Michael Rettig Editor For the past century, Turkey has pursued a policy of repression and homogenization   towards its various ethnic minorities. The current Republic of Turkey has an egregious track record of human rights violations, with slogans such as “one nation, one flag, one state” drowning out those who would call for a more democratic Turkey. In spite of this, ...

Marine Vardanyan Staff Writer Armenian courses have a long history of being taught on the Fresno State campus. Armenian classes were first offered in the early 1960s through an extension course taught by Dr. Richard Hovannisian, and Armenian his-tory courses were later taught by Dr. Louise Nalbandian of the Fresno State History Department. “What started as a small offering of ...

Tadeh Issakhanian Staff Writer The Armenian Studies Program is both honored and excited to welcome Dr. Khatchig Mouradian as the 13th Kazan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies at Fresno State for the Fall 2016 Semester. Dr. Mouradian is teaching a three-unit course entitled “The Armenian Genocide and its Aftermath,” in addition to giving three public lectures under the general heading ...

Staff Report Armenian Studies Program Director Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian announced that Krikor Beledian’s Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France has been published by the Armenian Series of The Press, at California State University, Fresno. Translated from the original French into English by Christopher Atamian, Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France is a groundbreaking study of the Armenian ...

Aramayis Orkusyan Staff Writer During the summer of 2016, Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian, director of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, had the opportunity to travel to Lebanon–one of the most important Armenian diasporan centers–for the first time. Der Mugrdechian was invited by the Tekeyan Cultural Association to give a talk in Beirut, where he spoke on June 7 ...

Kara Statler Staff Writer Dr. Vahram Shemmassian, director of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge, was a guest speaker for the Armenian Studies Program’s Fall Lecture Series on Friday, September 30. His talk, “On the Trail of My Musa Dagh Ancestry,” documented Dr. Shemmassian’s journey of self-discovery and what became a life-long passion to conduct research on ...

Staff Report Dr. Sergio La Porta was invited to be a Lindsay Young Distinguished Visiting Senior Scholar in the Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in Fall of 2016. Dr. La Porta visited the University from September 11-17. While there, he gave a class for undergraduates in the Religious Studies program; led a ...

Staff Report Dr. Vatche Ghazarian of Pacific Grove, California, has donated 300 books to the Armenian Studies Program in memory of his father Mgrdich Ghazarian, who was the only male member of his family to survive the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The collection is composed of books from both the late Mgrdich Ghazarian’s library and also from Dr. Ghazarian’s collection, ...

Diana Gasparyan Staff Writer The Armenian Students Organization welcomed a new executive body at the start of the school year; Tadeh Issakhanian-President, Elena Sarmazian-Vice President, Diana Gasparyan-Secretary, Molly Gostanian-Treasurer, and Arthur Khatchatrian-Public Relations. They will bring new and creative ideas, activities, and volunteer opportunities for the members. Since its inception in 1974, the club has been dedicated to promoting awareness ...

Alina Arakelian Staff Writer Tadeh Issakhanian President Graduate Student Major: Executive Masters of Business Administration What will you bring to ASO this year? I hope to increase the number of students who become involved. I want to combine several different ideas in order to increase involvement at Fresno State as well as open a channel of communication and involvement between ...