The Formulation of the Baghdad Pact,” Middle Eastern Studies (London), Vol. 33, No. 2, April 1997, pp. 226-66.

In Armenian

2018    «Ինքնութիւն և Հայաստան֊Սփիւռք հարաբերություններ» [Identity and Armenia-Diaspora Relations], in Shahan Kandaharian (ed.), Սփիւռք եւ ինքնութիւն [Diaspora and Identity], Antelias: Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, 2018, pp. 189-218.

2011    «Հարցազրույց Միչիգանի համալսարան֊Դիրբոռնի Հայագիտական հետազոտությունների կենտրոնի վարիչ, արևելագետ Պրոֆ. Արա Սանճյանի հետ» [Interview with Prof. Ara Sanjian, Director of the Armenian Research Center, the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Middle East Expert], in Araks Pashayan and Lilit Harutyunyan (eds.), Սիրիայի հայ համայնքը. Արդի հիմնախնդիրներ [The Armenian Community of Syria: Contemporary Challenges] (Yerevan, 2011), pp. 115-126.

2003    «Լիբանան» [Lebanon], in Հայ Սփյուռք։ Հանրագիտարան [The Armenian Diaspora: An Encyclopedia] (Yerevan, 2003), pp. 290-328.

2000    «Համառօտ ուրուագիծ Հայկազեան համալսարանի հայագիտական ամբիոնի 45ամեայ պատմութեան (1955-2000)» [A Brief Outline of the 45-year History of the Department of Armenian Studies at Haigazian University (1955-2000)], Haigazian Armenological Review, Vol. 20 (2000), pp. 9-86.

1992    «Հայ ժողովրդային կուսակցութեան ծրագրային փաստաթուղթերը» [The Statutes of the Armenian Populist Party], Haigazian Armenological Review(Beirut), vol. 12 (1992), pp. 309-38.

In Russian

2016    “Армянские общины в условиях гражданской войны (сравнение Ливана и Сирии)” [Armenians in the Midst of Civil Wars: Lebanon and Syria Compared], in Диаспоры: Независимыйнаучныйжурнал [Diasporas: Independent Academic Journal] (Moscow), vol. 17, nos. 1-2 (2015), pp. 55-88. The original English version of this article is published as a supplement to Massis Weekly (California), vol. 35, no. 49, Saturday, January 2, 2016.

2016    “Подъем и упадок армянской общины ливана” [The Rise and Decline of the Armenian Community in Lebanon], in Диаспоры: Независимыйнаучныйжурнал [Diasporas: Independent Academic Journal], (Moscow), no. 1  (2004), pp. 121-146.

In French

2008    “Les communautés arméniennes du Proche-Orient arabe” [The Armenian Communities of the Arab Middle East; in French], Confluences Méditerranée, Chrétiens d’Orient, No. 66, Été 2008, pp. 73-82. (co-authored with Nicola Migliorino).

Other research-based publications:

2017    “Centennial Minus One: The Complicated Trek of May 28 in the Armenian Diaspora,” EVN Report, 28 May 2017.

2015    «Անցանկալի թեմաները սփյուռքահայ պատմագրության մեջ ; Не приветсвуемые темы в историографии армянской диаспоры» [Unwelcome topics in Armenian Diasporic Historiography], Անալիտիկոն/Аналитикон [Analyticon], No. 11 (83), 2015. (in Armenian and Russian).

2014    “Erdoğan’s Condolences: Too Little, Too Late within a Steadily Changing Context”, E-International Relations, 8 May 2014.

2012    “Armenian Medieval Historians in Print: Three Centuries of Scholarship across Three Continents”, The Armenian Weekly, 1 September 2012, pp. 13-21.

2008    “Armenia and Genocide: The Growing Engagement of Azerbaijan”, The Armenian Weekly, 26 April 2008, pp. 28-33.