News

Staff Report Name: Alex Johnnie Bunch Major: Psychology Why did you pursue an Armenian Studies Minor? The Armenian Studies Minor was one of the major reasons why I chose to move to Fresno and complete my first college degree here. I personally feel that having a good working knowledge about your history and background simply makes you a better person. ...

Sara Cohan Education Director, The Genocide Education Project “We cannot maintain the moral force we need to take action against the genocide going on in Darfur, if the Administration continues to equivocate about the genocide against the Armenians.” -Representative Adam Schiff, March 2007 Representative Schiff’s warning resonates clearly in the minds of Armenian Americans. We are born, live and die ...

Ara Nalbandian Staff Writer On March 20th, Dr. Lawrence Baron, Nasatir Professor of Modern Jewish History and Director of the Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies at San Diego State University, presented his lecture entitled “Genres of Genocide: Depicting the Armenian, Jewish, and Rwandan Genocides in Feature Films.” The event was a part of the Spring 2007 Lecture Series presented by ...

Zhanna Bagdasarov Editor The Armenian Alumni and Friends (AAF) chapter of the Fresno State Alumni Association hosted its third event since its creation in fall of 2006. As membership continues to grow, the AAF is encouraged to increase the number of events, which allow new and old alumni to reconnect. This goal was accomplished at the most recent Coffee Tasting ...

Staff Report Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State participated in the 21st Annual Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS) conference, held the weekend of March 22-25. The theme of the conference was “Work, Migration, and Globalization: Contested Journeys in Multi-Ethnic U.S. Literature.” Der Mugrdechian participated in a ...

Barlow Der Mugrechian Advisor Mr. John Stephens, a major benefactor of the Armenian Studies Program, died on April 19 in Fresno. Earlier this year, Mr. Stephens had made a donation of $50,000 to the Armenian Studies Program. Mr. Stephens was close to the Program over the years, attending many of the lectures and other events, which he enjoyed immensely. Mr. ...

Zhanna Bagdasarov Editor As members of the Armenian Students Organization (ASO) at Fresno State distributed t-shirts depicting a large cross and reading Remember April 24, 1915, a group of young children from the Armenian Community School were practicing the poem they planned to recite. Sounds of the somber duduk were heard in the distance and posters depicting infamous photos of ...

Staff Report The Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno held its 19th Annual Banquet on Saturday, March 24. The guest speaker for the evening was the Honorable Armen Liloyan, Consul General of the Republic of Armenia, in Los Angeles. Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program opened the evening by inviting the Rev. Fr. Yeghia Hairabedian, ...

Staff Report Dr. Dickran Kouymjian and 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. Biblioteca Nacional, Buenes Aires, Argentina, for the book La Biblioteca, La Critica Literaria en Argentina. Dr. Ruth Büttner and Judith Peltz (ed.), Koblenz, Germany, for ...

Svetlana Badgarov Staff Writer Question: “If you had the opportunity to spend a day with an Armenian celebrity, who would you choose and why?” Name: Janik Oganesyan Major: Biology Year: Sophomore “I would have to say Charles Aznavour, because he is a respected Armenian and plus, he would give me a tour of France.”     Name: Nayiri Moumdjian Major: ...