Leslie Erganian
Friday, January 17, 2020Seta Dadoyan is an Armenian scholar who specializes in medieval Armenian political and intellectual history in their interactive aspects with the Near Eastern world. She was a professor of Cultural Studies, Philosophy and Art at the American University of Beirut (AUB) between 1986 and 2005.She has also taught at other universities including the Haigazian University(1981-1986), Columbia University(2002, 2006), St. Nerses Seminary (2007-2010), the University of Chicago(2010) She has written over fifty articles and ten books, and is believed to be the first Armenian woman to have received a Doctor of Sciences in Philosophy focusing on the history of Armenian philosophy. Her scholarly work focuses on medieval Armenian history with a special emphases on the relationship between the Armenians and Muslims; she is considered a leading scholar in this field.
Seta Dadoyan was born in Aleppo, Syria, to an Armenian family. She moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where she received her Master of Arts degree in Philosophy from the American University of Beirut in 1969. In 1986 Dadoyan became a professor at the American University of Beirut, and remained there until 2005. Dadoyan has also studied art in Beirut and London and is a painter.
Her lectures have received acclaim by academics and scholars including Michael Morony, who said they will raise "the consciousness of people about the involvement of Armenians in the general history of the Middle East." James R. Russell called them "an intellectual feast".In 1999, Dadoyan was awarded the David Anhaght medal, the highest medal granted by the Armenian Academy of Philosophy, for her contributions to Armenian philosophical studies.