News

Staff Report The film “Lost Birds” was screened at Scottsdale Community College on Friday, April 18, 2024, as part of “Genocide Awareness Week.” The event was co-sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program. Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian introduced directors Ela Almayac and Aren Perdeci to a full audience. The screening was followed by a question and answer period.

Sara Beberian Staff Writer “The moment in my life where I thought I did not know anything is the moment that I started learning… there is no learning if there is no listening.” These words from musician Hachig Kazarian were his closing sentiments in his informative presentation on his recent book, Western Armenian Music: From Asia Minor to the United ...

Hannah Paloutzian Staff Writer “Even if we sell our children, we could not afford to pay the taxes,” said one Armenian, cited from a primary source Dr. Talin Suciyan utilized in her study of the Tanzimat Era of the Ottoman Empire. According to Dr. Suciyan, the Tanzimat Era was intended to bring modernization and reform to the Empire, which had ...

Staff Report On Friday, February 16, more than fifty 8th grade students and teachers from the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian in Los Angeles visited Fresno State. They met with Armenian Studies Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, who explained to students about the Genocide Monument, which sits impressively in the heart of the Fresno State campus. It is the first and only Armenian Genocide ...

Conor Youhei Hustedde and Barlow Der Mugrdechian  The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State continues to be a prominent publisher of all things Armenian with installments 18, 19 and 20 of the Armenian Series. The series began with their first book, “Young Saroyan: Follow and Other Writings,” released in 2009 and continues its rigorous publishing efforts with each volume examining ...

Staff Report In December 2019, the Armenian Studies Program was awarded a California Humanities grant of nearly $5,000 for the “Amplifying Community: Re-cording the History of the San Joaquin Valley Armenian Music Production,” project, dedicated to recovering the history of Armenian-American music production in the San Joaquin Valley during the first half of the 20th century. Armenian Studies Program archivist ...

Careen Derkalousdian Staff Writer “I argue that through a focus on the lived experience of children during genocide, we can build a comparative framework for the global study of indigenous genocide,” said Dr. Keith Watenpaugh. “I make this argument because during most genocides, there is a systematic and shared pattern of the treatment of children.” On Thursday, February 1, 2024, ...

Ani Sargsyan Staff Writer “The living heritage has been displaced, and might be able to continue the intangible heritage in many ways… but the tangible heritage, especially the immovable ones, were left behind,” said Simon Maghakyan. On Monday, January 29, 2024, guest speaker and investigative researcher Simon Maghakyan presented his findings on Artsakh’s cultural monuments in the aftermath of the ...

Careen Derkalousdian Staff Writer “Manuscripts are the living works of the Armenian people,” said Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian. On Thursday, November 9, 2023, Prof. Der Mugrdechian, Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, gave a presentation on “Armenian Manuscript Painting: The Early Tradition.” Prof. Der Mugrdechian has taught courses in Armenian art and architecture at Fresno State ...

Compiled by Sara Beberian Eddy Thurber Political Science Minor in Armenian Studies What encouraged you to take an Armenian Studies course? My grandparents did not teach my parents Armenian, hoping that they would fit into an English-speaking society and succeed. It worked and I grew up knowing my family’s history but wanting to learn our mother tongue. I decided to ...