Il fulcro della ricerca della Prof.sa Pogossian è la storia, la cultura e la religione armena medievale all'interno del piu vasto contesto dell'incontro con vari altri popoli e culture tra il V e il XIV secolo con una particolare enfasi sulla Civiltà Bizantina. Nei suoi studi, come indica il record delle sue pubblicazioni, ha prestato particolare attenzione a testi poco studiati, cosiddetti 'minori', quali apocalissi, agiografie, colofoni dei manoscritti e leggende popolari intesi come prova dei contatti interculturali in uno spazio geografico compreso tra il Caucaso meridionale, l'Anatolia, la Mesopotamia settentrionale e Mediterraneo orientale. La sua ricerca, dunque, spazia fra variegati campi di studi, dal culto dei santi durante il medioevo e, in particolare nel Mediterraneo orientale, alla cristianizzazione del paesaggio e alla storia dei centri monastici come testimoni di questo processo; dalla analisi dello sviluppo dell'ideologia regale, con particolare enfasi su quella armena e le sue relazioni con quella bizantina, ai testi apocalittici e al loro valore come indicatori delle interazioni tra culture, religioni e lingue. Oltre a numerose pubblicazioni, la Prof.sa Pogossian ha organizzato molte conferenze internazionali, workshop e serie di conferenze, oltre a condurre ricerche sul campo in Armenia ed Etiopia. Serve regolarmente come revisore tra pari su riviste internazionali, nonché valutatore di progetti di ricerca internazionali. Fa parte del comitato editoriale della rivista Entangled Religions ed è co-fondatrice e co-editrice generale della serie Eastern Christian Cultures in Contact per la casa editrice Brepols.
Associate Professor of Byzantine Civilisation
Principal Investigator of an ERC Consolidator Grant: Armenia Entangled: Connectivity and Cultural Encounters in Medieval Eurasia 9th-14th Centuries (ArmEn)
Fellowships and Awards
2020-2025 Principal Investigator, ERC Consolidator Grant Armenia Entangled: Connectivity and Cultural Encounters in Medieval Eurasia 9th - 14th Centuries (ArmEn).
2015-2020 Research Fellow and Project Coordinator ERC Project Jews and Christians in the East: Strategies of Interaction between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean (JewsEast).
Feb. 2016 Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, University of California, Los Angeles.
2015-2018 Visiting International Professor/Innovators Fund, Ruhr-Universität-Bochum Research School.
2013 Invited Visiting Fellow at the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities: Fate, Freedom and Prognostication. Strategies for Coping with the Future in East Asia and Europe. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen.
2011 - 2012 Invited Visiting Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg at the Center for Religious Studies: Study of Dynamics in the History of Religions, Ruhr-Universität-B/Center for Religious Studies.
2010 - 2011 Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, Eberhard-Karls-Universität, Tübingen.
2002 – 2003 Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy) fellowship for Ph.D. research at the Pontificio Istituto Orientale (Rome) and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
Education
1999 - 2005 Ph.D. magna cum laude in Medieval Studies. Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
1998 - 1999 M.A. with distinction in Medieval Studies. Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
1994 - 1997 M.A. in International Development, American University, Washington, DC, USA.
1990 – 1994 B.A. in International Business. Maharishi International University, Fairfield, IA, USA.
Previous Positions
2015-2020 Research Fellow and Project Coordinator, ERC-funded Project JewsEast, Ruhr-Universität-Bochum (RUB), Germany.
2014-2017 Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, Gender and Religion. Humanities Department, Loyola University Rome Center
2006-2015 Adjunct Professor of Medieval Philosophy, History, History of Eastern Christian Churches, Religious Studies, Research Methods in the Humanities. History Department, John Cabot University, Rome
2006-2008 Adjunct Professor of History. International Studies Department, American University of Rome.
