Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Staff Report
A team of USC Institute of Armenian Studies staff, including Dr. Lilit Keshishyan, Manuk Avedikyan, and Brandan Balayan, visited Fresno State on Monday, March 13, 2023 to speak to students and faculty about the Institute’s “My Armenian Story” oral history project. The two-year project involves conducting oral interview with Armenians throughout California, to “dis-cover and record individual journeys.”
Dr. Keshishyan spoke to students in Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian’s Armenian language class. She presented the “My Armenian Story” project by showing clips of various interviews that had already been conducted and that illustrated the variety topics that can be covered in the interviews. Dr. Keshishyan and Avedikyan explained the process of how the interviews are conducted and that anyone could participate. According to the Institute for Armenian Studies FAQ sheet, “My Armenian Story” is a “resource base that reflects the scope and depth of the Armenian experience.”
Dr. Keshishyan is the director of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies “California History through the Armenian Experience” oral history project and also works on various aspects of the Institute’s Digital Diaspora Initiative.
“The oral story includes emotions, memories, and personal relationships. The focus is on one person at that moment and how they’re seeing the world around them […] it brings the human element to the historical record,” said Dr. Keshishyan.
In her presentation, Dr. Keshishyan defined oral history and how historians recognize that the memories of everyday people have historical importance. The oral history project gives an opportunity for the average person to share their life story. The value of oral history is in its possibility of volume and nuance with a goal of gathering a large number of oral histories from Armenians all across California.
Avedikyan, who worked on and managed the Armenian Genocide survivor testimony collections at the USC Shoah Foundation for over seven years, also conducted interviews in Fresno. Team member Brandan Balayan, who works on oral histories and website development for the Institute, recorded the interviews on camera.
Dr. Keshishyan and Avedikyan separately interviewed Prof. Der Mugrdechian for more than four hours, with a focus on local Fresno and San Joaquin Valley history.
The wide-ranging interview covered family history as well as the history of the Armenian Studies Program. The USC team also interviewed other Valley residents during their three-day stay in Fresno.
The goal of “My Armenian Story” is to create a resource base that reflects the scope and depth of the Armenian experience in California. The individual interviews will be kept in the USC Institute of Armenian Studies archive.
There is an urgency to collect and record now to preserve much of the history of the Armenians in California. Everyone is qualified to conduct the research as interviews are really a conversation.
As part of Armenian History Month, the Institute for Armenian Studies drove a food truck converted into a mobile recording studio to various locations in Glendale and Los Angeles to interview community members.
The “My Armenian Story” website gives an idea of what interviewers can cover and how to conduct an interview. For more information, go to: https://armenian.usc.edu/myarmenianstory/.