Prof. Maranci and her husband, Prof. Robert Dulgarian
On Thursday, December 14, the National Association for Armenian Studies & Research Inc. (NAASR) and Save Armenian Monuments LLC (SAM) co-sponsored a reception honoring Prof. Christina Maranci on her appointment as Mashtots Chair of Armenian Studies at Harvard University. The reception was hosted in the West Village section of Manhattan by Virginia Davies and Willard Taylor. The gathering was both lively and informative and included a diverse mix of leaders from across the Armenian-American community. In attendance at the reception on behalf of the Eastern Prelacy were His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate; Executive Director Dr. Vartan Matiossian, and Executive Council member Mr. Aram Hovagimian. Also in
Prelate Anoushavan Srpazan; SAM founder Virginia Davies; and AMAA representative Vahram Aynilian
attendance were prominent experts from the broader art and cultural heritage communities.
Prof. Maranci is one of the world’s foremost experts in the history and development of Armenian architecture. She has a special interest in Armenian late antique and mediaeval periods, and has worked on cultural heritage issues with a focus on at-risk Armenian monasteries in Eastern Turkey. Appointed to her position at Harvard in 2022, she is the first woman, the first person of Armenian descent, and the first art historian in the role.
NAASR has an almost 70-year history promoting Armenian studies in America at the highest-caliber universities. SAM, founded in 2020, works under the auspices of the Eastern Prelacy and pursues the safeguarding of Armenian Christian heritage at risk, in particular churches, monasteries, gravesites, stone crosses, and other sites in the Caucasus.