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Dustin Vartanian Staff Writer “The Armenian Studies Program is not only an educational center but it is a very strong center that generates Armenian culture, that drives Armenian culture, and that keeps the Armenian community Armenian, here in the San Joaquin Valley and much beyond,” said H.E. Dr. Armen Baibourtian, Consul General of the Republic of Armenia. Dr. Baibourtian was ...

Andrew Hagopian Staff Writer On Saturday, March 30, the Knights of Vartan, Yeprad Lodge and the Daughters of Vartan, Alidz Chapter, held their “Man and Woman of the Year Banquet” honoring Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State and KSEE 24 News Anchor Stefani Booroojian. More than 200 community guests, including Fresno State ...

Staff Report The Armenian Students Organization Fresno State held an Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event at noon on Wednesday, April 24, at the Fresno State Armenian Genocide Monument.  ASO President Claire Kasaian opened the event with welcoming remarks followed by the singing of the U.S. and Armenian National Anthems by the St. Paul Armenian Church Saturday Schools students.  Fresno State student ...

University Communications Fresno State Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, a veteran academic administrator with extensive ties to the Central Valley, is Fresno State’s new provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, effective July 22, 2019. President Joseph I. Castro announced the appointment on April 5. The provost is the University’s chief academic officer and serves as its leader when the president is ...

Christine Pambukyan Staff Writer “The denial of the Armenian Genocide began not in the wake of the event but was an intrinsic part of the plan itself,” stated Dr. Taner Akçam, holder of the Kalousdian/Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University. Since the Armenian Genocide took place one hundred and four years ago, in 1915, the Turkish government ...

Annie Rubio Editor William Saroyan has long been a prominent figure in Fresno’s history. Recently, his name has become even more pronounced in the community. Ever since the opening of the Saroyan House Museum in August of 2018, there has been a resurgence of interest in his life and career. This led to the premiere of the new documentary, “Lights! ...

Staff Report A co-edited volume by Bedross Der Matossian and Barlow Der Mugrdechian entitled Western Armenian in the 21st Century: Challenges and New Approaches has been recently published by The Press at California State University, Fresno (2019). The book is the first in the newly launched Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) Publication Series published as part of the Armenian Series ...

Christine Pambukyan Staff Writer The Armenian language has been spoken for more than 3,000 years. Armenians, however, were not able to read and write with their own alphabet until a priest, St. Mesrop Mashtots, created a thirty-six-letter alphabet in 406 AD. In the twelfth century, two letters were added to the alphabet to accommodate new sounds introduced to the Armenian ...

Staff Report Armenian Studies Program Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian announced that the Thomas A. Kooyumjian Family Foundation has made a donation of $100,000 in January of 2019 to the Kooyumjian Endowed Scholarship Fund at Fresno State. Together with previous donations from the Family Foundation, the Endowed Scholarship has reached $250,000. Thomas A. Kooyumjian passed away in 1985 and his ...

Arshak Abelyan Staff Writer              From the violent streets of Beirut to the places he called his home, Armenia and Fresno, Paul Chaderjian’s new novel Letters to Barbra reveals the beauty and tragedy in life. Chaderjian’s grandparents were Armenian Genocide survivors who settled in Beirut and thus, he experienced the Civil War in Lebanon. Chaderjian discussed his new novel at a ...