Dr. Vahram Shemmassian, Director of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge, will speak about his new book “The Armenians of Musa Dagh: From Obscurity to Genocide Resistance and Fame 1840-1915” at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb, 6 on Zoom. The book is available from Abril Bookstore, NAASR Bookstore, and AMAA Bookstore.
The Armenians of Musa Dagh: From Obscurity to Genocide Resistance and Fame 1840-1915 is a comprehensive history of the people of Musa Dagh, who rose to prominence with their resistance to the Genocide in 1915. The book was published as volume 11 in the Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno. Fresno State Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian is the general editor of the Armenian Series.
In The Armenians of Musa Dagh, Dr. Shemmassian presents a thorough analysis of the social, religious, educational, political, and economic history of the six villages which constitute Musa Dagh. In his presentation, Dr. Shemmassian will discuss the idea’s genesis to write the book and his research on the topic. His work focuses on the critical period of the mid-to-late nineteenth century, offering the reader a previously unavailable insight into the people whose courage and persistence ultimately led to their successful self-defense.
Dr. Vahram L. Shemmassian is a Professor and Director of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Los Angeles. His book, “The Musa Dagh Armenians: A Socioeconomic and Cultural History, 1919-1939,” was published in 2015 by the Haigazian University Press in Beirut. He has also published scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters on the fate of Armenian Genocide survivors in the Middle East between the two World Wars.
The presentation is part of the Spring 2021 Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program. It is co-sponsored by the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, and the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS).
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 