PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
Email: [email protected]
SETA DADOYAN TO SPEAK AT NAASR ON ARMENIANS IN THE MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC WORLD
Prof. Seta B. Dadoyan will give a lecture entitled `Armenian History
Beyond the Pillars of Hercules: Plus Ultra,’ on Thursday, May 9, 2013,
at 7:30 p.m. at the National Association for Armenian Studies and
Research (NAASR), 395 Concord Avenue, Belmont, MA.
Plus Ultra, or `further beyond’, is the reversal of the
motto Non Plus Ultra or `nothing further beyond,’ which was a warning
to all those who dared to go beyond the Pillars of Hercules or the two
rocks on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar, the exit into the
Atlantic Ocean.
In its methodology, philosophy of history, and thematic
structure Seta Dadoyan’s trilogy The Armenians in the Medieval Islamic
World marks a radical revaluation of mainstream narratives,
ideological and institutional limitations, and an exit into a broader
world in search of new paradigms and images. Based on two decades of
research and new sources, the book is written as an argument for a
different reading of not only the historical experience with Islam,
but a deeper understanding of the multidimensional nature of the
Armenian experience/condition on the crossroads of civilizations in
the vast and rich Near/Middle Eastern world.
Dadoyan has taught at the American University of Beirut,
Haigazian University, Columbia University, St. Nersess Seminary, and
the University of Chicago. The focus of her research and publications
is the critical revaluation of the Armenian experience in its broader
and interactive aspects. She is the author of numerous articles in
scholarly journals and seven books, including Pages of West Armenian
Philosophical Thought (1987), The Fatimid Armenians: Cultural and
Political Interaction in the Near East (1997), and The Armenian
Catholicosate from Cilicia to Antelias: An Introduction to the
Political History (2003). Her magnum opus is the trilogy The
Armenians in the Medieval Islamic World: Paradigms of Interaction,
Seventh to Fourteenth Centuries (2011-2013).
More information about this program may be had by calling
617-489-1610, faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing [email protected], or writing
to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.
Belmont, MA
April 22, 2013