On behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff of the Armenian Museum of America, we are very pleased to announce the arrival of visiting scholar, Dr. Alisa Dumikyan. Born in Armenia, Dr. Dumikyan received her master’s degree from the Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences (1995-2000) and a second master’s degree from the International Center for Scientific Education of National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) (2006-2008). She received her PhD from the Institute of History of National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (2009-2013).
Dr. Dumikyan has spent her career teaching and researching in Armenia and abroad: from 2001 to 2009 she taught at the Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, the Russian-Armenian University and other universities. From 2008 to 2019, she worked as a senior researcher at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.
Her area of focus surrounds the issues in the historiography of ancient and early medieval Armenia from the 19th century and has written prolifically on this matter. Her publications include the following articles and papers: ‘’To the problem of conceptual approaches of the French Armenologists and Orientalists to the history of the Kingdom of Van,’’ ‘’Taik in the Assyrian and Biainian cuneiform inscriptions, ancient Greek and early medieval Armenian sources (the interpretations of the 19th century french armenologists) ,’’ ‘’Historical and spiritual perception of Armenia in the maps of French researchers of XVII-XIX centuries,’’ ‘’The reliability of the 19th century French and modern Armenological interpretations of the Biblical information about Mt. Ararat in the light of the Qumran manuscripts,’’ “The Interpretation of information on the Armenian King Abgar by French Armenologists of the 19th century".
Dumikyan says “I was very honored when I was invited to work at the Museum as an Armenian Researcher. The Armenian Museum is a unique institution with a very rich and extensive collection representing various periods throughout Armenian history, and I feel extremely fortunate to have this wonderful opportunity to share my knowledge and expand upon it with the vast resources at the Armenian Museum and its library. “
According to Dumikyan, “of special importance are the materials from the Urartu/Van Kingdom, the collection of ancient Armenian coins and stamps donated by Paul Bedoukian (the largest collection outside of Armenia), medieval Armenian manuscripts, ceramics, metal ware and rugs, which are a testament to the rich Armenian historical heritage.”
Dr. Dumikyan’s initial attention will be on strengthening the Museum’s scholarship of its ancient and medieval objects.