News

  Carina Tokatian Staff Writer The Fresno State Armenian Studies Program received some exciting news for 2020. It is anticipating the publication of some of its digital archives on an online database known as Calisphere by the beginning of the New Year. The University of California first established the California Digital Library in 1977, later creating Calisphere as one of ...

  Staff Report Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, was awarded the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) “Lifetime Achievement Award” by current SAS President Dr. Bedross Der Matossian at the 45th Anniversary Banquet of SAS held October 12, 2019. Dr. Der Matossian highlighted the unconditional support that Prof. Der Mugrdechian has rendered ...

Staff Report The Society for Armenian Studies held its 45th Annual Membership Meeting on Thursday, November 14 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, in New Orleans, Louisiana.  SAS President Bedross Der Matossian opened the meeting and welcomed members. Der Matossian reported on SAS activities for 2019 and also presented plans for the future activities of the Society.  Among the highlights ...

Christine Pambukyan Staff Writer Dr. Michael Krikorian is a pianist, composer, and educator who has won countless top prizes all around the world and has performed and competed across the United States, Italy, France, China, and South Korea.  At 3:00PM on Sunday, October 20, the Los Angeles-based pianist and Fresno native, Dr. Krikorian performed in the Concert Hall at Fresno ...

Staff Report Armenian Studies Program Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian participated in the celebratory activities marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of Yerevan State University, which were held in Yerevan, Armenia, September 26-27, 2019. Yerevan State University was established in 1919 and the first classes were held in Alexandropol (today’s Gyumri), Armenia, as sufficient facilities were not available in ...

Staff Report Armenian Studies Program Director Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian announced the appointment of Dr. Ari Şekeryan as the 16th Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies for the Spring 2020 semester at Fresno State.  Dr. Şekeryan graduated from the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford, defending his dissertation entitled, “The Armenians in the Ottoman ...

Staff Report Armenian Studies Program Berberian Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian announced that the Bertha and John Garabedian Foundation has made a generous donation of $25,000 to establish the Bertha and John Garabedian Foundation Armenian Studies Endowed Scholarship at Fresno State. Together with previous year’s donations, the Garabedian Foundation has awarded more than $140,000 in grants to the Armenian Studies ...

  Dustin Vartanian Staff Writer On Friday afternoon, September 13, I walked into a classroom with the other students enrolled in Armenian Studies 120T-The Armenian Church weekend class. For most of us, participation in this class would help us understand the Church in more depth, since some already had general knowledge of how the Church operates. We walked in feeling ...

Christine Pambukyan Staff Writer After the Armenian Genocide displaced many Armenians from the Ottoman occupied regions of their homeland in 1915, Modern Western Armenian became a language of the Diaspora. As time went on, some Armenians began to forget their native language and assimilated to English, French, German, or other dominant languages of the countries they moved to in order ...

Yervand Boyajyan Staff Writer Music is a medium through which thoughts and feelings can be communicated without a single word being spoken. On Friday evening, September 27, 2019, the Philip Lorenz International Keyboard Series and the Fresno State Armenian Studies Program organized a concert by a talented pianist, Sofya Melikyan, and gave us another reason to believe that music is ...