News

Dr. James Reid was the Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at Fresno State for the Spring 2006 semester. He died on June 10. The following obituary was published in the Sacramento Bee on June 14, 2006. Dr. James J. Reid Dr. James J. Reid, a local historian with an international reputation, passed away on Saturday, June 10, in Roseville, ...

Staff Writer French President Jacques Chirac, on a three-day visit to Armenia, called on Turkey to “recognize its past” in connection with the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century. “Turkey should acknowledge the mistakes of its past,” Chirac said at a joint news conference with Armenian President Robert Kocharian. “I believe that every country, in accordance with ...

Caitlin Tiftick Staff Writer Do you want to travel to Armenia but don’t have the first clue about how to get there? Maybe you are scared that it is a poor country with a lot of crime. Or maybe you just don’t know what to see or what Armenia has to offer. In a photo tour presentation cosponsored by the ...

Compiled by Cailtlin Tiftick, Staff Writer Ashley Allred Major: English Minor: Armenian Studies 1. Why did you complete the Armenian Studies minor? After completing the introductory course, I thought that Armenian Studies was a really interesting area of study, so I decided to complete the minor. 2. What have you learned from the program? I think that I’ve developed a ...

Staff Writer Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law AB 1210, which calls for the construction of an International Genocide Monument in Sacramento’s State Capitol Park. The California State Legislature took the first step this year in working to construct an International Genocide Memorial in the State’s Capitol. The bill establishes the International Genocide Memorial Commission and authorizes the construction of a ...

Staff Report Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, who faced a criminal charge for discussing some of his country’s most painful episodes, won the Nobel literature prize on October 12 for his works dealing with issues of identity and clashing cultures. A Turkish court dropped charges against Pamuk for insulting “Turkishness,” ending a high-profile trial that outraged Western observers and cast doubt ...

Zhanna Bagdasarov Editor Dr. Levon Chookaszian, the sixth Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at Fresno State, presented the first of his three-part lecture series at 7:30PM on September 27. Dr. Chookaszian is visiting from Armenia, where he is the UNESCO Chair of the Department of Art History at Yerevan State University. There, he spent several years ...

Knar Mekhitarian Staff Writer Nayiri, Hagop, Kelli, Svetlana, Ani, Brad, Emily, Lara, and twenty-two other students of all ages, await anxiously in the Family Food and Science Building, Room 216, for instruction to begin. “Parev,” a simple “Hello” in Armenian, is enunciated to the class from Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian, as he promptly receives a greeting in return. Photo: Standing ...

Sarah Soghomonian Staff Report A smiling new face greets visitors at the Armenian Studies Program office. The friendly face belongs to Kati Litten, the Program’s new administrative assistant. Litten, a 1983 Fresno State graduate, is adjusting to the new position after being out of the working world for years while raising her children. “I’m learning to readjust my life,” Litten ...

Sebouh Krioghlian Staff Writer On a Sunday afternoon, September 10, 2006, Vardan Mamikonian, a prize-winning pianist, performed in the Fresno State Concert Hall to a sold-out crowd. This opening concert of the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts series was co-sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program. Mamikonian’s performance was moving, to say the least. Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Mamikonian started studying ...