Professional Memberships
Vice-President of the Armenian National Committee of the Association Internationale des Études Byzantines
Full member of the Association Internationale des Études Arméniennes
Full member of the Associazione Padus-Araxes
Reviewing Activities
Evaluation of projects for: the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
the Austrian Academy of Sciences
the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgian
European Institutes for Advanced Study
2012 – present Member of the Editorial Board, Journal Entangled Religions
2020-present Co-founder and one of the general editors: series Eastern Christian Cultures in Contact, Brepols publishers
Publications
Books
The Church of the Holy Cross on Ałt‘amar: Politics, Art, Spirituality in the Kingdom of Vaspurakan, Leiden: Brill, 2019, co-edited with E. Vardanyan.
The Letter of Love and Concord: A Revised Diplomatic Edition with Historical and Textual Comments and English Translation(Medieval Mediterranean vol. 88). Leiden: Brill, 2010.
Articles
“Ruling Širak and Aršarunik‘ at the End of the Fifth Century: Sahak Kamsarakan and a Mathematical Problem of Anania Širakac‘i as a Historical Source”, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 86/1 (2020): 19-63.
“The Armenian version of Ps.-Hippolytus De Consummatione Mundi and its impact on Armenian apocalyptic tradition. A first appraisal”, Le Muséon (1/2020): 141-163.
“Reflections on History, Mnemohistory and Narratives Inspired by Nikoloz Aleksidze, The Narrative of the Caucasian Schism”, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 85/2 (2019): 513-546.
“Relics, Rulers, Patronage: The True Cross of Varag and the Church of the Holy Cross on Ałt‘amar”, in The Church of the Holy Cross on Ałt‘amar: Politics, Art, Spirituality in the Kingdom of Vaspurakan, eds. Z. Pogossian and E. Vardanyan, 126-205. Leiden: Brill, 2019.
“Gli ebrei e il giudaismo nelle fonti armene: un breve panorama (lectio magistralis)”, Rassegna degli Armenisti Italiani 20 (2019): 7-15.
“Women, Identity and Power: a Review Essay of Antony Eastmond Tamta’s World”, Al-‘Usur al-Wusta 27 (2019): 233-266.
co-authored with Sergio La Porta. “Apocalyptic Texts, Transmission of Topoi and their Multi-Lingual Background”, in The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone, eds. L. DiTommaso, M. Henze and W. Adler, 824-851. Leiden: Brill, 2018.
“Locating Religion, Controlling Territory: Conquest and Legitimation in Late Ninth Century Vaspurakan and its Inter-religious Context”, in Locating Religions: Contact, Diversity and Translocality, eds. R. Glei and N. Jaspert, 173-233. Leiden: Brill, 2017.
“Jews in Armenian Apocalyptic Traditions of the 12th century: a Fictional Community or New Encounters?”, in Peoples of the Apocalypse: Eschatological Beliefs and Political Scenarios, eds. W. Brandes, F. Schmieder, R. Voß, 147-192. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016.
“Государство и религия: основание монастырей и покровительство им как способ контроля над территориями в Армении во второй половине IX в.” [State and Religion: Foundation and Patronage of Monasteries as a Method of Territory Control in 9th c. Armenia], Государствo, Религия, Церковь [Gosudarstvo, Religija, Tserkov'] 22/33 (2015): 34-60.
“An ‘Un-known and Unbridled People’: Vardan Arewelc‘i’s Colophon on the Mongols”, Journal of the Society of Armenian Studies 23 (2014): 7-48.
“The Last Emperor or the Last Armenian King? Considerations on Apocalyptic Themes in Armenian Texts from the Cilician Period”, in Armenian Apocalyptic Tradition: A Comparative Perspective, eds. K. Bardakjian and S. La Porta, 457-503. Leiden: Brill, 2014.
“Female Asceticism and Piety in Medieval Armenia”, Le Muséon 125.1/2 (2012): 169-213.
“The Foundation of the Monastery of Sevan: A Case Study on Monasteries, Economy and Political Power in IX-X Century Armenia”, in Le Valli dei Monaci: Atti del III Convegno Internazionale di Studio “De Re Monastica”, Roma-Subiaco, 17-19 maggio, 2010, vol. 1, 181-215. Spoleto: Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 2012.
