News

Sara Beberian ASO President Armenian students this year on campus cannot get enough of ASO! The Armenian Students Organization on campus is following the legacy of years past by hosting monthly events where students can come together to enjoy one another’s company and keep Armenian community bonds strong. ASO’s organized a broomball game held on Friday, October 28 at Gateway ...

Staff Report A selection of photographs, curated from the illustrated history book, The Armenian Highland, have been published in a newly released 2023 wall calendar. The calendar features 18 color photographs from Ani, Van, Kars, Kharpert, Erzerum, Bitlis, Sasoon, and Tigranakert, as well as maps of ancient Armenia and of the Armenian Highland, which includes the lands known today as ...

Christine Pambukyan Staff Writer “The reason I titled my series of presentations “Armenians and ‘Other Armenians’ in Turkey” has to do very much with how the Republic of Turkey …, as a nation-state, understands, categorizes and defines Armenians” explained Dr. Hrag Papazian, the 19th Kazan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies at Fresno State. “The Muslim and Alevi Armenians are ‘other ...

Andrew Hagopian Editor “It starts out, and it’s a string quartet, which is a bad sign because it is not what I want. I want truth. I want down right folk truth. Then this voice comes out of the record and I immediately thought, oh, I like you,” said Ian Nagoski, when first listening to the voice of soprano Zabelle ...

Staff Report Fresno State alumnus James L. Melikian, hosted an annual September gathering of friends at his home in Southern California, in support of the James L. Melikian & L.A. Brothers Scholarship fund, which was established at Fresno State in 2019. This year’s gathering raised over $5,000, which will be awarded to deserving students studying in the Armenian Studies Program ...

Special Report (Los Angeles) The Artsakh Heritage Committee of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of North America held an international conference on human and cultural security prospects for Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh in Los Angeles on November 11-13, 2022 that featured top experts from across the world to discuss cultural preservation, geopolitics, diplomacy, and legal matters concerning Armenian existence. [The ...

Eddy Thurber Staff Writer I was born and raised in Fresno, California. I never spoke Armenian as my grandparents, concerned with the redlining and segregation they and their parents experienced in the early 1900s, made sure that my parents and their siblings spoke English, that did not speak Armenian at home, and had American names. I grew up hearing the ...

Andrew Hagopian Editor The voices of Armenian students at Fresno State were heard on November 7-8, 2022, in response to a planned presentation “International Coffee Hour (ICH) Celebrates Azerbaijan,” which was scheduled to take place in the University Library. On Tuesday, November 7, students were alerted to the presentation by an email from the International Office inviting them to take ...

Andrew Hagopian Editor “I could feel that some of them [students] at least were surprised, to really hear about the history and present-day conditions of Armenians remaining in Turkey. And this is not uncommon. This is not specific to Fresno Armenians or Armenians in the United States. It is a global phenomenon,” said Dr. Hrag Papazian. Dr. Papazian, who is ...

Staff Report Armenian 1A, Elementary Armenian, is an introductory language course for students at Fresno State. The course, offered twice weekly, brings together students from diverse backgrounds to study the Armenian language. Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian has been teaching the course for thirty-eight years and is enthusiastic in bringing his passion for the language to his students. Through the language ...