Help Houry continue her graduate education
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Hi I'm Houry, I was recently admitted to Goldsmiths University of London's Masters of Arts program in Social anthropology and I need your financial help to get there :)
About me:
I was born and raised in Aleppo, Syria. My family is Armenian on my dad’s side and Syriac on my mom’s side. Growing up I was (still am) a curious kid, I was very interested in society. I would sit on our balcony for hours and observe people. How they would lay out their laundry, how they’d be buying and negotiating fruits and vegetables from the pickup truck that sold them on our street. I loved documenting moments ever since I can remember. My favorite toy was a Zenit camera, that is still with me today. At every family occasion, birthdays, weddings or even just gatherings, I would take up my camera, take photos and videos of whatever I could. During my last years of high school in Aleppo, I decided that with a friend of mine, Jenny, we’d create an archive for our memories. We collected every item we could: papers, a piece of wood from the desk we sat on, even a gum wrapper. We never realized that one day our school will be bombed and the humble place that has all our teenagehood memories will fade away. I never was able to put all these thoughts and ideas together and make sense of the material I collected until I started my university studies.
Undergraduate education:
In 2012 I moved to Armenia with my family due to the Syrian war and I have been living here ever since. I started my educational journey as an undergraduate student at the American University of Armenia pursuing an English and Communications degree. During my studies I had the chance to take courses close to anthropology like cultural geography, sociology, topics in cinema and a variety of filmmaking and photography courses. These courses set a foundation for me from which I was able to combine my interest in anthropology and research creation. An amazing coincidence came across my path when I took an oral history course – only then I did understand the importance of memory in cultural and personal identity. The course also refined my methodological skills and became a cornerstone for my BA thesis. My academic research kept thriving, subsequently blossoming into a graduation project where I explored matrilineal stories of grandmothers, mothers and daughters through the lenses of culinary traditions and feminism.
Career:
During the past few years, my career path has slowly but steadily veered towards ethnographic research. I have accomplished this by taking up a few opportunities: My teaching assistant position at AUA for oral history, gender and social change and various other courses related to education and pedagogy. I also work as a research assistant for an oral history project initiated by the “Banalik” collective titled Localizing genocide memory in the land/scape(s) of Armenia. Through this triangular collaboration between AUA, the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Armenia and AGBU’s Nubarian Library in Paris, we focus on mapping traces and memories of genocide in Armenia’s urban landscape. This project culminated my interest in anthropology, inspiring my vision to expand my research with MA studies to look deeper into the connections between place and memory. Although the initiative took a physical pause due to COVID-19, its goal is to develop a memory tour throughout Armenia by mapping traces and memories of the genocide. Along with that I work as research assistant for the book Feminism in Armenian: an interpretive anthology. I also work as video/audio editor for the exhibition of the book launch.
During the initial stage of the pandemic, I collaborated with my friends to create and foster a community on Facebook called “Hi Haleb” [Hi Aleppo]. Our purpose is to collect stories and memories from Aleppian-Armenians. The stories are mainly about Armenian neighborhoods, schools, cultural associations, food and traditions. We started hosting weekly live interviews with different people from the community to share their stories and memories. The project has evolved into more in-depth interviews with historians, and public figures in the community. In the future, we will delve more into social anthropology and establish an audio-visual initiative. Through this platform, I intend to create digital anthropological content derived from archival material from these oral history interviews, which I hope to utilize in my MA research. Additionally, I want to focus on the migration waves to/from Armenia from 1915 until today, as many Syrian-Armenians have migrated to Armenia since the Syrian civil war.
I have also joined a digital initiative called Mashrou’ Wanabqa (Project We Remain). It is a platform for Syrians across the world to share, discuss and shed light on social and cultural issues related to the past, present and future of Syria. The main mission of the project is to establish a reputable, striking, progressive, respectful, and valuable online presence, which influences users individually. Through consuming our content, we essentially want to build a community that “affiliates” itself with Mashrou Wanabqa, which is how we eventually see on-the-ground influence. Overtime, it is a goal for Mashrou Wanabqa to become a socially influential organization in Syria.
