Scholarly research in the fields of history and genocide studies can greatly benefit from different perspectives and inter-institutional/international cooperation. It is with in mind that I applied to become an academic visitor the first visiting scholar of the Oxford Network for Armenian Genocide Research (ONAGR) in November 2021.
My current research is focused on Czech-Armenian cultural, socio-political and historical relations since the end of the 19th century. I have translated Czech traveller and author Karel Hansa’s The Horrors of the East – an eye-witness account of the Armenian Genocide – into Armenian and I have prepared it for publication alongside extensively researched supplementary notes and explanations. My research on Hansa’s book will also serve as the foundation for the republication of The Horrors of the East in modern Czech, and in English – in case of interest.
Whilst in Oxford, I was excited to share my research about Czech-Armenian relations and the Czech perspective on the Armenian Genocide. For ONAGR, I have completed a Readers Guide to the Archival Sources on the Armenian Genocide at the Bodleian Archives Special Collections in the custody of Weston Library; I have delivered a short lecture on Karel Hansa at Pembroke College as part of their pre-dinner speech series; and I have participated in a public conversation on the role of storytelling in the aftermath of war, co-hosted by ONAGR and the International Armenian Literary Alliance.
My research trip was made possible through scholarships granted by Charles University in Prague (CUNI) and the Gulbenkian Foundation.
The scholarship from CUNI, called POINT, has the stated aim of ‘internationalising’ the University. Therefore, it is especially aimed at research trips that could lead to potential international collaborations. I hope that my visit will not only mark the hopeful beginning of a partnership between researchers at Charles University and the ONAGR but also further our mission of making the Armenian Genocide a part of global conversations about human rights and genocide prevention.