James R. Russell
Encyclopedia
James Robert Russell is a scholar and professor in Ancient Near East
ern, Iranian
and Armenian
Studies. He has published extensively in journals, and has written several books.
He is the Mashtots
Professor of Armenian Studies at Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University
, and sits on the executive committee of Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.
, and Joseph Brooke Russell, an attorney and arbitrator in New York. He grew up in the Washington Heights
neighborhood of New York City. His grandfather, Sidney, was founder and president of Russell & Russell, publisher of out-of-print scholarly books.
in New York City, Columbia University
, and the University of Oxford
, under the noted Armenologists Nina Garsoïan and C. J. F. Dowsett
. He was the recipient of a Kellett Fellowship
.
He earned his Ph.D. at The University of London
, School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS) under the direction of Dr. Mary Boyce
. His 1982 Ph.D. thesis was on the topic of "Zoroastrianism
in Armenia" and later published by Harvard University Press
.
. Soon after he was on the short-list for the Mashtots Chair in Armenian Studies in the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department at Harvard University
, for which he was chosen and has occupied the chair since 1993. He also teaches a wide range of subjects, including Freshman seminars on literature and comparative religions, literature and cultures. Dr. Russell serves on the executive committees of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. He has taught and lectured in Armenia
, India, and Iran
and at the Oriental Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
and Saint Petersburg State University
.
Russell has been called, "A complex figure... (who) resists easy classification and is no stranger to controversy: reviled by Turks and Armenians alike."
Professor Russell has been interviewed as an expert and scholar on The History Channel
's documentary programs including Angels: Good or Evil.
Professor Russell is one of the three faculty advisers for the conservative fortnightly The Harvard Salient
.
He lectured on Soteriology
on the Silk Road
for the Buddhist
Lecture Series of the University of Toronto
in October 2005, and organized and chaired an international symposium in the same month to commemorate the 1600th anniversary of Saint Mesrop Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabet
. He has written on, translated, and analyzed the esoteric, mystical, and spiritual aspects of the writings of Gregory of Narek
, and has written numerous articles for the Encyclopædia Iranica
. He contributed to the New Leader magazine.
Ninety one of his selected published scholarly journal articles, are gathered in his book, Armenian and Iranian Studies.
and Armen Petrosyan, who conclude that Russell is making gross factual mistakes together with unsubstantiated and tendentious claims on Armenian history and culture. Ayvazyan considers Russell, along with a number of other leading American armenologists, to be one of the representatives of the "false Western school of Armenian studies". Bert Vaux
, an Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics at Harvard University, claims that Russell's "chair [of Armenian Studies] is actually hurting the [Armenian] community at this point. When you call the Armenians neo-Nazis, that isn't helping the community and it's not leaving it alone-it's hurting it. You are providing fodder for people that want to attack the Armenians."
In his speech at the conference "Rethinking Armenian Studies: Past, Present, and Future" on October 4, 2002 at Harvard University
in Cambridge
, MA
, Russell cautioned the audience against the "conspiracy theories, xenophobia, and ultra-nationalist pseudo-science [which] have come increasingly into the mainstream of Armenology in the Armenian Republic" and which have found sympathetic outlets in some of the diasporic press, where paranoia and anti-Semitism have been notably present. "It is a task of the community to set its house in order because these trends are in the end suicidal," he warned. Although Prof. Russell declines to debate such issues, he stated that "I will help with my pen what I still believe to be the great majority of Armenians to expose and destroy the sort of people who are not only dragging our field, but possibly the community itself into dangerous territory".
Ancient Near East
The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia , ancient Egypt, ancient Iran The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia...
ern, Iranian
Iranian Studies
Iranian studies , is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of history, literature, art and culture of the Iranian people. It is a part of the wider field of Oriental studies....
and Armenian
Armenian studies
Armenian studies, or Armenology is a field of humanities covering Armenian history, language, religion and culture.- Early scholars :*Lord Byron *Ghevond Alishan *Mikayel Chamchian...
Studies. He has published extensively in journals, and has written several books.
He is the Mashtots
Saint Mesrob
Saint Mesrop Mashtots was an Armenian monk, theologian and linguist. He is best known for having invented the Armenian alphabet, which was a fundamental step in strengthening the Armenian Church, the government of the Armenian Kingdom, and ultimately the bond between the Armenian Kingdom and...
