News

Careen Derkalousdian Staff Writer The Armenian Students Organization (ASO) has enjoyed a fun and productive Spring semester! In January, the Executive Board planned a “Trivia and Game Night” complete with board games, pizza, and a specially designed Armenian “Jeopardy” Tournament. ASO members formed teams and brought out their competitive spirit as they learned more about Armenian history and culture while ...

Careen Derkalousdian Staff Writer “As much as the Internet is developing,” said Dr. Bedross Der Matossian, “denial is developing with it.” On Friday, April 11, 2025, Dr. Der Matossian presented a lecture on “Denial of the Armenian Genocide in the Digital Age: Re-fashioning the ‘Events of 1915’ on the Internet and Beyond.” Dr. Der Matossian is a Professor of Modern ...

Ani Sargsyan Staff Writer On Friday, March 28, 2025, the Armenian Studies Program welcomed Dr. Talin Suciyan, Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies, for her third lecture of the semester titled “Kept with Care: Letters from Purgatory.” Dr. Suciyan discussed a series of letters written between 1913 and 1917 from Arabgir to Philadelphia, between Kevork Shamlian, and his younger brother ...

Anahid Valencia Staff Writer Dr. Hakem Al-Rustom, Manoogian Professor of Modern History at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, gave a lecture titled “From Natives to Foreigners: Enduring Erasures of Armenians in Turkey” on Friday, March 21, 2025, at Fresno State. The presentation was organized by the Armenian Studies Program and the Ralph Shabazian Armenian Memorial Fund. Dr. Al-Rustom grew ...

Staff Report Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian participated in the 13th Annual Genocide Awareness Week program, held at Arizona State University, March 31-April 3, 2025. This year’s conference, “Remembrance, Memorialization, and Repair,” featured a panel on Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabagh, on Thursday, April 3. The session on “Nagorno-Karabagh: Destruction of Indigeneity,” featured three panelists: Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program at ...

Natalie Agazarian Editor “My camera is one of my best friends; I always take an extra day or two wherever I travel to document what I see. Every place I went to in Armenia I documented and put them in my computer hoping I would get to do something special with them one day,” said David Karamian. On Friday, March ...

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. David Karamian, Oakland, CA, for a copy of his book, Armenia – The Lone Stone: Invincible Through the Ages (Oakland, CA: NorArtGallery LLC, 2022) 358 pp., in English and Armenian. This ...

Anahid Valencia Staff Writer The Armenian Studies Program partnered with Cine-Culture, AGBU Arts, and the Armenian General Benevolent Union Greater Fresno Chapter to host “Armenians in Film” on Friday, February 21.“Armenians in Film” consisted of six short films by Armenian directors, including Ophelia Harutunyan and Katia Spivakova, who participated in a discussion after the screening. The films were titled “All ...

Staff Report Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian was a guest speaker at the Phoenix Secondary Academy in Fresno on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. Students at the academy had been studying Armenian culture during the month of January and Prof. Der Mugrdechian was asked to give a presentation on Armenian culture and history. More than forty students and staff of the Academy ...

Natalie Agazarian Editor “This is everyday history…the catastrophic, everyday history that is valuable and needs to be studied,” remarked newly appointed Kazan Visiting Professor, Dr. Talin Suciyan. She gave her first lecture, the first in a three-part series on Armenian family archives, on Friday, January 31, 2025. Dr. Suciyan was born in Istanbul, and after obtaining her Ph.D. in Munich, ...