Michael Rettig Editor Dr. Yektan Türkyılmaz has had a busy semester since his appointment as the 14th Kazan Visiting Professor at Fresno State for Spring 2018. In addition to teaching a course on “Armenian Urbanism,” and preparing for three public lectures, Dr. Türkyılmaz is spending his time in Fresno preparing his dissertation for publication as a monograph. Dr. Türkyılmaz grew ...

Staff Report Avag Simonyan, Director of the Saroyan House Museum, Meroujan Minassian, Project architect and founder of the Storaket Architectural Studio, and Armenian Studies Program Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, paid a visit to Fresno City Hall to meet with Mayor Lee Brand on Friday, February 23 and to visit with Fresno City Council President Esmerelda Soria on Monday, February ...

Staff Report Ghevond, the only contem-porary historian of eighth century Armenia, sheds important light on the early experience of the Armenians with the Arab Caliphate. It was for this reason that Dr. Sergio La Porta and Dr. Alison Vacca decided to collaborate on a new English translation of Ghevond. They shared some of their efforts with an audience at a ...

Katrina Bissett Staff Writer On Friday, March 2, 2018, the Chilingirian-Bagratuni-Hakobyan Trio performed on the Fresno State campus. The concert was co-presented by the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts International Chamber Music Series, Orpheus, and the Armenian Studies Program. The featured musicians were Levon Chilingirian on violin, Suren Bagratuni on cello, and Karén Hakobyan on piano. They performed a set ...

Staff Report The Donald Garabedian Endowed Scholarship in Armenian Studies was established in December 2017, with a generous donation of $26,000 by Mr. Garabedian. Armenian Studies Program Berberian Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian welcomed the new scholarship fund, saying “Donations such as these assist students in their studies. The Program is pleased to accept Mr. Garabedian’s gift, which will benefit ...

Staff Report Prof. Rebecca Barne’s Graphic Art 174 class undertook a project in Fall 2017 to design a poster, a mailer and a website, to mark the planned opening of the William Saroyan House Museum on August 31, 2018. Armenian Studies Program Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian presented the project to sixteen students in the course. Der Mugrdechian returned to ...

David Safrazian Staff Writer Phaleristics, the study of awards, orders, and medals, is a bourgeoning area of research. Guest speaker Nika Babayan gave an in-depth look into this understudied topic in his presentation “Awards of Armenia and the Armenian Church” on Friday, January 19 at Fresno State. His presentation was the first in the Armenian Studies Program Spring Lecture Series. ...

Michael Rettig Editor The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State has had a profound impact on its students in their efforts to better understand their heritage. The Program similarly strives to represent the Armenian community to the larger public. ASP Coordinator Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian accomplishes this by speaking to public community groups who are interested in learning about Armenian ...

Michael Rettig Editor The purpose of an education is, in part, to expand the students’ mind by allowing them to experience the views and perspectives of others. There is perhaps no better way to accomplish this than by studying abroad in a foreign country. Three students from the Armenian Studies Program, Cole Egoian, Stephen Gonzalez, and Yervand Boyajyan, were awarded ...

Staff Report Armenian Studies Program Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian announced that the Thomas A. Kooyumjian Family Foundation has made a donation of $100,000 to the Kooyumjian Endowed Scholarship Fund. This is in addition to an initial gift of $50,000 which established the Endowed Scholarship in 2018. Thomas A. Kooyumjian passed away in 1985 and his Foundation was established in ...