Professor of Armenian Studies at Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and sits on the executive committee of Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.
Personal
Professor Russell is the son of Dr. Charlotte Sananes Russell, a Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the City College of New YorkCity College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
, and Joseph Brooke Russell, an attorney and arbitrator in New York. He grew up in the Washington Heights
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
neighborhood of New York City. His grandfather, Sidney, was founder and president of Russell & Russell, publisher of out-of-print scholarly books.
Education
Dr. Russell was educated at Bronx High School of ScienceBronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
in New York City, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, under the noted Armenologists Nina Garsoïan and C. J. F. Dowsett
Charles dowsett
Charles James Frank Dowsett was the first Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian at the University of Oxford from 1965 to 1991...
. He was the recipient of a Kellett Fellowship
Kellett Fellowship
The Euretta J. Kellett Fellowship is a prestigious prize awarded to two graduating seniors a year at Columbia College, the main undergraduate school of Columbia University...
.
He earned his Ph.D. at The University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, School of Oriental and African Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...
(SOAS) under the direction of Dr. Mary Boyce
Mary Boyce
Nora Elisabeth Mary Boyce was a British scholar of Iranian languages, and an authority on Zoroastrianism...
. His 1982 Ph.D. thesis was on the topic of "Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
in Armenia" and later published by Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
.
Professional
After finishing his Ph.D., he soon after taught at Columbia University, in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies. He then went on to be a Lady Davis Professor at the Hebrew University of JerusalemHebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
. Soon after he was on the short-list for the Mashtots Chair in Armenian Studies in the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, for which he was chosen and has occupied the chair since 1993. He also teaches a wide range of subjects, including Freshman seminars on literature and comparative religions, literature and cultures. Dr. Russell serves on the executive committees of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. He has taught and lectured in Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, India, and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and at the Oriental Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
and Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University is a Russian federal state-owned higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg and one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia....
.
Russell has been called, "A complex figure... (who) resists easy classification and is no stranger to controversy: reviled by Turks and Armenians alike."
Professor Russell has been interviewed as an expert and scholar on The History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
's documentary programs including Angels: Good or Evil.
Professor Russell is one of the three faculty advisers for the conservative fortnightly The Harvard Salient
Harvard Salient
-Overview:The Harvard Salient was founded in 1981, and is one of the oldest in a movement of conservative newspapers established in the Ivy League during the beginnings of the Reagan administration.It publishes biweekly...
.
He lectured on Soteriology
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
on the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
for the Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
Lecture Series of the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
in October 2005, and organized and chaired an international symposium in the same month to commemorate the 1600th anniversary of Saint Mesrop Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabet
Armenian alphabet
The Armenian alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Armenian language since the year 405 or 406. It was devised by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader, and contained originally 36 letters. Two more letters, օ and ֆ, were added in the Middle Ages...
. He has written on, translated, and analyzed the esoteric, mystical, and spiritual aspects of the writings of Gregory of Narek
Gregory of Narek
Grigor Narekatsi is a canonized saint. He was an Armenian monk, poet, mystical philosopher and theologian, born into a family of writers. His father, Khosrov, was an archbishop...
, and has written numerous articles for the Encyclopædia Iranica
Encyclopædia Iranica
Encyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times...
. He contributed to the New Leader magazine.
Ninety one of his selected published scholarly journal articles, are gathered in his book, Armenian and Iranian Studies.
Critics
Russell's writings were criticised by Armenian historians Armen AyvazyanArmen Ayvazyan
Armen Ayvazyan is an Armenian historian and political scientist.Dr. Armen Ayvazyan is the Director of the "Ararat" Center for Strategic Research and Senior Researcher in the Matenadaran, the Yerevan Institute of Medieval Manuscripts...
and Armen Petrosyan, who conclude that Russell is making gross factual mistakes together with unsubstantiated and tendentious claims on Armenian history and culture. Ayvazyan considers Russell, along with a number of other leading American armenologists, to be one of the representatives of the "false Western school of Armenian studies". Bert Vaux
Bert Vaux
Bert Vaux teaches phonology and morphology at the University of Cambridge. Previously, he taught for nine years at Harvard and three years at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Vaux specializes in phonological theory, dialectology, field methodology, and languages of the Caucasus...
