Heading to Shirak September 1-21st

CIA Map of Armenia August, 2019
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/attachments/maps/AM-map.gif

Excited to announce that I will start my first site visit in the Shirak Region! I will live in Gyumri from September 1-21st collecting data for my dissertation. This is my second time collecting and conducting research in Shirak. My last study was in 2012 and since then I visited but am excited to return to conduct fieldwork for my dissertation. I chose Shirak region particularly for its location to the Armenia-Turkey border and plan to travel throughout the region.  I will return to Yerevan for the Erasmus + Inclusive Education conference at the end of September but plan to return to Shirak to follow up later.

On a personal level I also recall learning about Gyumri from my childhood memories while growing up in Rhode Island from Saturday Mourad Armenian school but also our weekly Armenian Radio Hour program. Our family would tune into the Armenian Radio hour program which aired every Sunday between 9-10am as we would get ready for Sunday school and attend church services. Two members of the community Russell Gasparian and his daughter Sona were the hosts and for some reason I remember they played this song often on their program.

The other memory with Gyumri and the Armenian Radio Hour I have from my childhood is one year Sona and Russell had a contest at the time of the annual memorial of the earthquake where they asked callers to call in and tell them the exact time 11:41am and date of the December 7, 1988 earthquake. Of course, I wanted to call and win the contest and that year for my birthday I had received Lucine Kasbarian's book, Armenia: A rugged land, an enduring people. So I quickly checked Kasbarian's book for the time and called in...so silly how I was excited to have won that contest. Although Russell passed away, I'm glad Sona is still keeping up the Armenian Radio Hour program all these years.  I hope you'll enjoy the song - this version by Ruben Matevosyan is the one that resonates with the version I remember hearing as a child. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ab8Rl5c0Co

"To change Armenian history textbooks according to the new reality?" - Observations and thoughts about a recent panel discussion

For those of us Facebook users, we receive notification in our newsfeed about events where individuals in our network of friends expressed interest in attending an event.  Not surprisingly this event appeared in my newsfeed as many of my friends have interest in research on or related to history textbooks or perhaps it was because one of the panel discussants is a Facebook friend.  Either way, the title caught my attention as a necessary discussion to attend and hear firsthand.




Media Center hosts events such as this event on various topics and later individuals can go back and watch the recordings.  As an ethnographer, I felt the need to be present in the moment, to understand the environment and atmosphere in which the discussion would take place.

There were five panel discussants - one arrived late.  Two were historians, one a classroom teacher, and the other a representative from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport.

The title of the event to me appeared a bit confusing - I was not sure what they meant by "new reality".  Comments within the event posting included individuals who were adamant for changes.  But what changes - what new reality?  As someone who has participated in previous textbook analyses - including that of Armenian history textbooks - I had my own impression and understanding of what types of changes I'd like to see in the textbooks.  Clearly this discussion was not meant for that.  Instead this discussion appeared to me as an opportunity to share with the public the current status of the history textbook changes.  A committee of experts was appointed by the MoESCS to review the history textbooks and provide their analysis and evaluations of the content.   Based on the discussion, it seemed that the "new reality" which needed to be adjusted was in regards to content on the Velvet Revolution and the March 1st, 2008 events.

Each panelist was given the opportunity to present about their impressions of the evaluations and the history textbooks.  Then the "audience" was given the opportunity to ask questions.  In the room there were more cameras and empty chairs than there actually were audience members.  Instead, the audience consisted of a few news reporters.  These news reporters attacked the MoESCS representative with questions and often times interrupted her mid-sentence.  In my observation, the reporters rarely if ever interrupt the historians or experts.  I assumed this aggressiveness against the MoESCS may have been in part due to her gender and/or role as the MoESCS representative.  As I took a step back, I realized there was another layer that provoked this aggressive attitude towards the MoESCS.

