Hiking Summer School of Armenology (HayaSSA)
Dear friends and colleagues, students and young researchers who study (or are strongly interested in) Indo-European linguistics and/or Armenology, particularly the Armenian language, history and culture are invited to apply for the Hiking Summer School of Armenology (HayaSSA) which will take place from 10 to 24 August 2020!
This summer school has been running successfully since 2008 for people from the Republic of Armenia․ HayaSSA 2020 will be its first international offering, targeting at students and researchers from all over the world, employing English as the working language.
The course requires a basic familiarity with linguistics and English proficiency.
HayaSSA is an annual two-week set of tours accompanied by an intensive lecture series on the foremost issues in Armenian language and history, organized for around 25-30 students and young researchers. The main course surveys the history of the Armenian language from its Indo-European origins to the rise of the contemporary dialects, situating it within its cultural context. Supplementary courses include Classical/Modern Armenian (in parallel sessions), occasional guest lectures, and cultural classes and events (Armenian folk dance, song, culinary, rug/carpet-weaving, miscellaneous lectures and/or discussions).
HayaSSA combines an educational summer school format with hiking, camping and sightseeing and offers the best opportunity for exploring the Indo-European foundations of Armenian linguistics in combination with its cultural-historical background. It mainly explores locations that are important for understanding Armenia’s linguistic and cultural history, but are off the normal tourist trail.
HayaSSA has no ideological orientation and offers a platform for open discussion. It brings together Armenophone and non-Armenophone students and young researchers from various countries to enable them to communicate with each other within both academic and informal contexts and creates a warm atmosphere of human interaction almost completely free of cellphones and the internet.
The main theme and route of HayaSSA 2020 comprise the rise and development of the Armenian statehood and the religious institutions from their earliest (prehistorical and historical) forms to medieval times. We begin with a remarkable Bronze Age sacral landscape with the greatest cumulation of “Vishap/Dragon stelae” on the slopes of Mount Aragats, as well as the royal hypogeum of Aghdzk (Ałcʻkʻ/Ałjkʻ) in the same region; the bones of the Armenian kings incorporated the glory of the kings (pʻaṙkʻ tʻagaworacʻn) and the fortune and valour (baxtkʻn ew kʻaǰutʻiwn) of the Armenian realm. The route then proceeds with the first capital and religious centre, Armavir, its transfer to Yervandashat (and Bagaran), and so on. This thematic skeleton allows us to shape a wonderful route including the change of capitals and cult centres of Armenia and thus unifying the chronological and geographical bases of the cultural history of Armenia. ♦ Route lectures are thematically related with certain places on our route and will take place in situ. Apart from the lectures by archaeologists on corresponding archaeological sites, there will also be a number of lectures by Dr. Hrach Martirosyan on various linguistic-cultural issues related with those places
A selection of topics of lectures at base Dr. Hrach Martirosyan
- Armenian as an Indo-European language
- The place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family: relationship with Indo-Iranian and Greek
- Chronology of the Armenian language
- Invention of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtocʻ and the problem of pre-Christian writing
- The development of the Proto-Indo-European phonemic system in Armenian
- The methodology of distinguishing native Armenian words from Iranian loans
- Grammatical and word-formative issues
- Armenian lexicology and etymology
- Middle Armenian
- Armenian dialects
- The origins of Armenian mythology and calendar
*Some of them can be included according to the participants’ desiderata.
HayaSSA 2020 will consist of three phases:
- Aragatsotn Province (four nights): Bronze Age sacral landscape of Tirinkatar with ca. 20 “Vishap/Dragon stelae” on the slopes of Mount Aragats; Royal hypogeum of Aghdzk (Ałcʻ/jkʻ); rock-carvings of Agarak; “Vishap/Dragon stelae” of Orgov.
- Ararat Province and surroundings (four nights): Metsamor and its archaeological site; the ancient capital Armavir and Urartian Argishtikhinili; ancient capital Yervandashat; Archaeological sites of the ancient capitals Artashat and Dvin; the monastery of Khor Virap.
- Vayots Dzor Province (six nights): Yeghegis, Smbataberd fortress (Fortress of Smbat the Prince of Syunik) and Tsakhats Kar Monastery; Areni with its famous cave-winery; the epic fortress Hrasekaberd, literally ‘the fortress of Hraseak’, which reflects Middle Iranian *Frāsyāk, variant name of Afrāsīāb, the well-known figure in the Iranian epic; Ulgyur with two Christianized Dragon/Vishap-stelae; the crater Dali Tapa; the monastery of Surb Sion in Herher; the 13th century famous monastery of Noravank.
The author, leader and main lecturer of HayaSSA is Dr. Hrach Martirosyan (PhD 2008, Leiden University).
If you are interested, please visit: https://armensc.com/
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://armensc.com/