News

Michael Rettig Special to Hye Sharzhoom This article initially was published in the March 11, 2021 issue of The Armenian-Mirror Spectator and is being republished with their permission. It was one year ago this March that the world ground to a halt in order to slow the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus. Institutions and organizations around the world were forced to ...

Michael Mazman Staff Writer With the signing of the ceasefire agreement between Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020, several historically Armenian regions of Artsakh were surrendered to Azerbaijan – leaving thousands of monuments exposed and in danger of defacement and destruction. With these historic Christian sites in the hands of the Azeris, the risk of further “de-Armenization” in ...

Arshak Abelyan Staff Writer “The magician works his alchemy not upon stone and gold but upon something deeper in us, the uniquely human gift to perceive language,” stated Dr. James Russell, describing the poet Misak Medzarents. On Thursday, March 11, 2021, Dr. James Russell, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies, Emeritus, at Harvard University, discussed his newly published book, Misak Medzarents: ...

Carina Tokatian Staff Writer A nineteenth century Armenian migrant once wrote in a song, “I have left properties and orchards behind. Every time I say ahh, my heart breaks apart, oh crane wait for a second, let my soul hear your voice, oh crane, don’t you have any news from our country?” It was verses like these that characterized the ...

Staff Report The Bertha and John Garabedian Foundation has made a generous donation of $10,000 to the Armenian Studies Program for 2021. Together with previous year’s donations, the Foundation has awarded nearly $150,000 in grants to the Armenian Studies Program. The gift will be used for a variety of activities, including outreach activities and awarding scholarships to students enrolled in ...

Staff Report Fresno State alumnus Ronald J. Garabed II of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, has established a new annual scholarship fund to benefit students studying in the Armenian Studies Program. The scholarship, to be called the Ronald J. Garabedian II Armenian Legacy Scholarship, will be awarded annually to students enrolled in Armenian and/or Armenian Studies courses within the Armenian Studies ...

Christine Pambukyan Staff Writer “I did not have an agenda… I did not want to prove anything. I just wanted to bring all the sources from all angles, from all perspectives, from all kinds of organizations and institutions in order for me to draw a picture of Musa Dagh,” said Dr. Vahram Shemmassian, director of the Armenians Studies Program at ...

Staff Report The Thomas A. Kooyumjian Family Foundation has made a donation of $50,000 in January of 2021 to the Kooyumjian Endowed Scholarship Fund at Fresno State. Together with previous donations from the Family Foundation, the Endowed Scholarship has reached close to $400,000. The Fund will provide scholarships to students within the Armenian Studies Program, in the College of Arts ...

Carina Tokatian Staff Writer “Small peoples have a right to survive, with our languages, our heritage, and our poetry, too: we contribute our verse to the great play of human life on God’s earth,” stated Prof. James Russell, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies, Emeritus, at Harvard University, as he reflected on his latest work Misak Medzarents: The Complete Lyric Poems. ...

Dikran Dzhezyan Bachelor of Science in Biology Armenian Studies Minor Spanish Minor   What encouraged you to take an Armenian Studies course? My brother, who is also a Fresno State graduate, was the one who originally introduced me to the Armenian Studies courses. His praise of the classes persuaded me to enroll in an Arts of Armenia course taught by ...