PRESERVING ASSYRIA
Ever aware of the growing need to have a program dedicated to protecting the Assyrian identity, the Assyrian Studies Association created the Preserving Assyria program. Through this program, we’re actively working to promote and preserve the Assyrian identity through our four initiatives: Heritage Archive, Oral History, Giving Back, and Educational.
Heritage Archive Initiative
Under our Preserving Assyria program, we operate our Heritage Archive Initiative through which we professionally preserve, revitalize, and restore rare Assyrian books, photographs, and other historical documents. Our team also partners with leading academic institutions to display archival materials for exhibitions.
From left to right: Fr. Paulos Be-Daro - Cal mawte d Gandi - Sefro suryoyo 1948, and Ashur S. Yousif (1858 - 1915) who was born in the town of Harput in the Ottoman Empire. Yousif was a professor, philosopher, writer, and author of the periodical Murshid Athuriyon (The Assyrian Guide).
Oral History Initiative
Under our Preserving Assyrian program, we operate our Oral History Initiative through which we support virtual projects that introduce a dialogue to the backdrop of archival materials. Within this initiative, we are supporting films that historically record, document, and positively preserve Assyrian American communities' history across the United States.
Assyrians shown in Dr. Ruth Kambar and Annie Elias's film project entitled, Assyrians in Motion, 1937. The project provides back stories to images contained in two archival films shot in 1937 documenting Assyrian refugees living in diaspora, having escaped genocide to establish a new home in the United States.
Assyrian Studies Association's grant recipients. From Left to Right: Sanherib Ninos, Rachel Sarah Thomas, Ashor Sworesho, and Sarah Ego.
Giving Back Initiative
Under our Preserving Assyria program, we manage our Giving Back Initiative by providing grants to scholars and graduate students to conduct original research on the Assyrian people, history, and culture and offer grants to students to present their research at academic conferences. We are giving back to our Assyrian community through this initiative by providing grants to promote the academic study of the longue durée of the Assyro-Mesopotamian heritage.
Educational Initiative
Under our Preserving Assyria program, we manage our Educational Initiative where we partner with leading scholars, authors, and publishers from around the world to disseminate informal content related to the field of Assyrian Studies.
Images from Assyrian Studies Association virtual events.