 






For so long, the Armenian society relied upon the Government of the Republic of Armenia (RoA) - be it Soviet or post-Soviet - to determine how to behave or think.  This was apparent in the discussion when one of the news reporters asked about the status of the textbooks - if they would be ready by September 1st for the new school year - as well as the issues in which the committee disagreed upon in their evaluations.  The historians claimed they needed the RoA Government to resolve the facts or "truth" about the Velvet Revolution and the March 1st events in order to accurately depict this information within the textbooks.  The MoESCS representative presented a very professional demeanor throughout the discussion - she never presented her opinions on behalf of the MoESCS.  The MoESCS representative more importantly deferred to the expert historians to resolve the content for the textbooks - the MoESCS relied upon the committee to be able to develop the appropriate content and texts that allowed students to be aware of these events and allow students to make their own opinions.   One of the historians claimed it would be an embarrassment to publish the wrong facts and therefore, relied upon the RoA Government.  The historian also claimed it was necessary for a longer period of time to pass in order for those events to be considered history.  Within this discussion point the historian brought up how or what do we choose to define as history in order to avoid the embarrassment of inaccurately presenting history.

In this instance, the post-Velvet Armenian Government provided space and trusted the historian experts to conduct the evaluations accordingly.  I was surprised that the historian experts did not own their (new) freedoms - why can't the historians develop appropriate content on their own?  Why do they refuse to take ownership and responsibility?  If the historian experts will not fulfill their responsibility, then there is a need to bring in experts who will take ownership and develop appropriate content.  But we also know there is currently a monopoly of textbook authorship.  Despite efforts by international agencies - World Bank, Open Society, and UNDP - for liberalization of textbook publishing (Silova 2010; Silova & Steiner-Khamsi, 2008), when looking back at the list of authors over the last three decades, the same (Soviet) historians have been selected or invited repeatedly. How can Armenian history education move away from reproducing the same "schools of thought" or approaches to evaluating history when clearly there is a monopoly on history textbooks?

In my mind, I wanted to learn more about how history textbooks may be changed to reflect the following concerns:
(1) How can Armenian history textbooks be written in a way that is accessible to students?
(2) What alternative methodological approaches can be applied to history textbooks to promote critical thinking skills but also make the content relevant to Armenian lives today?
(3) How are teachers prepared to manage discussions on these topics - without imposing their political beliefs on students?

Approval for Dissertation Fieldwork by Republic of Armenia Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport

The Republic of Armenia Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport has officially approved of my dissertation fieldwork in the Tavush, Shirak, Syunik, and Yerevan regions.  I am grateful to all of the MoESCS staff who helped make this possible.  My deepest gratitude to Deputy Minister Ms. Arevik Anapiosyan who followed through every step of the way.

Visiting Museums

History Museum of Armenia
Yerevan, Armenia

My entrance and tour guide ticket stubs.

Located within the Republic Square in Yerevan near a large water fountain is the national history museum.  This central and attractive location is neighbors with the Government building to the left and what was once the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs building to the right.  During the day, people walk through or meet at this location daily perhaps without realizing this building houses the history museum and more importantly, the world's oldest shoe! At night, the fountain puts on a dance performance offering both passerby's and tourists a colorful show accompanied with global musical pieces.  Perhaps this central location is not by coincidence but resonates with how Armenian society values and glorifies its historical past - right in the middle of the capital city, Yerevan.

Image and map provided by Google browser.

It had been a while since I had visited the History Museum and on this hot, sunny summer day, I decided to take a tour.  The guide identified herself as a scholar focused on Armenian-Turkey relations and was eager and pleased to guide me, a diasporan Armenian American student through the museum with her narration.  There was no possible way to see everything in depth within one visit so the guide tried to make sure she could offer the best explanations and chose select exhibits to spend more or less time based on what she identified as significant.  Photography was prohibited during the tour therefore I will try to illustrate the exhibits based on notes I took.  I also wish to provide a disclaimer - the text that I present in this blog from my notes are the descriptions and historical facts offered by the guide.  For an ethnographer it is important to understand from the perspective of the culture and people therefore, my experience from museum visits help me understand what narratives have been taught in schools, beliefs of the society, and curated narratives of the museum staff.

Armenian solar system

The grand three hour tour began with the map of Armenia stretching from sea to sea - a map where the present national boundaries reach from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea - which Armenians believe to have been the territory of Armenians from time immemorial.  On the map, the guide pointed out Mount Ararat as Armenia's highest peak.   We spent a significant amount of time studying the map which helped ground the geographical and political location for the tour.  For the next few hours I walked through ancient history from the stone age, bronze age and all the way through to modern time.  Along the way, I learned about clay vessels used as tombs in the 24th century for rich peoples' burial to pottery being shaped to symbolize women as one with the soil and land while the roundness of the pot as fertility.  One area of the exhibit included a model of the solar system according to ancient times.

