The Armenian Studies Program web page is sponsored by a grant from
The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable
Foundation, Fresno.
Dr. Sergio La Porta has
been appointed as Haig and Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies at
The Haig and Isabel
Berberian Endowed Chair in Armenian Studies,
established in the fall of 1988,
is one of several Armenian Chairs in the
Dr. Dickran
Kouymjian,
Emeritus Professor of Armenian Studies, was the first holder of the Berberian
Chair from 1988 until his retirement in May
of 2008.
Dr. La Porta is a native of
Dr. La Porta wrote his
thesis on volume three of Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i’s
(Krikor Dathevatsi) Book of
Questions. His thesis reevaluated Grigor’s work and uncovered previously
unknown sources for the text. While
conducting research for his thesis, he
spent 1999-2000 on a Lady Davis Fellowship at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem to work with
Prof. Michael Stone and Dr. Roberta Ervine. At the
completion of that year, Prof. Stone asked if he would like to teach at the
Dr. La Porta met his wife,
Malina Zakian, on the
Dr. La Porta’s research
interests have focused upon Armenian intellectual life
in the Middle Ages. He
has published a three-volume work in the Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum
Orientalium series of Peeters Press
on the Armenian commentaries on the
Christian philosopher and mystic Dionysius the Areopagite. He has also
published numerous articles
on Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i, Grigor Narekac‘i, medieval
monasticism, and history. He has hosted several international conferences, and
co-edited
the papers of one that has been published by Brill press. In addition
to continuing his work on Grigor Tat‘ewac‘i’s Book of Questions and
the
Armenian commentaries on Dionysius the Areopagite, his current research
projects include a history of Armenian during the period
of the Zak‘arian
brothers (c. 1190-1236), and the reception of apocalyptic literature in the
Armenian tradition.
Dr. La Porta will be
teaching
courses in Armenian literature, history, culture, and on the Armenian
Church when he joins the Armenian Studies Program.
