News

Staff Report On Wednesday, April 10, 2024, Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, gave a talk on “The Armenian Genocide: 1915-1923,” at Madera Community College. The event was organized by Dr. Hagop Ohanessian of the Madera Community College History Department and the “Our Story” History Club. Nearly fifty people were in attendance ...

Natalie Agazarian Editor Dr. Bedross Der Matossian discussed “Armenian Jerusalem: Past, Present, and Future” on Friday, March, 2024 at the Smittcamp Alumni House on the Fresno State Campus. Dr. Der Matossian is a Professor of Modern Middle East History at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and was born and raised in the Old City of Jerusalem. His presentation was organized ...

Hannah Paloutzian Staff Writer On Tuesday, March 12, 2024, the Fresno State International Coffee Hour invited international student Harutyun Amirkhanyan to discuss Armenia and its history. Each month, the International Coffee Hour holds an event highlighting a different country in order to engage students in the wide range of cultures that Fresno State students come from. Everyone is welcome to ...

Ani Sargsyan Staff Writer On Thursday, April 25, 2024, the Armenian Studies Program welcomed Dr. Elyse Semerdjian, Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair of Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University, to talk about her new book, Remnants: Embodied Archives of the Armenian Genocide. The presentation was made possible through the Ralph Shabazian Armenian Memorial Fund. ...

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 ...