We spent a significant amount of time touring the Urartu Kingdom, discussing the gods of the 7th century and learning about their army.  Specific items such as grapes and pomegranates were also highlighted throughout the tour in various different sightings including decorations on large pots, on dresses, jewelry, among many other places.  The pomegranate is a symbol of Armenia's unity with each seed symbolizing each Armenian individual.

We ventured throughout the number of times Armenia was conquered and taken over by various rulers, listing all of the major King's and major events from the kingdoms. According to the guide, 1555 is the first division of Armenia and 1639 was the second between the Ottoman and Persian Empires.  Of interest was how the guide described that Armenians outside of Armenia kept record of history with the printing press and referred to the first printer to reach Etchmiadzin in 1772.  In terms of foreigners and Armenians outside of Armenia,  the guide claims the first Armenian community of Russia was established in 1779 and she connects the Blue Mosque - currently located on Mashtots Street in Yerevan - with the Persian empire.  While observing fashion including dress and jewelry, the guide referred to mainly European and Persian influences.  In ancient times, couples who got married did not offer rings to each other but instead wore belts with their names and dates sewn on them.  Instead of wearing a white dress, women wore red dresses symbolizing new lives.  Within the women's dresses, the guide pointed out the Eastern and Western influences based on designs and colors used in the fabrics.

As we made our way into the history of Western Armenia, the guide inquired about where my family roots were from as I think she wanted to point it out on the map but it seemed she had not heard of Palu or Berecik.  When the Guide explained the history of the Genocide, I realized there was no mention of coexistence but immediately jumped into the history of slaughter and displacement.  This may be due to the lack of time or the Guide's assumption that I studied the history, but still I felt robbed by the experience where the national rhetoric is the dominant narrative and apparently, dominant in the curator's description.  Out of frustration, I found myself sharing the dominant narrative in place of her at some point which is when she paused and asked about my personal research and dissertation topic.  I knew time was limited so I gave a short explanation without going into details about my interest in the history coexistence with the "other" and crossing borders and interacting with the "other".

We visited the model display of Ani, the city 1001 churches and eventually found ourselves in the history of WWI and WWII and Soviet Armenian history.  Prior to walking through the hallway of carpets, we were greeted by portraits of the first three presidents of the republic of Armenia: Levon Ter Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, and Serzh Sargsyan.  The Guide recognized the portraits and exclaimed that these men were not of importance to us or society but were leaders who robbed from their own people.  I sensed the Guide identified herself as an Im Qayle supporter and activist during the Velvet Revolution based on how she beamed with pride while explaining the current political situation.

Throughout the tour, I tried to keep my own thoughts silent so I could focus on the guide but some questions I had along the way included the following:  who decided what items and exhibits could be displayed?  Do these tour guides have a script and must they stick to it?  Do scripts change when guides offer it in different languages?  But also, did the museum ever turn away certain items from being displayed in the exhibits?

Data samples and notes on some early aybenarans

Over the last two months I've been a frequent visitor of the Armenian National Library where I've been reading through their collection of այբբենարաններ or alphabet textbooks/primers.  The collection of books are fascinating - some of the ones I have seen date back to the late 1600s.  My interest in looking at the այբբենարան or aybenaran started from a project with my advisor and classmate in 2010 where we analyzed alphabet textbooks from Ukraine, Latvia, and Armenia which later evolved and included and inspired other studies (for further reading see references below).   As part of my critical ethnographic study, I will conduct textbook analyses of textbooks used in the classrooms that I will be observing.  Through these aybenarans, I am able to go back in time and space and see how textbooks defined the Armenian national identity.  While I have not completed a thorough analysis of the textbooks, I wanted to share some of the data here in order to also help me think through these findings.

Kevork Sarafian’s (1930) The History of Armenian Education is one of the only comprehensive studies available. As noted by Sarafian (1930), the Armenian Church was the major resource for maintaining the Armenian national identity within smaller communities that provided space to cultivate and maintain the identity particularly through religion and education (Sarafian, 1930).  The sources used to document Armenian education Sarafian’s literature are a reflection of those who managed to document their perspectives - often times these individuals were the elites, political figures, nobility and clergy members of the community (Sarafian, 1930). 