, an Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics at Harvard University, claims that Russell's "chair [of Armenian Studies] is actually hurting the [Armenian] community at this point. When you call the Armenians neo-Nazis, that isn't helping the community and it's not leaving it alone-it's hurting it. You are providing fodder for people that want to attack the Armenians."
In his speech at the conference "Rethinking Armenian Studies: Past, Present, and Future" on October 4, 2002 at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, MA
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Russell cautioned the audience against the "conspiracy theories, xenophobia, and ultra-nationalist pseudo-science [which] have come increasingly into the mainstream of Armenology in the Armenian Republic" and which have found sympathetic outlets in some of the diasporic press, where paranoia and anti-Semitism have been notably present. "It is a task of the community to set its house in order because these trends are in the end suicidal," he warned. Although Prof. Russell declines to debate such issues, he stated that "I will help with my pen what I still believe to be the great majority of Armenians to expose and destroy the sort of people who are not only dragging our field, but possibly the community itself into dangerous territory".
Books
- Zoroastrianism in Armenia (Harvard Iranian Series, 1987), ISBN 0-674-96850-6 http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/RUSZOR.html
- Hovhannes Tlkurantsi and the Mediaeval Armenian Lyric Tradition (University of Pennsylvania Armenian Series, 1987), ISBN 0-89130-930-6
- The Heroes of Kasht (Kasti K'Ajer): An Armenian Epic (Ann Arbor: Caravan, 2000), ISBN 0-88206-099-6
- The Book of Flowers (Belmont, Massachusetts: Armenian Heritage Press, 2003), ISBN 0-935411-17-8, http://web.archive.org/web/20071012010631/http://fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/newletters/Newsletter_Spring_2004.htm
- Armenian and Iranian Studies (selected articles, in Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies, 2004), ISBN 0-935411-19-4, http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/RUSARM.html, Table of Contents
- Bosphorus Nights: The Complete Lyric Poems of Bedros Tourian (Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies, 2006), ISBN 0-935411-22-4, http://web.archive.org/web/20070928180835/http://www.commercemarketplace.com/home/naasr/bosphorusnights.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20070206160632/http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/newletters/spring2006.pdf
Scholarly articles
- "Problematic Snake Children of Armenia", REArm 25, 1994–1995, pp. 77–96
- "On Mysticism and Esotericism amongst the Zoroastrians", Iranian Studies 26.1-2, 1993, pp. 73–94
- "The Mother of All Heresies: A Late Mediaeval Armenian Text on the Yushkaparik, REArm 24, 1993, pp. 273-293
- "The Armenian Shrines of the Black Youth (t'ux manuk)", Le Muséon 111.3-4, 1998, pp. 319-343
- "Polyphemos Armenios", REArm 26, 1996-1997, pp. 25-38
- "An Epic for the Borderlands: Zariadris of Sophene, Aslan the Rebel, Digenes Akrites, and the Mythologem of Alcestis in Armenia", Armenian Tsopk/Kharpert, R. Hovannisian, ed., Costa Mesa, California: Mazda, 1998, pp. 147-183
- "Ezekiel and Iran", Irano-Judaica V, Shaul Shaked and Amnon Netzer, eds., Jerusalem: Ben-Zri Institute, 2003, pp. 1-15
- "Scythians and Avesta in an Armenian Vernacular Paternoster", Le Muséon 110.1-2, 1997, pp. 91-114.
