News

Sara Beberian Staff Writer Imagine a huge, beautiful canyon, with birds flying through it, and the wind whistling through the distance. This was an everyday reality for Sophia Marti (Tatian Spivakova), who grew up in a home overlooking a canyon in Artsakh that her family nicknamed the “Gate to Heaven.” The name was fitting, as the canyon was so beautiful ...

Staff Report A large collection of Armenian themed books and periodicals was received from the estate of the late June Shamshoian. Her daughter Janine Shamshoian Economides and husband Dr. Nicholas Economides made the generous donation in October of this year. The books will be incorporated into the Armenian Studies Program collection. June Shamshoian was born on August 22, 1927, in ...

Dustin Vartanian Staff Writer “The continued denial of the Armenian Genocide equals a continuation of the Genocide,” stated Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian. Evidence of the Armenian Genocide is plentiful: the population of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire decreased by seventy-five percent after World War I. Thousands of Armenian churches existed throughout the Ottoman Empire, while only a handful remain ...

Michael Mazman Staff Writer On Friday, September 17, 2021, the Armenian Studies Program hosted Dr. Suren Manukyan, Fresno State’s 18th Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies, to deliver a lecture titled “Architects of the Armenian Genocide: The Top-Level Perpetrators.” This was the first of a three-part lecture series by Dr. Manukyan on the theme of “Perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide.” ...

  Arshak Abelyan Staff Writer One of the biggest challenges for the future of Armenia is the uncertainty of the leadership in the country following the Artsakh war in 2020. In the case of the Armenian political sphere, the solution can be simply labeled as unique. Dr. Nerses Kopalyan, an assistant professor-in-residence of Political Science at the University of Nevada, ...

Sosse Baloian Staff Writer “One cannot change the future without understanding the past,” stated Tatiana Samouie, a Biology major and expected 2022 Fresno State graduate. As a great grandchild of an Armenian Genocide survivor, Samouie believes that “learning about multiple genocides can provide an individual with an acute lens when looking at global issues.” Samouie is one of several students ...

Christine Pambukyan Staff Writer “Bedros Keljik’s Armenian American Sketches brings to life one of the early chapters of the storied history of the Armenian-American community, whose presence on this continent long precedes the events of 1915 and even the Hamidian massacres of the nineteenth century,” said Jessie Arlen, interim director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. On April ...

Michael Mazman Staff Writer Dr. Ara Sanjian, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, delivered a presentation on Thursday, May 6, 2021, entitled “The Armenian Church in Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh) in Modern Times.” The primary focus of his lecture was to discuss the structures and activities of the Armenian Apostolic church ...

Garo Minasian History Minor in Armenian Studies What encouraged you to take an Armenian Studies course? Prof. Hagop Ohanessian is one of the best instructors at Fresno State because his courses are well organized and very interesting. He was among the first people to encourage me to pursue a Minor in Armenian Studies. On the other hand, Professor Barlow Der ...

Michael Mazman Staff Writer “Coming from a relatively poor background, it feels like a privilege to serve a community like this because you know that you are planting a seed that is going to grow.” Dr. Vartuhi Tonoyan, professor of entrepreneurship and management in the Craig School of Business, has found a home at Fresno State after traveling across the ...