In my findings, I found some alphabet textbooks that resonate with what Sarafian (1930) referred to during the early history when education was primarily meant for boys and for religious purposes. These textbooks were printed in Vienna, Venice, Constantinople, Aleksandropol, Paris, Moscow, among other places. If I were to generalize the findings thus far, I would categorize the late 1600's to the late 1800's as religious education for (elite) boys only. The early 1900s begins to introduce other concepts including the following example with texts about orphans in a 1905 alphabet textbook. Most of the earlier textbooks described the traditional family unit as one with a mother, father, and home at times with siblings as well. Often times the mother was described as the home caretaker with her household responsibilities. By the early 1900s, perhaps the textbook authors felt the need to introduce texts on orphans to support children's conceptualization and acceptance of children who lost their parents. In the late 1880s and early 1900s, this could refer to the wars or genocide happening within this time period. In this blog, I offer a few samples of texts and images and some of my notes about each to share some of the data I found recently.

Orphan
The shinny sun already set,
the moon long ago went and stood.
The darkness filled the air
and the fall cold wind blew.

Every person gathered into their homes,
Every child fell into the arms of their mothers,
Only the poor orphan, who had no father, mother,
No relative, no sister, no brother,
Barefoot, naked and hungry
Crouched under the wall.

The good landlord looked out from above,
Invited our miserable orphan inside.
And from then on the ill-fated boy had someone to take care of him.

Arabajyan, H. (1905). Mayreni Lezoo (badgernerov, krutyan oreenagnerov, kravor varjotyunerov, yev sharjagan ayboobenov): first year. (5th version). Aleksandropol: Hagop Ghazabesyantsee.

Several alphabet textbooks in the late 1800s included Armenian and Russian texts parallel to each other. This finding could reflect the period of time when Armenia was apart of the Russian Empire.

Of interest to me was a textbook printed in 1860 that had Armenian and Kurdish language which was printed in Constantinople. As one flips through this alphabet book Kurdish language is also available.

Tigranyan, M. (1860). Aybenaran Kyurderen yev Hayeren: e beds mangants kyurdoosdantsvots. Constantinople: Hovhanoo Myuhendesyan.

In a 1942 aybenaran, this text refers to Stalin's defeat of the Germans during World War II and the establishment of the Soviet Union with the following text entitled, Our Victory.  

Our Victory
The German fascists attacked our country. 
They were the cause of major disasters for our nation.
Stalin called upon our people to defend their homeland.
Stalin's successful Soviet army beat the fascists.
Glory to the Soviet people!
Glory to Soviet army!
Glory to the great Stalin!

Glory to the Soviet people!
Glory to Soviet army!
Glory to the great Stalin!

Hayrabedyan, H. & Moushegyan, A. (1942). Aybenaran (2nd version). Yerevan: HayrabedHrad.

Also in this 1942 aybenaran images of the great heroes of the time Stalin and Lenin were referenced in the lesson on the letter «Ը» or "Uh" for Ընկեր pronounced unger which can be translated as comrade or friend.

Hayrabedyan, H. & Moushegyan, A. (1942). Aybenaran (2nd version). Yerevan: HayrabedHrad.

References:

Palandjian, G. (2012). The ABCs of being Armenian: (re)turning to the national identity in
post-soviet textbooks. Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1021187128).

Palandjian, G., Silova, I., Mun, O., & Zholdoshalieva, R. (2018). Nation and gender in postsocialist
education transformations: comparing early literacy textbooks in Armenia Kazakhstan, Krgyzstan, and Latvia. In M. Chankseliani, & I. Silova. Comparing post Socialist transformations: purposes, policies, and practices in education. (pp. 167-192). Oxford Studies in Comparative Education.

Sarafian, K. (1930). History of education in Armenia. California: La Verne College.

Silova, I. & Palandjian, G. (2018). Soviet Empire, childhood, and education. Revista Española
de Educación Comparada. (31), 147-171.

Silova, I., Mead, M., & Palandjian, G. (2014). Pedagogies of space: (Re)mapping national territories, borders, and identities in post-Soviet textbooks. In J.H. Williams (Ed.), (Re)constructing memory: School textbooks and the imagination of the nation. (pp.103-130) Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Sense.