Future plans:
It is for all the aforementioned reasons that I want to pursue graduate studies in anthropology, for which I have carefully selected Goldsmiths University of London. I deeply desire to study at Goldsmiths because it will allow me to collaborate with and learn from its culturally diverse faculty and student body. My passions align with modules like “Anthropological Approaches to History” and “Borders and Migration”. I also desire to study in London because it will provide an ideal environment to engage with people from various cultural backgrounds, enriching my learning experience beyond the classroom. Upon the completion of my degree, I hope to return to Armenia and continue working on the previously mentioned projects. I want to ultimately become a professor at AUA and help expand its anthropology courses, and to hopefully pave the way to establish an MA in anthropology program at the university. The state of anthropology within Armenian culture is critical and I hope to contribute to its development. I also want to continue my research with “Banalik” and use my newly acquired knowledge to enhance the project. I aspire to continue my education by pursuing a Ph.D. in anthropology so I can continue to explore the connections between place and memory in academia and beyond.
I find that my educational background at AUA has equipped me with strong research and critical thinking skills, a foundation from which I can confidently embark on graduate studies. Without a scholarship, however, it would unfortunately be impossible for me to pursue an MA degree in the UK, due to high tuition rates and expensive living costs. Therefore, your support will enable me to realize my purpose of giving back to my community with new projects that will strengthen our social and cultural presence.
I’m deeply grateful for all your contributions. Thank you!
Love,
Houry Pilibbossian
Links:
Behance: https://www.behance.net/hourypilibbossian
Blog: https://pilibbossian.wordpress.com/
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/houry
Undergraduate Capstone "The Olive Branch" : https://baec.aua.am/files/2020/10/Houry-Pilibbossian_The-Olive-Branch.pdf
Raseef 22: https://raseef22.net/article/1080729-sticks-and-stones-break-the-students-in-the-middle-east
Mashrou’ Wanabqa posts:
Remembering the Armenian Genocide The Legacy of Syrian Armenians
The History of Maté in Syria
The Legacy of Maryana Marrash
About me:
I was born and raised in Aleppo, Syria. My family is Armenian on my dad’s side and Syriac on my mom’s side. Growing up I was (still am) a curious kid, I was very interested in society. I would sit on our balcony for hours and observe people. How they would lay out their laundry, how they’d be buying and negotiating fruits and vegetables from the pickup truck that sold them on our street. I loved documenting moments ever since I can remember. My favorite toy was a Zenit camera, that is still with me today. At every family occasion, birthdays, weddings or even just gatherings, I would take up my camera, take photos and videos of whatever I could. During my last years of high school in Aleppo, I decided that with a friend of mine, Jenny, we’d create an archive for our memories. We collected every item we could: papers, a piece of wood from the desk we sat on, even a gum wrapper. We never realized that one day our school will be bombed and the humble place that has all our teenagehood memories will fade away. I never was able to put all these thoughts and ideas together and make sense of the material I collected until I started my university studies.
Undergraduate education:
In 2012 I moved to Armenia with my family due to the Syrian war and I have been living here ever since. I started my educational journey as an undergraduate student at the American University of Armenia pursuing an English and Communications degree. During my studies I had the chance to take courses close to anthropology like cultural geography, sociology, topics in cinema and a variety of filmmaking and photography courses. These courses set a foundation for me from which I was able to combine my interest in anthropology and research creation. An amazing coincidence came across my path when I took an oral history course – only then I did understand the importance of memory in cultural and personal identity. The course also refined my methodological skills and became a cornerstone for my BA thesis. My academic research kept thriving, subsequently blossoming into a graduation project where I explored matrilineal stories of grandmothers, mothers and daughters through the lenses of culinary traditions and feminism.
