Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Photo: ASP Archive
Staff Report
The middle of February was a busy time for Dr. Sergio La Porta who in one week spoke both at Pomona College and Sonoma State University. On Friday, February 17, Dr. La Porta participated in a Mediterranean Seminar entitled “Culture Wars” hosted by Dr. Kenneth Wolf of the Department of History at Pomona College.
Dr. La Porta’s presentation, “Breaking Bad: Apostasy and Cultural Transgression in Medieval Armenia” discussed instances of religious conversion in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries and the social tensions that they reflected and sometimes contributed to. The Seminar spent a day commenting on three papers submitted for criticism. A regular attendee of the Mediterranean Seminar, Dr. La Porta said that this was the second time he had presented at one and was very encouraged by the critical feedback he received.
“The Seminar is always a stimulating day of discussion and exploration,” he explained, “but it is always particularly useful when it is your own work that is being dissected.” The Seminar was followed by a one-day symposium coordinated by the Late Antique and Medieval Studies program at the Claremont Colleges.
Dr. La Porta then travelled to Sonoma State University to deliver a lecture on the Armenian Genocide as part of the 34th Annual Holocaust Lecture Series organized by the Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide of SSU and the Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide.
The series, whose theme this year is “Between History and Memory,” constitutes part of a class that enrolls approximately 150 students. Dr. La Porta has given this lecture for many years and says that he greatly appreciates the series and the people who diligently work to make it happen.
At the beginning of his lecture, Dr. La Porta asked how many students had studied the Armenian Genocide in high school. He was dismayed that despite the recent legislation passed in California, only one or two people raised their hand. He noted that this pointed to the continuing need to train teachers and schools about how to include the Genocide in their curricula. Dr. La Porta hopes that when the question is repeated at next year’s lecture, more hands will be raised.
In addition to presenting a historical overview of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire and the facts of the Armenian Genocide, Dr. La Porta also tied his lecture into the theme of the series by reflecting upon how remembering the past should not be a passive act, but should present us with the challenge of how we face our present and future.