On September 19, The IAUNRC, in collaboration with the Center for the Study of the Middle East, the Naby Frye Assyrian Fund for Culture, and the Assyrian Foundation of America, hosted a lecture by Dr. Eden Naby, an independent Assyrian-Iranian scholar with extensive research experience on minority issues throughout the Eurasian region. The extensive impact of Naby’s research has led to a series of lectures and exhibits of artifacts and heirloom pieces of Assyrian cultural identity and national memory. Each of the exhibited pieces highlights a unique aspect of the lives and stories of Assyrian diaspora communities extending from the United States to the Middle East.
The latest installment of this exhibit, "Assyrians from Persia (Iran) to the United States: 1887-1923," was displayed in Indiana University’s Herman B. Wells Library from September 19th to October 27th, 2023. At the opening reception for this exhibit, Dr. Naby presented her lecture, "The Modern Assyrian Historical Record: An American Family Adventure." As the first lecture in the IAUNRC's "Minorities in Central Eurasian Societies" lecture series, this talk delineated the history of several Assyrian immigrants, as well as the lineages of Assyrian families that successfully emigrated and assimilated in the United States.
The themes of genocide, loss, renewal, and representation vividly portray the hardships endured by diaspora communities, as well as the monumental achievements of Assyrian-Americans in all spheres of their lives as emigres. The stories of these individuals and the intimately connected communities they represent – ranging from America’s first Assyrian-Armenian congressman, Adam Benjamin, Jr., to accomplished Assyrian writers on Iran and Persia like Samuel Nweeya – resonate with the importance of material preservation as well as the dangers of assimilation as a form of national memory erasure. The IAUNRC was pleased to support Dr. Naby’s research and her lasting contributions to the study of minority and diaspora populations.