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Oor Eir Asdvadz? (Where Were You, God?): Armenian Identity Formation, Religious Belief, and Mental Health Amongst Ethnic Armenians in Turkey

Oor Eir Asdvadz? (Where Were You, God?): Armenian Identity Formation, Religious Belief, and Mental Health Amongst Ethnic Armenians in Turkey

Հիսուս ծնաւ 1916 (Hisous Dznav 1916) "Jesus is born 1916” "Christmas celebration (Apostolic, 6 January 1916) in the midst of the ongoing genocide. Members of the Dildilian and Der Haroutiounian families secretly celebrate with four young Armenian men rescued and hidden in the Der Haroutiounian home for almost two years.” Courtesy of Armen T. Marsoobian, from "Reimagining a Lost Armenian Home: The Dildilian Photography Collection."Published in 2017 by I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd. London • New York

Webinar by Dr. Linda Barış Kırlangıç

Tuesday, May 27, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (Pacific Time)

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This talk explores the intersection of Armenian ethnic identity, religious belief, and mental health among ethnic Armenians, particularly in Turkey and the USA. As the world's first nation to adopt Christianity collectively, Armenians' religious and ethnic identities became inseparably intertwined, making faith a target during historical episodes of violence. 

Drawing from her research on Armenian schools, minority mental health, and postdoctoral studies, Dr. Barış examines how "selected traumas," systemic discrimination and racism, chronic minority stress, and spiritual erosion shaped the Armenian ethnic identity. She reflects on the psychological consequences and how this leads to chronic stress, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), general mental exhaustion, and existential despair.

 

Linda Barış Kırlangıç (b. 1981, Kastamonu) holds a BA in Philosophy from Istanbul University. She received her MA in Sociology (2007) from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, focusing on the mental health of minorities (Greeks, Armenians, Jews) in Turkey, and her PhD in Sociology (2017) from Middle East Technical University (METU), studying the impact of Armenian schools on Armenian ethnic identity formation. Her doctoral dissertation was published as "The Effects of the Armenian Schools on Armenian Identity Formation in Turkey" (Libra, 2019). Published in Turkish under the title "Armenian Schools and Armenian Identity in Turkey" by İletişim Yayınları, 2021.

Dr. Barış Kırlangıç has held a faculty position at Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University’s, Sociology Department since 2018. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University's Department of Anthropology, working on the project, "Faith and Health Relationship Amongst Religious Minorities in Turkey," since September 2024. Her research interests include identity, minorities, sociology of education, sociology of the body, anthropology and sociology of religion, and medical sociology and anthropology.