“Armenians, Mongols and the End of Times: An Overview of 13th Century Sources”, in Representation of the Mongols in the Caucasus: Armenia and Georgia, eds S. Vashalomidze, M. Zimmer and J. Tubach, 169-198. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2012.
“Armenians and the IV Crusade Based on Two Contemporary Sources”, in Quarta Crociata: Venezia-Bisanzio-Impero Latino, eds Gh. Ortalli, G. Ravegnani, P. Schreiner, 583-605. Venezia: Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, 2006.
“The Conceptual Frontier: The Armenian Church and its Relations with the Holy See (XI-XIIIth Centuries)”, in Frontiers in the Middle Ages, ed. O. Merisalo, 259-290. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters, 2006.
“A Brief Note on Female Monasteries in Armenia: V-XIV cc”, in In Search of the Precious Pearl: Fifth Encounter of Monks from East and West at Dzaghgatzor Monastery Armenia, ed. E. Farrugia, 109-117. Roma: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 2005.
“The “Foreign” Element in Christianisation Legends of Armenia: Hagiography and Ancient Historiography”, Sanctorum. Rivista dell’Associazione per lo Studio della Santità, dei Culti e dell’Agiografia 1 (2004): 137-152.
“Women at the Beginning of Christianity in Armenia”, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 69/II (2003): 355-380.
“Il ruolo delle donne nella conversione al cristianesimo dell’Armenia: agiografia e fonti storiche”, Rassegna di teologia 44 (2003): 77-88.
“The Frontier Existence of Paulician Heretics”, Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU 6 (2000): 203-206.
Participation in Conferences & Workshops (by invitation, a selection, full list available upon request)
“Jews, Christians, Muslims: The Project ArmEn and its Contribution to the Study of the Persianate World”, Jewish Encounters in the Persianate World from the Sassanians to the Qajjars, 21-22 January, 2020, Ruhr-Universität-Bochum, Germany.
Co-organised the international conference Jewish-Christian Relations from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean: Evidence from the Material Culture, 26-28 March, 2019, Ruhr-Universität-Bochum, Germany.
“Gli ebrei e l’ebraismo nelle fonti armene medievali”, XXII Seminario Armenistico Italiano, 10 Novembre, 2018, Lectio Magistralis, Casa Armena, Milano.
“Viaggi tra l’Armenia e l’Etiopia: monaci, santi e mercanti tra l’Asia e l’Africa”, Il viaggio in Armenia dall’Antichità ai nostri giorni, 29–30 October, 2018, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia.
“The Cult of Saints and Their Patrons: Anania Širakac‘i’s Problems as a source”, Sciences and Learning in Armenia between Anania Širakac‘i and Grigor Magistros/Les sciences et le savoirs en Arménie entre Anania Širakac‘i et Grigor Magistros, 5-6 October, 2018, Gyumri, Villa Kars, Consolato onorario d’Italia in Armenia.
with Barbara Roggema “The Reception of Christian Arabic Polemics in Armenia: the Case of Abraham of Tiberias”, Arguing Against: Logical Reasoning and Arguments in Religious Controversies (8th - 10th centuries), 28 February – 2 March, 2018, ERC Project 9SALT, University of Vienna.
“True Cross Relics in Armenia: Between ‘Popular Tales’ and Princely Patronage”, Narrating Power and Authority in Late Antique and Medieval Hagiographies from East to West, 15-17 February, 2018, Academia Belgica, Rome.
“Dalla Cilicia Armena a Roma attraverso la Calabria: La Visione di Nersēs, Gioacchino da Fiore e Profezie Orientali in Occidente”, L’Armenia medievale epicentro di mobilità tra Oriente e Occidente, 18-19 May, 2017, University of Bologna.
