News

Staff Report Ümit Kurt Kazan Visiting Research Scholar in the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State for the 2015-2016 academic year, successfully defended his dissertation Destruction of Aintab Armenians and Emergence of the New Wealthy Class: Plunder of Armenian Wealth in Aintab (1890s-1920s) at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University on Tuesday, April 19. Kurt’s doctoral ...

Elina Karapetyan Staff Writer After the devastation of the Armenian Genocide in 1915, Armenians who remained inside the borders of Turkey were left to reconstruct their lives and identities amidst politically hostile conditions. Among the community’s most influential people were feminist women who “articulated an Armenianness sustained through gendered differences.” The treatment of the remaining Armenians, their response to the ...

Michael Rettig Staff Writer Misak Medzarents is known as one of the pioneers of Western Armenian poetry. As a romanticist, most of his poetry was more positive than that of his contemporaries. However, Medzarents’ poetry also contained a political aspect that has previously gone unnoticed. On Thursday, March 17, Dr. James Russell discussed the political leanings of Medzarents in his ...

MENAS ARISIAN Business Administration- Entrepreneurship Minor in Armenian Studies What encouraged you to take an Armenian Studies course? My passion to learn more about my Armenian culture and history encouraged me. It is interesting and important for me to be more knowledgeable about my heritage and where I come from. The history of the Armenian people is deep and has ...

LUCIE EKEZYAN STAFF WRITER Keen on making the school year enjoyable for its members, the Armenian Students Organization (ASO) hosted a Woodward Park social on February 27, as warm spring weather graced the Central Valley. With food, games, sports, and great company, a day at the park lifted spirits and strengthened ties for the members. “My favorite event so far ...

KATRINA BISSETT STAFF WRITER On Wednesday, March 9, the Armenian Studies Program and the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concert Series once again joined forces to bring a fantastic gift to the people of Fresno. Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Director of the Armenian Studies Program, and Professor Andreas Werz, Artistic Director of the Keyboard Concert Series, have collaborated many times in ...

DIANA GASPARYAN STAFF WRITER Each Friday night, Fresno State’s Mass Communication and Journalism Department screens cultural films as part of their CineCulture film series and class, designed to promote cultural awareness through diverse movies. It is open and free of charge to students, faculty, and the public. As part of the Spring 2016 film line-up, CineCulture partnered on Friday, April ...

STAFF REPORT “Genocide Awareness” was the focus at two Arizona colleges the week of April 11-16. Scottsdale Community College and Gateway Community College of Phoenix organized a series of activities that featured speakers on genocides of the 20th century, including the Armenian Genocide. Armenian Studies Program Director Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian and Kazan Visiting Research Scholar Ümit Kurt were invited ...

STAFF REPORT On Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9, Fresno State hosted the Spring 2016 Mediterranean Seminar. The Seminar brought together twenty scholars from around the country, together with ten Fresno State faculty to workshop three papers on “Politics, Identity, and Religion” in the Mediterranean world. The papers included one by Fresno State Professor of Classics and Associate Dean ...

STAFF WRITER Dr. Roberta Ervine, Kazan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies at Fresno State, gave a series of three public lectures in the Spring 2016 semester, under the general theme of “In the Harsh Light of Genocide: Insights of Selected Armenian Thinkers.” Dr. Ervine’s research in preparation for the lectures focused on questions those who survived the Genocide asked in ...