News

Svetlana Bagdasarov Staff Writer Charismatic, professional, strikingly radiant, captivating, and simply irresistible are just a few of the words that come to mind when thinking about the talented Armenian-Canadian lyric soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian. Not only is she well known and praised for her operatic career, but she also manages to find time for numerous recitals, vibrant concerts, and special surprises ...

Barlow Der Mugrdechian Advisor This year marks the auspicious celebration of the 1600th anniversary of the discovery of the God-pleasing Armenian alphabet. When the pious and virtuous Mesrob Mashtots made this discovery, through the guidance of the spirit of God, the Armenian people received a wonderful gift, an alphabet of thirty-six letters that would completely and permanently alter the nature ...

Sebouh Krioghlian Staff Writer Vahan Mardirossian, an accomplished Armenian pianist, performed in the Concert Hall at Fresno State on September 11, in a concert sponsored by the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts series and the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno. Born in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1975, the prize-winning Mardirossian went on to graduate from the Paris Conservatory ...

Barlow Der Mugrdechian Advisor The Armenia Summer Study Program 2005 brought together nine students and their professor for a three-week journey to Armenia. Students gained three units credit as part of the class, which ran June 20-July 9. After a quick two-day visit to London, the excited group arrived in Yerevan on June 23, beginning what was to be an ...

Armine Sargsyan Staff Writer This year many anniversaries of the Armenian world coincide. The Catholicos of the Holy See of the Great House of Cilicia, Aram I, will pay a special visit to the United States in honor of four events: the 75th anniversary of the Seminary of the Great House of Cilicia; the 1600th anniversary of the Invention of ...

Staff Report California State University, Fresno President Dr. John Welty bestowed the President’s Medal of Distinction upon His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, at a special ceremony on Tuesday, June 14, at Fresno State. The President’s Medal of Distinction is the highest non-degree honor the University can bestow on an individual. It is presented to individuals whose contributions ...

Staff Report ZHANNA BAGDASAROV MAJOR: PSYCHOLOGY MINOR: ARMENIAN STUDIES How have the Armenian Studies classes you’ve taken influenced you? Taking Armenian Studies courses throughout my college career has definitely been a great addition to my curriculum. I’ve acquired so much knowledge pertaining to general Armenian issues and the history of my people, which I was not aware of before these ...

McGill-Queen’s University Press “Like Our Mountains: A History of Armenians in Canada” by Isabel Kaprielian-Churchill A sweeping social history of the Armenian-Canadian experience that links the Old World with the New against a far-flung diaspora. McGill-Queen’s Studies in Ethnic History April 2005 The Armenian Genocide that killed 1.5 million people almost 100 years ago is only now becoming part of ...

Staff Report Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program had a busy speaking schedule during the month of April. Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the Armenian Studies Program, right, with participants in the Genocide Awareness Week panel at UC Davis, April 19. On April 3, he presented a paper, “Across the Chasm: From Catastrophe to Creativity” as part of the ...

Staff Report At the invitation of Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vartan Oskanian, Prof. Dickran Kouymjian participated in the special two-day conference on the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide held in Erevan 20-21 April. Major Genocide and Holocaust scholars from around the world came together to discuss both the consequences of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and its continued denial ...