“Armenians as the People of God and New Israel in Medieval Sources”, And you shall be unto me a Kingdom of Priests, a Holy Nation: Chosen Peoples from the Bible to Daesh, 20-21 June, 2016, University of Oxford.
“Concluding Remarks and Future Directions in Armenian Studies”, 2016 UCLA Collquium in Armenian Studies, Guest Speaker, 11-12, 2016, University of California, Los Angeles.
“Espansione del monachesimo cenobita e controllo del territorio: Il caso di Vaspurakan nella seconda metà del IX secolo”, IX Giornata di Studi Armeni e Caucasici, 19 March, 2015, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice.
“The Mediterranean in Armenian Hagiographic traditions: from Christianisation Narratives to Messianic Hopes”, Ein Meer und seine Heiligen: Die hagiographische Strukturierung des Mittelmeerraums im Mittelalter, 3-5 March, 2015, Deutsches Historisches Institut, Rome.
Participated in Open Society/Higher Education Support Project - The Caucasus and Byzantium from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages; Sub-project leader: Texts, images and ideologies of power, 2010-2015, Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, CEU, Budapest
“Monasteries, Pious Donations and Princely Power: A Comparison between the Arcrunis in Vaspurakan and the Bagratunis in Siwnik‘”, Les donations pieuses dans l'Orient médiéval, 20-21 March, 2014, Université Paul Valéry-Montpellier III.
“Multilingual Text Clusters and their Editions: The Case of Agat‘angel On the End of the World”, Approaches to the Editing of texts with a Multilingual Tradition, 18-20 December, 2013, King's College, London.
“The Changing Role of Women in Cilician Armenian Court as a Result of Interacting with the Mongols”, The Mongols from the Margins: New Perspectives on Central Asians in World History, 22 February, 2013, University of California Los Angeles.
“Apocalyptic Places and Peoples: Some Reflections on the Prophecies of Agaton and its Multi-Religious Context”, Locating Religions: Contact, Diversity, Translocality, 8-10 February, 2012, Käte Hamburger Kolleg, RUB.
“Armenians, Romans, Jews and the Infidel in Armenian Apocalyptic Sources”, Tagung Völker der Endzeit, 23-25 October, 2011, Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt-am-Main.
“Fonti armene per gli insediamenti monastici in valle”, De Re Monastica III: Le Valli dei Monaci, 17-19 May, 2010, Rome-Subiaco.
“The Image of Antichrist in Armenian Apocalyptic texts: VII-XII cc”, The Armenian Apocalyptic Tradition: A Comparative Perspective, 16-19 October, 2008, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
“The Last Roman Emperor or the Last Armenian King? Some Reflections on the Armenian Apocalyptic Traditions in the Cilician Period”, Nachleben of the Apocalypse in the Armenian Tradition, 7-10 June, 2007, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
“Gli Armeni in Cilicia nel periodo della Quarta Crociata attraverso due fonti contemporanee”, Colloquio internazionale: Constantinopolis Capta – 1204, 2-9 May, 2004, Università Ca’ Foscari – Istituto Veneto – Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani, Venice.
“Conflation of Various Christian Traditions in the Text of the Letter of Love and Concord: An Armenian Apocryphal Text from the Period of the IV Crusade”, Irruption, Interruption and Interaction: The Latin Conquest of Constantinople 1204, 26-28 February, 2004, Central European University, Budapest.
Public Lectures by Invitation
May 2020 Invitation to lecture on Medieval Armenian history and historiography, University of Oxford (Cancelled due to COVID-19).
March 2020 Invitation to lecture on Armenian Traders between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
February 2020 “Reliques, saints, pouvoir et légends des fondations dans l’Arménie médiévale”, Séminaire thématique pluridisciplinaire 2018-2020: Origines et fondations des œuvres et des institutions au Moyen Âge Orient-Occident, VIe-XVe siècle, Université Paul Valéry-Montpellier III.
29 November 2019 Public lecture at the Armenian General Benevolent Union in London: Vaspurakan: the Making of a Medieval Armenian Kingdom.
