Classical Armenian Studies

专业详情

Within the long span of Armenian history, the study of Armenia at Oxford concentrates on the period when Armenian sources give valuable information not only about Armenian culture itself, but also about neighbouring peoples of the Near East. Emphasis is therefore given to the study of the classical and medieval forms of the language and to Armenian literature from the fifth to the seventeenth centuries.

After an initial introduction to the grammar and syntax of classical Armenian, you will read a variety of texts. An understanding of the literary culture of the period and the historical background is thus obtained directly from the original sources.

The course consists of four papers. The first is a core course on the language, literature, history, and culture of Ancient and Medieval Armenia.

The remaining three papers are core courses on key Armenian literary genres. For these papers you must choose to study texts in three of the following subjects: biblical texts; homiletic and polemical literature; hagiographic texts; historical literature of the 5th-9th centuries; historical literature of the 10th-14th centuries; religious and secular verse; or any other subject approved by the Faculty Board. 

Teaching offered consists of classes and tutorials and may include lectures and seminars.