Khachig Tölölyan (

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

; born 1944) is an Armenian-American scholar of diaspora studies.

Biography

Early life

Tölölyan was born in 1944 in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

to Minas Tölölyan and Kohar Tölölyan (née Chobanian),

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

intellectuals and educators from Turkey. He grew up in the Armenian diaspora communities of the Middle East. The Tölölyans resided in

before relocating to

Cairo, Egypt Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

in 1956, and then

Beirut, Lebanon Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in 1957. In 1960, they eventually moved to the US, settling in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

Education

Tölölyan graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

with a B.A. in Molecular Biology and later acquired an M.A. in English from the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

, an M.A.A. from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

, and a PhD from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in Comparative Literature.

Career

Tölölyan was a professor of English and Letters at

until his retirement in 2021. He is the founder of the academic journal ''Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies,'' which has published articles by notable scholars such as Rey Chow, Vijay Mishra, and Lisa Lowe. The journal was initially published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. Since 1996, it has been published by the

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calendar. Its first s ...

. Tölölyan has also published articles on literature, including on the novelist

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...

, terrorism, nationalism, diasporas, transnationalism, and globalization. He is considered a founder of the academic discipline of diaspora studies. Tölölyan is known for being an active member of the Armenian diaspora community and is the author of several hundred columns and articles in Armenian.

Publications

Tölölyan's most cited publications are: * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tololyan, Khachig Living people Wesleyan University faculty Wesleyan University alumni Brown University alumni University of Rhode Island alumni Harvard College alumni 1944 births American people of Armenian descent Syrian people of Armenian descent Scholars of diaspora studies