Pateel Mekhitarian Editor Dr. Dickran Kouymjian was recruited from France to restart the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State in 1977. Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian was a freshman at Fresno State in 1974, and was present to experience the beginning of the new program. Der Mugrdechian was very involved in Armenian related events during his college career, taking a one-month ...

Heidi Lea Staff Writer The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State hosted historian Ara Sarafian on Monday, October 12 to give a presentation commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Adana Massacres of 1909. Sarafian is an archival historian specializing in late Ottoman history. He is director of the London based Gomidas Institute, which is a research and publication center for ...

Pateel Mekhitarian Editor www.armenianchurch.net and www.armenianheritage.com Armenian literature is a major aspect of the culture. Literature may include a wide assortment of genres, such as fables, folk tales, myths, fantasy, poem, prose, and many others.  However, early Armenian literature began with the oral legends and epics. In many towns, storytellers (gousans) played music as they narrated these legends, reciting them ...

Staff Report Name: Svetlana Bagdasarov Major: Social Work Minor: Armenian Studies Why did you pursue an Armenian Studies Minor? I decided to pursue an Armenian Studies minor in order to increase my knowledge of my culture. I can honestly say that everything that I have learned about my heritage was a direct result of my participation in numerous Armenian Studies ...

Marissa Kalashian Staff Writer Every year as April approaches, Armenians are increasingly reminded of the Armenian Genocide, “the forgotten genocide,” which commenced on April 24, 1915 with the massacres of Armenian religious, political, and intellectual leaders in Constantinople. In Fresno, where there is a considerable Armenian population, the Genocide issue is constantly alive, and Armenians take the opportunity in April ...

Pateel Mekhitarian Staff Writer On Tuesday, April 21, Dr. George Bournoutian presented his third and final lecture in a series on the Armenian Churches of Persia, Russia, and South Asia. The lecture covered the many areas in South Asia where Armenian churches exist and are maintained. Dr. Bournoutian accompanied his talk with slides that he had taken during his numerous ...

By: Marisa Isquierdo On Tuesday, March 24 at 7:30 PM, Dr. George Bournoutian gave the second of his three part lecture series on “The Armenian Church Under Foreign Rule: Persia, Russia, and South Asia 1600-1800,” to a full audience in the Alice Peters Auditorium at Fresno State. In this lecture, Dr. Bournoutian covered the topic “The Armenian Church under Russian ...

Hagop Ohanessian Staff Writer Dr. George Bournoutian, Professor of History at Iona College in New York, was appointed as the seventh Henry Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies for the Spring 2009 semester. This semester he taught a three unit course on the Armenian Diaspora and Genocide, Monday evenings from 6:00-8:50 PM. The course focused primarily on the Diaspora, ...

Staff Report Congratulations to Bill Erysian, who received his doctorate degree in Economics from the State Agrarian University (SAUA) of Armenia in November 2008. Erysian’s accomplishments in the branches of transitional economies and agrarian reform are the result of more than a decade of research and participation in numerous agricultural development initiatives in the Central Caucasus, particularly in Armenia. Erysian ...

Staff Report Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Director of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, participated in a workshop on Armenian literature held at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, April 16-19. Organized by Dr. Kevork Bardakjian, Marie Manoogian Professor of Modern Armenian Literature at the University of Michigan, the workshop brought together eighteen graduate students and scholars from throughout ...