Career:
During the past few years, my career path has slowly but steadily veered towards ethnographic research. I have accomplished this by taking up a few opportunities: My teaching assistant position at AUA for oral history, gender and social change and various other courses related to education and pedagogy. I also work as a research assistant for an oral history project initiated by the “Banalik” collective titled Localizing genocide memory in the land/scape(s) of Armenia. Through this triangular collaboration between AUA, the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Armenia and AGBU’s Nubarian Library in Paris, we focus on mapping traces and memories of genocide in Armenia’s urban landscape. This project culminated my interest in anthropology, inspiring my vision to expand my research with MA studies to look deeper into the connections between place and memory. Although the initiative took a physical pause due to COVID-19, its goal is to develop a memory tour throughout Armenia by mapping traces and memories of the genocide. Along with that I work as research assistant for the book Feminism in Armenian: an interpretive anthology. I also work as video/audio editor for the exhibition of the book launch.
During the initial stage of the pandemic, I collaborated with my friends to create and foster a community on Facebook called “Hi Haleb” [Hi Aleppo]. Our purpose is to collect stories and memories from Aleppian-Armenians. The stories are mainly about Armenian neighborhoods, schools, cultural associations, food and traditions. We started hosting weekly live interviews with different people from the community to share their stories and memories. The project has evolved into more in-depth interviews with historians, and public figures in the community. In the future, we will delve more into social anthropology and establish an audio-visual initiative. Through this platform, I intend to create digital anthropological content derived from archival material from these oral history interviews, which I hope to utilize in my MA research. Additionally, I want to focus on the migration waves to/from Armenia from 1915 until today, as many Syrian-Armenians have migrated to Armenia since the Syrian civil war.
I have also joined a digital initiative called Mashrou’ Wanabqa (Project We Remain). It is a platform for Syrians across the world to share, discuss and shed light on social and cultural issues related to the past, present and future of Syria. The main mission of the project is to establish a reputable, striking, progressive, respectful, and valuable online presence, which influences users individually. Through consuming our content, we essentially want to build a community that “affiliates” itself with Mashrou Wanabqa, which is how we eventually see on-the-ground influence. Overtime, it is a goal for Mashrou Wanabqa to become a socially influential organization in Syria.
Future plans:
It is for all the aforementioned reasons that I want to pursue graduate studies in anthropology, for which I have carefully selected Goldsmiths University of London. I deeply desire to study at Goldsmiths because it will allow me to collaborate with and learn from its culturally diverse faculty and student body. My passions align with modules like “Anthropological Approaches to History” and “Borders and Migration”. I also desire to study in London because it will provide an ideal environment to engage with people from various cultural backgrounds, enriching my learning experience beyond the classroom. Upon the completion of my degree, I hope to return to Armenia and continue working on the previously mentioned projects. I want to ultimately become a professor at AUA and help expand its anthropology courses, and to hopefully pave the way to establish an MA in anthropology program at the university. The state of anthropology within Armenian culture is critical and I hope to contribute to its development. I also want to continue my research with “Banalik” and use my newly acquired knowledge to enhance the project. I aspire to continue my education by pursuing a Ph.D. in anthropology so I can continue to explore the connections between place and memory in academia and beyond.
I find that my educational background at AUA has equipped me with strong research and critical thinking skills, a foundation from which I can confidently embark on graduate studies. Without a scholarship, however, it would unfortunately be impossible for me to pursue an MA degree in the UK, due to high tuition rates and expensive living costs. Therefore, your support will enable me to realize my purpose of giving back to my community with new projects that will strengthen our social and cultural presence.
I’m deeply grateful for all your contributions. Thank you!
Love,
Houry Pilibbossian
Links:
Behance: https://www.behance.net/hourypilibbossian
Blog: https://pilibbossian.wordpress.com/
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/houry
Undergraduate Capstone "The Olive Branch" : https://baec.aua.am/files/2020/10/Houry-Pilibbossian_The-Olive-Branch.pdf
Raseef 22: https://raseef22.net/article/1080729-sticks-and-stones-break-the-students-in-the-middle-east
Mashrou’ Wanabqa posts:
Remembering the Armenian Genocide The Legacy of Syrian Armenians
The History of Maté in Syria
The Legacy of Maryana Marrash
Co-organizers (2)
Samar Tabsi
Organizer
River Forest, IL
Rami Doukky
Beneficiary
Houry Pilibbossian
Co-organizer