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The 22nd Vardanants Day Armenian Lecture Series features “New Topics in Armenian History and Culture”

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(The following is a post by Levon Avdoyan, Area Specialist for Armenia and Georgia, Near East Section, African and Middle Eastern Division.)

I first heard the rumblings early in 2017: “The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is going to have Armenia as one of its featured countries in 2018!” In Washington, DC rumors are rampant, but this one was confirmed later that spring when an Armenian friend and colleague at the Smithsonian affirmed it and then breezily asked: “Would the Library of Congress consider doing something to complement the Festival?” Would we? Of course! After discussions at the Armenian Embassy with Smithsonian staff and members of the Armenian community in Washington, there was only one thing to do — plan the 22nd Vardanants Day Armenian Lecture to coincide with the opening of the Festival.

Map of the various Armenian states from Robert Hewsen. “Historical Armenia,” in Armenia: A Historical Atlas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001. (Reproduced with the permission of the author.)

The Vardanants series began in 1994 soon after Mrs. Marjory Dadian’s generous bequest in the name of her husband Arthur Dadian to the Near East Section for the “health and maintenance of the Armenian collections” at the Library of Congress. The lecture series is sponsored by the Near East Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division and was named after the Armenian holiday that commemorates the battle of Avarayr (451 A.D.), a battl