Biography
Khoren Grigoryan is a cultural anthropologist and historian specializing in post-genocide memory, diaspora identity, and memory politics, with a regional focus on Armenian communities in Lebanon, Armenia, and post-Soviet and post-war contexts. He holds a PhD in History (Ethnography) from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.
His doctoral dissertation, The Transformation of the Armenian Community’s Identity in the Settlement of Ainjar, Lebanon (defended in 2025), is based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork and oral history research and examines identity formation, community memory, and post-genocide narratives among Musa Dagh Armenians in Lebanon.
Since 2023, he has been a Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography (NAS RA). He also teaches cultural anthropology and cultural history at Valery Brusov State University. In parallel, he has held expert and coordinating positions in the field of cultural heritage and public policy, including work with the Ministry of Culture of Armenia, UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage framework, and the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
Grigoryan has previously worked as a museum researcher at the Museum of Armenian Ethnography and has participated in international academic conferences and expert meetings across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. Since March 2026, Researcher at the Institute for Cultural Studies (IKW), Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Research Areas
Post-genocide memory and memory politics, Diaspora identity and forced migration, Cultural anthropology and ethnography, Oral history and narrative analysis, Armenian studies in comparative perspective
Publications (selected)
- “The Hypothesis of Cilician Origin of Musadag Armenians.” Herald of the Social Sciences, No. 1, 2025, pp. 262–269. DOI: 10.53548/0320-8117-2025.1-262. [in Armenian]
- “Who Was Leading the Self-Defense Battles at Musa Dagh?” Herald of the Social Sciences, No. 2, 2024, pp. 131–137. DOI: 10.53548/0320-8117-2024.2-131. [in Armenian]
- “First Reactions to Franz Werfel’s Novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh in Armenian Reality.” Journal of Armenian Studies, Vol. 2, No. 65, 2024, pp. 190–203. DOI: 10.24234/journalforarmenianstudies.v2i65.110. [in Armenian]
- “Are Musadaghian Armenians ‘Karabakh Armenians’?” Haigazian Armenological Review, No. 39, 2019, pp. 763–774. ISSN: 2518-9697. [in Armenian]
- “The Lost Monuments: The Photo Collection of A. Vruyr and the Armenian Genocide.” Journal of Genocide Studies, Vol. 3, Issues 1–2, 2025, pp. 218–230. ISSN: 1829-3980. [in Armenian]