THE CONTRIBUTION OF AMERICAN MISSIONARIES TO WOMEN’S EDUCATION AMONG OTTOMAN ARMENIANS IN THE 19TH CENTURY

The aim of this article is to examine the educational activities of the missionary organization “American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions” (ABCFM) among the Armenian community of the Ottoman Empire from the perspective of Women’s Studies. The central issue of the study is the analysis of the educational curricula and teaching methods employed in girls’ schools and educational centers established by the Armenian Apostolic and Protestant Churches, with a focus on identifying parallels and contrasts based on religious characteristics, social customs of the time, national mindset, and differences in educational models. The article also explores, as a separate issue, the role of female missionaries and the activities of the Women’s Board within the ABCFM. The research is interdisciplinary, combining the fields of Religious Studies, History, and Pedagogy, and employs historical-comparative, contrastive, analytical, and graphic-semantic methods.