Glimpses into Women's Lives in Medieval Armenia explores how Armenian historical sources offer rare but valuable insights into the experiences of women in the Middle Ages. Although women are seldom featured as protagonists in traditional medieval narratives, a number of Armenian colophons — texts of varying lengths added to manuscripts by scribes after their completion — preserve compelling details about women’s roles in marriage, family life, property ownership and social relationships.

This talk examines these largely overlooked texts to illuminate the everyday lives and agency of women in medieval Armenian societies, offering a richer, more nuanced view of the period.

Dr. David Zakarian is the Haig and Isabel Berberian Endowed Chair of Armenian Studies at Fresno State. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in English Language and Literature from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Master of Studies in Classical Armenian and a Doctor of Philosophy in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford. His doctoral thesis focused on the representation of women in early Christian Armenian texts. From 2017 to 2019, he was a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford, researching Christian–Muslim interactions in Armenian colophons.

Date: Friday, May 9
Time: 7 - 8 p.m.
Location: Grosse Industrial Tech building, Room 101

For more information, contact Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian at barlowd@csufresno.edu.