News

Staff Report Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, and representing the Society for Armenian Studies, participated in a an innovative workshop, “The State of Armenian Studies,” at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, September 18-20, 2008. Over the past forty years there have been several opportunities for gatherings to discuss the state of ...

Staff Report Armenian Studies Program Coordinator Barlow Der Mugrdechian was the guest speaker at the 80th anniversary celebration of the Daron Lodge of the Knights of Vartan. The Banquet took place on Sunday, February 15 in the St. John Armenian Church Paul Fellowship Hall. Special guest at the Banquet was Haig K. Deranian, Grand Commander of the Knights of Vartan. ...

Marissa Isquierdo Staff Writer On Wednesday, February 11 at 7:30 PM, Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program welcomed Fresno State distinguished alumnus, Dr. Ronald Marchese, who gave a presentation titled “Armenian Constantinople: Church, Society, and Culture” to an audience which consisted of Fresno State students, professors, family, and friends in the Alice Peters Auditorium at Fresno ...

Hagop Ohanessian Staff Writer The Armenian Film Festival at Fresno State annually showcases films with an Armenian theme, concerning Armenian issues, or those that have been directed by Armenians around the country or around the world. This year, the Armenian Studies Program received numerous films that were evaluated and chosen for the 10th Annual Armenian Film Festival. This year the ...

Hagop Ohanessian Staff Writer Dr. George Bournoutian, Professor of History at Iona College in New York, has been appointed as the seventh Henry Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies for the Spring 2009 semester. This semester he is teaching a three-unit course on the Armenian Diaspora and Genocide, Monday evenings from 6:00-8:50 PM. The course is primarily focused on ...

Pateel Mekhitarian Staff Writer www.etchmiadzin.com/ www.armenianhistory.info/christianity.htm.  www.armeniaemb.org/DiscoverArmenia/ArmenianChurch/Index.htm The Christianization of Armenia was a long and hard process, which was finally achieved officially in 301 AD. The story of the Armenian people and their faith is a very interesting one, which began with two main characters—King Trdat and St. Gregory the Illuminator. According to Agatangelos, a fifth-century Armenian historian, Khosrov was ...

Staff Report Armenian-American artist Varaz Samuelian (1917-1995) was a prolific artist, who left much of his art collection from his estate to the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno. While Samuelian’s sculptural work is well-known to the community at large, much of his corpus in other media is not. Two of Samuelian’s high profile sculptures are part of ...

Staff Report Mr. Raffik Bagdassarian of San Francisco passed away in October 2008. His family requested that remembrances be made to the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State to honor his lifetime interest in Armenian culture and scholarship. Below is Mr. Baghdassarian’s biography. Raffik Bagdassarian was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on March 5, 1927 to Arevik and Sarkis Bagdassarian. He ...

Pateel Mekhitarian Staff Writer On Wednesday, November 5, Dr. Azat Yeghiazaryan, Director of the Abeghyan Institute of Literature of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, visited the Fresno State campus to give a lecture on the Armenian traditional folk epic David of Sasun. Dr. Yeghiazaryan’s new book, The Armenian Folk Epic of David of Sasun, translated from Armenian by Dr. ...

Hagop Ohanessian Staff Writer Jeff Masarjian has been the executive director of the Armenian Tree Project since 1991 and on Tuesday, November 18, he gave an interesting lecture on “The Dangers Facing Armenia’s Natural Treasures: Current Risks and Opportunities,” as part of the Fall Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program. According to the ATP 2007 Annual Report “The Armenian ...