Bedros Torosian, History Graduate Student, is the recipient of the 2020 Naneh Award for Graduate Research in Armenian Studies
Department: Armenian Studies
Post Date: March 3, 2020News Details
Bedros Torosian, a doctoral student from Beirut, Lebanon, has followed his passion for Middle Eastern history all the way to the University of California, Irvine, where he has been pursuing his PhD in the subject since September of 2019.
Torosian was the first in his family to attend college. He began his education at the Haigazian University in Beirut, where he studied Education, and continued at the American University of Beirut where he completed a master’s degree in Middle Eastern History and was granted the Abdallah Lahoud Foundation Award for highest achievement in the subject. His master’s thesis focused on the economic role of Ottoman Armenian migrants in British-occupied Egypt.
It was UC Irvine’s distinguished faculty and interdisciplinary approach to history that drew him to Orange County. Under the guidance of Professor Houri Berberian, the Meghrouni Family Presidential Chair in Armenian Studies, Torosian studies the immigration of Ottoman Armenians to the United States.
“I was drawn to the subject because it is an understudied and important episode of not only Armenian history but also transnational Ottoman history, especially the formation of the Ottoman diaspora in the United States,” says Torosian.
Torosian’s research has revealed that Ottoman Armenians who immigrated to the United States recreated – deliberately or not – their cultural space in their new American homeland. Although it is too early for conclusions, Torosian hopes to delve into the connections between diaspora and homeland.
Torosian is the 2020 recipient of The Naneh Award for Graduate Research in Armenian Studies. This fellowship grants funding for graduate research in Armenian Studies and is awarded based on merit and quality of the applicant’s submitted proposal. Torosian will use this funding to further his research on Ottoman Armenian immigration to the United States.
Upon completion of his PhD, Torosian wishes to join the academic field as a researcher, writer, and teacher, contributing to Middle Eastern, Armenian, and world history.
For more information about the program and upcoming events please visit our website at: https://www.humanities.uci.edu/armenianstudies/#
UC Irvine: Program in Armenian Studies | 200 Murray Krieger Hall | Irvine, CA 92697-3275 | (949) 824-6522