News

Sarah Soghomonian Staff Writer The sound of Armenian music and stomping feet rang from Fresno State’s South Gym Feb. 5 and 6 when the 5th Annual Armenian Dance Seminar took place. Tom Bozigian taught the seminar, which was attended by 40 people: 30 students from Fresno State and 10 people from the community. Bozigian was born in Los Angeles, but ...

Staff Report Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program was the invited guest speaker at the Annual Commemoration of the Battle of Vartanantz, sponsored by the Chicago area Knights of Vartan on Saturday, January 29. Der Mugrdechian’s talk was titled, “St. Vartan and the Battle of Vartanantz in the 21st century.” Below are some excerpts from the talk. “It ...

Hakop Tataryan Editor Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies at Fresno State, Dr. Kouymjian began the semester with an architecture class in Armenian Studies. This year, 18 students took three weekends out of their spring schedule and invested it in the study of Armenian Architecture with Dr. Kouymjian. After some delays dealing with faulty slide projectors and the lack of outlets ...

Barlow Der Mughdechian Advisor A former Fresno State football team athletic manager has donated $150,000 to California State University, Fresno. Fresno State alumnus and retired businessman and farmer Charlie Keyan of Indio, California has established two endowed scholarships, one in the Armenian Studies Program for $100,000 to establish the Charlie Keyan Endowed Scholarship in Armenian Studies. Income from the endowment ...

Staff Report The Honorable John M. Evans, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia was a guest at a reception held at Fresno State on Friday, February 18, hosted by Dr. Jeri Echeverria, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Invited guests included faculty, administrators, and students on campus who had visited Armenia over the past several years as part ...

Staff Report Dr. Dickran Kouymjian and the Armenian Studies Program would like to thank the donors, authors, and publishers for the following books, periodicals, videos, and archival gifts either offered personally or to the Program. His Holiness Aram I, Catholicossat, Armenien de Cilicie, Antelias, for the two copies of his book The Christian Witness at the Crossroads in the Middle ...

Staff Report What is your favorite Armenian food and why?   Name: Ariana Kasparian Year: Freshman Khema. I love it because it’s unique and tasty! Also because when I talk about it nobody understands what it is and it is very fun to make with my grandma.   Name: Jack Ajamian Year: Sophomore Cheese Bourek, because my grandmother makes it ...

Hakop Tataryan Editor To this day, the hardships of a post-Soviet Armenia haunt the memories of many. Those who experienced and struggled those years have ambivalent feelings when reminiscing. They recall the cold weather with no heat and the struggle for employment, but at the same time they remember the beauty of their country, the togetherness of the people, and ...

John Moses Special to Hye Sharzhoom Midway through Vodka Lemon, a character asks the barkeep of a remote outdoor stand why the concoction that gives the bar its name is called “lemon” when “it tastes like almonds.” “That’s Armenia” comes the answer, with a knowing shrug. Vodka Lemon is filled with such moments of deadpan humor, though its absurdist perspective ...

Report Sasan Fayazmanesh In a recent visit to Yerevan, Armenia, I took the opportunity to stop first in my native town of Tehran, Iran. Not much had changed in Tehran since I saw it four years earlier. In the early hours of the morning, when I arrived, the city of roughly 12 million people was covered with a thick layer ...