News

Annie Rubio Editor Behind every genocide are perpetrators, ones who promote and contribute to the acts of mass violence. However, a majority of these perpetrators are not top military officials, but rather the mass population who idly stands by. This has become a focus of Kazan Visiting Professor Dr. Ümit Kurt’s research: how such “ordinary” people can become involved in ...

Annie Rubio Editor Few people would stop to stare at a pile of rocks scattered across a field. Even fewer would be able to distinguish that a historic monastery used to exist there. Scottish explorer Steven Sim has spent nearly 40 years doing just that. From his days as an architecture student, he made the startling discovery that many of ...

  David Safrazian Staff Writer “Much of Armenian history has been expunged from Turkey, not only in a physical sense, but also in the sense of memory as the names of Armenian villages have been systematically erased,” stated Ara Sarafian. “States write history, and they can write people out of history, and if Armenians don’t write their own history, then ...

  Staff Report The July 23, 1908 Revolution in the Ottoman Empire was a significant moment in the history of the Empire. There was great hope that the reinstatement of the 1876 Constitution would guarantee equal rights among all of the citizens of the Empire, including the Armenians. The new ruling party, the Committee of Union and Progress, represented these ...

  Dustin Vartanian Staff Writer For thousands of years Armenia’s history has been filled with literary masterpieces. Oral epics such as Hayk and Bel and David of Sassoun are a rich part of the fabric of Armenian culture. There are also stories that explain the process of Armenia’s conversion to Christianity. In addition, Armenia’s literature has several masterful poems written ...

  Claire Kasaian Staff Writer The Armenian Studies Program and the CineCulture film series presented the Fresno premiere of the movie “Roots” on Friday, November 2, to an audience of Fresno State students and community members. Directed by Vahe Yan, the 89-minute movie was filmed on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Lilit Martirosyan, who producer ...

Andrew Hagopian Staff Writer National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) artist Richard Hagopian gave a performance and lecture, April 26, 2018, titled “Armenian Song Repertoire of the Middle East.” Accompanying him were his grandsons, Phillip and Andrew Hagopian, who were showcased on the Kanun (the Middle Eastern Lap Harp) and the Dumbeg (goblet shaped hand drum). Together, the Hagopian trio ...

Marine Vardanyan Special to Hye Sharzhoom For more than 40 years, Armenian-American students have gone through Fresno State’s Armenian Studies Program, enrolling in courses, participating in activities, and building relationships with professors and peers. Since its inception, more than 12,000 students have taken courses offered by the ASP and more than 130 students have graduated with a Minor. Many alumni ...

Arshak Abelyan Staff Writer The perspectives of two artists on war and violence are expressed in the works of Armenian artists Varaz Samuelian and Henrik Abedian, who are featured in an exhibition on “The Business of Regret: War, Chaos, and the Rejection of Violence.” The exhibition is a collaboration between the Center for Creativity and the Arts (CCA), the Armenian ...

Dustin Vartanian Staff Writer What is an Armenian? Why did Armenians choose Fresno as one of their early destinations? How did they get here? These were some of the questions posed during the “Armenians in Fresno” weekend course taught by Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program. This Armenian Studies course was a rare opportunity to learn about ...