News

Elena Sarmazian Staff Writer Fresno State welcomed a new Armenian faculty member in Fall 2015. Dr. Hovannes Kulhandjian, who specializes in digital signal processing, wireless communication and networking, joined the campus as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and is now in his second semester of teaching. Dr. Kulhandjian was born in Gyumri, Armenia, but ...

Michael Rettig Staff Writer History plays an important role in helping people understand their identity. It enables one to understand the experiences of their ancestors and how they have shaped our contemporary world. Students in Professor Sergio La Porta’s Armenian Studies108B course, a survey of modern Armenian history, have been able to better understand the present situation of the Armenian ...

Tadeh Issakhanian Staff Writer Fresno State’s Leon S. Peters Ellipse Gallery, located on the second floor of the Henry Madden Library, has been transformed into a retrospective exhibition of artwork by the pioneering 20th century Turkish-Armenian artist Kristin Saleri. Curated by Fresno natives Joyce Kierejczyk and Carol Tikijian, “Discovering Kristin Saleri” presents students and the community with a unique glimpse ...

Michael Rettig Staff Writer The vehement denial of the Armenian Genocide on the part of the government of the Republic of Turkey has led to the falsification and distortion of history. Scholarship and the use of primary sources are vital tools in countering this misinformation. Studying the accounts of politicians, missionaries, and soldiers and how they corroborate with each other, ...

Diana Gasparyan Staff Writer The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State offers many opportunities for students and the public to learn about Armenian history and culture through its Armenian Studies Lecture Series and the Kazan Visiting Professorship. The Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professorship provides support that allows the Armenian Studies Program to invite an internationally recognized scholar in contemporary ...

Staff Report On February 16, 2016, Dr. Sergio La Porta lectured on the Armenian Genocide at Sonoma State University. Sponsored by the Alliance for the Study of Holocaust and Genocide and the Armenian Genocide Memorial Lecture Fund seeded by the Thomas Family Foundation, the lecture forms part of the Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series organized by the Center for the ...

Staff Report Armenian Studies Program Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian announced that the Bertha and John Garabedian Foundation has made a generous donation of $12,000 to the Armenian Studies Program for 2016. This brings the total donations from the Foundation to the Armenian Studies Program to over $100,000. The gift will be used for a variety of activities, including student ...

Aramayis Orkusyan Editor The Young Turk Revolution was a critical point in the history of not only the Ottoman Empire, but also the history of the Armenians. This pivotal year was the topic of a lecture by Dr. Bedross Der Matossian titled “The Political Culture of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908: Space, Symbolism, and Language” presented on Friday, October ...

Staff Report Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) President Barlow Der Mugrdechian chaired the 41st Annual Meeting of the Society on Saturday, November 21, in Denver, Colorado. The Annual Meeting is an opportunity for members to discuss the major challenges of the Society and to hear a variety of reports. Der Mugrdechian reported on the activities of the Society during 2015, ...

Michael Rettig Staff Writer One important narrative of the Armenian Genocide that has been neglected is the story of the righteous Turks who risked their lives to save Armenians. It reminds us that animosity towards Armenians was not universal among Turks in the Ottoman Empire and that there were those who would defy the law to protect Armenians. This narrative ...