This thesis is an analyses of interviews and observations in the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem. It explores the identity and agency of twelve women in a patriarchal context. A context furthermore marked by religion and several conflicts. The aim is to increase knowledge about this unique environment. In order to encompass the complexity of the interplay between the individual women and the surrounding society, a combination of discourse-, structuration- and intersectional theory, has been consulted. The case study illustrates how the women’s individual agency is connected to negotiations of a Jerusalemite Armenian identity, in relation to outlook and social space. Attention is especially given to the identity markers gender, ethnicity and age. These are, together with education, career, marriage and religion, understood to influence the women’s latitude. While individual freedom is of great importance for a few, the majority direct their efforts to exercise agency to the benefits of their community.

Thesis advisor: Elizabeth Shlala / This thesis explores how the Armenian Genocide affected and changed Armenian womens’ roles in post-Ottoman society and how the national rebuilding project relied upon women in both traditional and "modern" positions; specifically, their roles as mothers, educators, nurses, workers, patriots, as well as addresses the fluidity of identity and belonging in post-genocide Armenian society. Based on their experiences during the Armenian Genocide, women received different treatment from the larger Armenian society, and had different, sometimes contradictory roles prescribed to them. Women’s different treatment based on their genocide experiences highlight the complexities, challenges, and contradictions of the Armenian national rebuilding project, as well as the centrality of gender in this project and Armenian society as a whole. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: History.

Cette thèse met en lumière l'histoire de l'éducation des filles arméniennes du milieu du XIXe au début du XXe siècle en analysant pour la première fois cette histoire dans le contexte général des événements politiques qui ont influencé son développement. Elle explore également le travail des femmes arméniennes en tant que pédagogues, organisatrices et donatrices des écoles de filles. Cette recherche est fondée sur un large éventail de sources publiques et privées : rapports, programmes et règlements scolaires, publications de presse (éditoriaux, correspondances, nouvelles, annonces générales et publicitaires), œuvres littéraires, discours publics, mémoires, journaux intimes, autobiographies et lettres. Celles-ci révèlent la progression de l'éducation des filles des cours particuliers et de la formation archaïque par des femmes pieuses et des diaconesses jusqu'à la fondation d'écoles régulières pour les filles et à une forme d'éducation similaire à celle de leurs frères. Le développement de l'éducation et des écoles de filles arméniennes s'est déroulé dans le contexte triplement tumultueux des politiques coloniales et répressives du gouvernement russe au Caucase, des efforts de l'Église arménienne pour maintenir son autorité et son pouvoir sur les communautés arméniennes, et de la croissance du mouvement national et révolutionnaire des arméniens. Cette recherche souligne la façon dont la question de l'éducation des filles arméniennes a émergé et évolué. Elle montre également comment ce changement a amené les femmes arméniennes à assumer un rôle public, à établir des écoles, des organismes de bienfaisance, des bibliothèques, à écrire et à traduire de la littérature pour enfants, à organiser une série d'activités de collectes de fonds pour les écoles de filles (bazar de charité, loterie publique, vente de broderies, théâtres et concerts) et à participer au mouvement révolutionnaire. Cette thèse s'inscrit dans l'actualité des recherches en sciences de l'éducation sur la scolarisation, les programmes et les institutions scolaires du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle. Elle s'engage également dans les débats sur l'éducation des filles et l'histoire des femmes dans l'Europe de l'Est et au Caucase. Cette recherche contribue enfin aux Études Arméniennes en écrivant un chapitre essentiel et inédit de l'histoire arménienne sur la présence et le rôle des femmes dans les événements politiques, sociaux et culturels majeurs du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle. / This dissertation brings to the light the story of the late-mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth-century education of Armenian girls for the first time by placing it in the context of the general political events that influenced its development. It also examines Armenian women's work as educators, organisers and sponsors of girls' schooling. The research is based on a wide array of public and private sources: school reports, programs and regulations, press publications (editorials, correspondences, news, announcements and advertisements), literary works, speeches, memoirs, diaries, autobiographies and letters, which reveal the period's progression from girls receiving private tutoring and an archaic training by deaconesses and celibate devotees to establishing regular schools for girls and providing them a similar form of education as their brothers. The development of Armenian girls' schools and education took place in the turbulent context of the repressive colonial politics of the Russian Government in the Caucasus, the efforts of the Armenian Church to maintain its authority and power over the Armenian communities and the growing Armenian national-revolutionary movement. The research uncovers the nuances of changing consciousness about Armenian girls' education and shows how it led Armenian women to assume public roles, establish schools, charities, libraries, write and translate children's literature, undertake a wide range of fund-raising public activities for girls' schools (charity bazaars, public lotteries, embroidery sales, theatres and concerts) and enter the revolutionary movement. This dissertation joins a vibrant conversation in the educational sciences about nineteenth and early twentieth-century schooling, programs and institutions. It also engages in the discussions about Eastern-European and Caucasian girls' education and women's history. The research also contributes to Armenian Studies by restoring to Armenian history a missing and vital chapter about women's presence and role in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century major political, social and cultural developments.