The Starting Point - Embracing Multiplicities

This morning while reading Madison's (2020) latest edition on critical ethnography, she begins her chapter on methods with, "Who am I?" Starting where you are (p. 29).  Our past experiences and histories have brought us to this point in time which Madison (2020) encourages researchers to embrace as the starting point.  While this may be important to remind researchers that this is the starting point for methods, to me it is naturally the starting point.  I cannot imagine any researcher conducting a critical ethnography without acknowledging their immediate identity and the privileges that come with it in any given study.  In my case, I am constantly reminded of my identit(ies).  I visualize the insider and outsider concepts rubbing against and through each other simultaneously allowing me to bring together multiple perspectives together.  As a researcher, this is highly valuable and important as it brings nuances and enriches the data.

*Note: I obviously did not draw the maps to scale - meant for visual/conceptual purposes.

I want to extend this example from a researcher experience to some of the recent conversations I've had with friends and colleagues.  The topic of identity is at the front of Armenians mindset and perhaps even more so for a Diasporan. While being here for nearly a month now, I can no longer keep track of the number of personal conversations that involved the role of national identity and how it effects peoples' lives on a daily basis.  The immediate reaction is to assume we only have a dual-sense of identities [and perhaps the national governments once again are at fault here for reminding us that we are not allowed to have more than two national citizenships/passports].  However, I would argue we have multiple identities always at play.  Why limit how we experience life and the world with this bi-focal lens when we clearly have a wider range? Instead of feeling punished by our multiplicity of identities, I would urge us to feel humbled and embrace these layers.  I understand the challenges on a daily basis when society tries to frame us neatly into "boxes" and sure, it can be taxing emotionally and spiritually but ultimately, our multiplicity makes up all of the layers or fibers that feeds into our souls.  Why see black-white when a rainbow can offer more? 

For some people I can imagine it's hard to understand why the national or identity is an important topic of conversation.  It couldn't be more timely to turn to a recent article where Silova (2019) draws on memories and discusses the ways in which children become national(ized) within the context of the Soviet nationhood project.  Silova's (2019) study examines how individuals at times go against the national narrative or breach(ing) the nation which she defines as the following: "'breaching’ acquires a double meaning – on the one hand, it exposes the taken-forgranted, unspoken assumptions of the nation and, on the other hand, it reveals multiple meanings and experiences of the ‘nation’ in children’s everyday lives. (p. 2)" .  The experiences I discussed above may be examples where individuals feel like they are "breaching" what is expected of the prescribed Armenian national identity.  Certainly conforming maybe be more comfortable whereas breaching forces us to exist within an unknown space and embracing multiplicities requires individuals to carry a heavier burden.  

In this post, I wanted to bring together some of the ideas from the literature on researcher identity and my recent conversations about the national identity in ordinary life as a way to embrace these multiplicities.  I think it's important to begin our dialogues on identities with multiplicities just as we do as researchers with methods.

References

Madison, D. S. (2020). Critical Ethnography: Methods, Ethics, and Performance. Sage: California. 

Silova, I. (2019) Lessons in everyday nationhood: childhood memories of ‘breaching’ the nation,Children's Geographies, DOI: 10.1080/14733285.2019.1618440

The Cycle

Can we break from the cycle,

that was started long before you and I were born,

which has been pushed along for so long,

no one knows any longer what for?

The first story was shared during a short taxi ride,

we had exchanged very few words,

yet felt like we had known each other for a lifetime.

This teacher explained that her husband and her agreed

its best not to tell their son

that these stories of enemies and hate is wrong

for it will only create a traumatic childhood.

Its easy for one to judge this teacher and her husband

and point out their wrong.

You see, we all go through this cycle of trauma unwillingly.

This child will need to learn these hateful lessons in school

the way his parents once did.

If he is lucky, he will not carry too much of the hate, 

and may become one of the leaders to end this cycle of hate.

The teacher recalled the day she personally met an "other",

described it as traumatic.

Today, she teaches alternative lessons about Armenian history

and aims to develop critical thinking skills.

The second story is about an educator, 

who, after hearing about my research,

recalled her days as a student abroad.

Her classmate was Azerbaijani

who became one of her best friends.

They kept in touch over the years,

showed each other compassion and sincerity.

During the educator's return visit many years later,

she spends time with her Azerbaijani best friend and their family.

It was clearly a joyous reunion with a barbecue, return to their school, 

and other sites they visited together.

Will we ever break from this cycle, 

that has lasted for so long,

for some of us, memories of de- and re-humanizing the "other" are within the same lifetime, and

for others, re-humanizing is still too hard to let go?