News

Staff Report Mr. Dean Shahinian has made a generous donation to the Armenian Studies Program in support of the Program’s activities. Mr. Shahinian recently supported the establishment of the Grace and Paul Shahinian Armenian Christian Art Lecture Series at Fresno State.

Lori Agazarian Staff Writer Fresno State’s Armenian Studies Program welcomed Ambassador Erin McKee to campus on Thursday, August 29, 2024 to speak about the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and its activities in Armenia today. The USAID is an independent agency that focuses on international development and aid and was founded by John F. Kennedy in 1961. McKee ...

Rachel Yepremian Staff Writer On Friday, September 27, Dr. Simon Maghakyan, Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies, held the first of his three-part lecture series entitled, “The Past of the Past: Armenian Heritage in Ottoman and Republican Turkey.” The Kazan Visiting Professorship was established in 2001 through an endowment by Henry Khanzadian Kazan and the first visiting professor was Dr. ...

Staff Report Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian met with U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Kristina A. Kvien on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. Prof. Der Mugrdechian was in Yerevan to participate in the International Armenological Congress, organized by the Matenadaran. Amb. Kvien began her service in Armenia in February, 2023, as the tenth U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. In a Fresno connection, Ambassador Kvien ...

Staff Report Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian was a guest speaker at the St. Sarkis Armenian Church of Carollton, Texas on Friday, May 17. His talk “Western Armenia on the Eve of the Armenian Genocide: 1878-1914” focused on Armenian life in the Ottoman Empire, prior to the Armenian Genocide. This was Prof. Der Mugrdechian’s first visit to the Dallas community and ...

Sosse Baloian Yanez Armenian Studies Program The Armenian Studies Program Archive has identified two short children’s books – renditions of the Armenian National Epic, David of Sassoun. Both works are illustrated and briefly summarize the epic. The first, David of Sassoun: Epic Hero of Armenia: Children’s Booklet, was published by the United Armenian Commemorative Committee in 1976. The book was ...

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. Dr. Sergio La Porta, Fresno, CA, for a copy of An Armenian Futūh Narrative: Lewond’s Eighth-Century History of the Caliphate by Sergio La Porta and Alison M. Vacca (Chicago: Institute for ...

Sara Beberian Business Administration-Marketing Minor in Armenian Studies What encouraged you to take an Armenian Studies course? It came naturally for me to want to take Armenian courses – it was not even a question. I was so happy to see that they were offered at Fresno State. As a Charlie Keyan Armenian Community School alumna, I was excited for ...

Ani Sargsyan Staff Writer Musician and jazz artist Tigran Hamasyan was introduced to music from a young age. In an interview from the podcast Rearrange with Narek Amirkhanyan, Hamasyan said “even when I was in my mother’s womb, my father would play a lot of music, especially rock. And I don’t have a recollection of when I started. I just ...

Ani Sargsyan Staff Writer “We have a lot of films that amplify what is bad about humanity, and to me the concept of someone watching somebody else and starting to care about them…that’s human nature, and an idea that is important to reflect in film,” said Michael A. Goorjian, director of “Amerikatsi.” On Friday, April 26, 2024, the Armenian Studies ...