8 February, 2016 Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture Religious Polemic and Apocalyptic Traditions: Describing theOther, University of California Los Angeles.
25 June, 2013 Universal and Political Crises in ‘End of the World’ Prognostications: Reflections on the Armenian Texts and Traditions. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg.
17 February, 2013 Women, War and Social Change in Armenia during the Mongol Domination. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
10 January, 2012 Armenian Hagiography: Texts and Contexts. Fernuniversität Hagen.
31 November, 2011 The Armenians in Cilicia and Apocalyptic Speculations. Käte Hamburger Kolleg, RUB.
6 December, 2010 Prophecies of Agaton: Manuscript Tradition, Apocalyptic Themes and their Historical Context, Eberhard-Karls-Universät, Tübingen.
20 May, 2010 Prophecies of Agaton: An Armenian Prophecy from the Crusader Period. University of Konstanz.
Organisation of International Scientific Events
26-28/03/2019 Co-organiser, international conference, Jewish-Christian Relations from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean: Evidence from Material Culture, JewsEast Project, CERES/RUB.
5-6/10/2018 Co-Organiser, international workshop, sponsored by the Association Internationale des Études Arméniennes (AIEA), Sciences and Learning in Armenia between Anania Širakac‘i and Grigor Magistros, Gumry, Armenia.
2016-2017 Organiser of International Lecture Series: Religious Encounters between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, CERES/RUB, Germany. Funds secured through RUB Research School’s ‘Innovators Fund’.
17-19/10/2017 Main organiser, international conference, Traveling Texts and Inter-Religious Exchanges, KHK/RUB.
19/02/2015 Commemorative evening Remembering and Narrating the Genocide: Learning from Armenian Women and Children Survivors, John Cabot University, Rome.
22-23/09/2014 Co-organiser, international conference Le onzième centenaire d’Aght‘amar: Politique, Art et Spiritualité au Royaume du Vaspurakan, Institut d’Études Avancée (Paris) & Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Paris.
18-19/04/2013 Main organiser, international conference The Saved and the Damned: Soteriology and Religious Encounter, John Cabot University, Rome
8-9/05/2012 Co-organiser, international conference, Apocalypticism-Eschatology-Messianism in a Comparative Perspective, KHK/RUB, Germany.
6-8/10/2011 Organisational committee member & coordinator, XII General Congress of the AIEA, CEU, Budapest.
Legenda
The focus of Prof. Pogossian's research is medieval Armenian history, culture and religion in the context of various other peoples and cultures that they came into contact with between the fifth and fourteenth centuries with a particular emphasis on the Byzantine Civilization. In her studies she has paid particular attention to little studied, so-called 'minor' texts, such as apocalypses, hagiographies, manuscript colophons and folk legends as evidence of cross-cultural contacts in the space between southern Caucasus, Anatolia, northern Mesopotamia and eastern Mediterranean, as her publication record indicates. Her research has contributed to variegated fiels of studies, such as the cult of saints during the middle ages and particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Christianisation of landscape and monastic centres as witnesses to this process, royal ideology, highlighting Armenian and Byzantine connections, apocalyptic texts and their value in appreciating interactions between cultures, religions, and languages. Besides numerous publications, Prof. Pogossian has organised many international conferences, workshops, and lecture series, as well as led field research in Armenia and Ethiopia. She regularly serves as a peer reviewer on international journals, as well as an evaluator of international research projects. She is on the editorial board of the journal Entangled Religions and is a co-founder and general co-editor of the series Eastern Christian Cultures in Contact with Brepols publishers.
2014-2017 Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, Gender and Religion, Humanities Department, Loyola University Rome Center
2006-2015 Adjunct Professor of Medieval Philosophy, History, History of Eastern Christian Churches, Religious Studies, Research Methods in the Humanities History Department, John Cabot University, Rome
2006-2008 Adjunct Professor of History, International Studies Department, American University of Rome.