- "The Name of Zoroaster in Armenian", Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies 2, 1985-1986, pp. 3-10
- "Zoroastrianism as the State Religion of Ancient Iran", Journal of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute 53, Bombay, 1986, pp. 74-142
- "A Parthian Bhagavad Gîtâ and its Echoes", From Byzantium to Iran: Armenian Studies in Honour of Nina Garsoian, J.-P. Mahé, R. Thomson, eds., Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996, pp. 17-35
- "A Manichaean Apostolic Mission to Armenia?", Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies, 1, N. Sims-Williams, ed., Wiesbaden: L. Reichert, 1998, pp. 21-26
- "A Scholium on Coleridge and an Armenian Demon", JSAS 10, 1998-99, 2000, pp. 63-71
- "God is Good: On Tobit and Iran", Iran and the Caucasus 5, Tehran, 2001, pp. 1-6
- "The Magi in the Derveni Papyrus", Nâme-ye Irân-e Bâstân 1.1, Tehran, 2001, pp. 49-59
- "Zoroastrianism and the Northern Qi Panels", Zoroastrian Studies Newsletter, Bombay, 1994
- "Truth Is What the Eye Can See: Armenian Manuscripts and Armenian Spirituality", Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Art, Religion, and Society, T. Mathews, R. Wieck, eds., New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1998, pp. 147-162
- "Sages and Scribes at the Courts of Ancient Iran", The Sage in Israel and the Ancient Near East, J. Gammie, L. Perdue, eds., Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990, pp. 141-146
- "Kartîr and Mânî: a Shamanistic Model of Their Conflict", Iranica Varia: Papers in Honor of Professor Ehsan Yarshater, Acta Iranica 30, Leiden: Brill, 1990, pp. 180-193
- "Zoroastrian Elements in the Book of Esther", Irano-Judaica II, S. Shaked, A. Netzer, eds., Jerusalem, 1990, pp. 33-40
- "A Poem of Grigor Narekac'i", REArm 19, 1985, pp. 435-439
- "On St. Grigor Narekatsi, His Sources and His Contemporaries", Armenian Review 41, 2-162, 1988, pp. 59-65
- "Two Notes on Biblical Tradition and Native Epic in the 'Book of Lamentation' of St. Grigor Narekac'i", REArm 22, 1990-1991, pp. 135-145
- "Virtue and Its Own Reward: The 38th Meditation of the Book of Lamentations of St. Grigor Narekatsi", Raft 1991, pp. 25-30
- "Armenian Spirituality: Liturgical Mysticism and Chapter 33 of the Book of Lamentation of St. Grigor Narekac'i", REArm 26, 1996–1997, pp. 427–439
- Representative articles in the Encyclopædia IranicaEncyclopædia IranicaEncyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times...
:- Religion of Armenia
- BEHDEN, Zoroastrianism or its adherents
- BOZPAYIT, Body of Zoroastrian teachings in Sasanian period
- BURIAL iii., Zoroastrian burial practices
- CAMA Kharshedji Rustamji, Parsi Zoroastrian scholar and community leader, India, 19th
- CEDRENUS Georgius, Byzentine historian dealing with Zoroaster, 12th
- Christianity in pre-Islamic Persia, literary sources
- AÙAR˜EAN, Linguist, Armenian, 19th 20th
- ATRUˆAN, Fire temple, a Parthian loanword in Armenian
- ÙAÚDOR ii., Veil, among Zoroastrians and Parsis
- AÚL, Child-stealing demon
- ANUˆAWAN, Legendary king of Armenia
- ARA the Beautiful, Mythical king of Armenia
- ARLEZ, Armenian term for a supernatural creature
- ARTAXIAS I, Founder of Artaxiad dynasty in Armenia, 2nd BC
- AÛDAHAÚ iv., Dragon in Armenia
- BAAT ii., Family head of ˆaharu@n^, Armenian dynasty, 4th
- BÈNAMAÚZÈ i., Menstruant woman, Zoroastrian concept for ritual
- BURDAR, Armenian proper name for a Persian nobleman, 4th
- CUPBEARER, Ancient Armenian function of a courtier
Popular articles
- An Essay on the Origins of The Armenian People (1981)
- Letter to The New York Review of Books, The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
, 9 August 2001. - O Captain! My Captain!, The Harvard Crimson, Friday, March 03, 2006. On the resignation of former President of Harvard University Larry Summers
- Ideology over Integrity in Academe, The Current, Columbia University, Fall 2007 issue.
External links
- Professor James R. Russell's page at Harvard University
- Review of Dr. Russell's Armenian and Iranian Studies by Dr. Michael Stone
- The Harvard Crimson article on Russell's Literature Humanities course. January 20, 2006.
- Harvard University Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Newsletter, Spring 2004. Special mention of Prof. Russell having published a translation and study, with the Armenian text, of "The Book of Flowers".
- Harvard University Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Newsletter, Spring 2006, cf. page 4.
- Harvard University Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Newsletter, Fall 2006, cf. page 6.
- Ziabariby Kourosh, "Interview with Prof. James Russell: Iran should return to its former global position again", Ovi magazine, 2008-12-30