Dr. Simon Maghakyan, a political scientist known for his pioneering forensic and theoretical research on heritage and security, has been named the 20th Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno, for the Fall 2024 semester.
The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State announced that Dr. David Zakarian has been appointed the Haig and Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies for the fall 2024 semester. Dr. Zakarian was previously an associate faculty member of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford.
Arts in Motion will be held at 4 p.m. Friday, April 19, at the Fresno State Concert Hall. During the event, one undergraduate and one graduate student of distinction will be presented as Dean’s Medalist.
The weeklong series of events kicks off at 4 p.m. Friday, April 19, with Arts in Motion, a celebration of the College of Arts and Humanities’ top students. The showcase culminates with two live performances of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” an emotional spectacle of music and might, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27.
Fresno State’s Department of English welcomes seven accomplished authors and scholars this spring for campus visits, including the pathbreaking artist Sandra Cisneros, winner of the Poetry Foundation’s 2022 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State continues to be a prominent publisher of all things Armenian with installments 18, 19 and 20 of the Armenian Series.
“Microhistories in Armenian Studies,” a two-day international conference organized by the Fresno State Armenian Studies Program, will be held on Sept. 22-23 on the Fresno State campus.
We are excited to acknowledge the achievements of our College’s most accomplished students. From the creative artists to the humanists, every scholarship winner and Student of Distinction reflects the experimentation, compassion, and curiosity that Fresno State fosters.
We are excited to acknowledge the achievements of our College’s most accomplished students. From the creative artists to the humanists, every scholarship winner and Student of Distinction reflects the experimentation, compassion, and curiosity that Fresno State fosters.
Internationally renowned, Gojabashian’s exhibits have appeared in major cities worldwide, and now, the community is invited to experience his works on display at Fresno State.
The Arts and Humanities Showcase offers a unique opportunity, through various performances, exhibits, lectures and workshops, to immerse yourself in the creativity and cultural diversity of Fresno State’s talented students.
Historian Dr. Taner Akçam will speak on “The First Decision of the Armenian Genocide and the Role of the Kurds in Ottoman Documents” at 7 p.m. Friday, March 3, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium.
Dr. Dennis Papazian’s memoir “From My Life and Thought: Reflections on an Armenian-American Journey” was published in 2022 by the Armenian Series of the Press at California State University, Fresno.
When the late Ralph Shabazian learned about the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State in early 2016, he knew he wanted to be a part of helping students explore their heritage to help share the Armenian story.
The lecture will be devoted to the officially Muslim and hence legally “non-Armenian” citizens of the Republic of Turkey who, drawing on their Armenian ancestors, Islamized or Alevized generations earlier, identify as Armenians today.
Dr. Bedross Der Matossian will present an in-person lecture entitled “The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early Twentieth Century” at 7 p.m. Friday, August 26, at the Whitten Boardroom of the Smittcamp Alumni House.
The Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno announces the publication of its fifteenth volume, “From My Life and Thought: Reflections on an Armenian-American Journey,” a memoir by Dennis R. Papazian.
The mood was jovial as students, educators, and community members gathered at the Fort Washington Country Club for the 34th Annual Armenian Studies Program Banquet on Sunday, March 20 – the first time the event happened in person in three years.
Dr. Vartan Matiossian, Executive Director of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Church, will speak on “What’s in a Name: Language, the Politics of the Armenian Genocide, and Medz Yeghern” at 7:00 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28 on Zoom. The presentation is part of the Spring 2022 Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program and is […]
The Fresno Unified School Board voted on Oct. 13 to change the name of the Forkner Elementary School to H. Roger Tatarian Elementary School in honor of the award-winning journalist, Fresno State alumnus and faculty member.
The Armenian Studies Program announced its latest book, “The Committee of Union and Progress: Founders, Ideology, and Structure,” Volume 13 in the Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno. A special virtual event to present and discuss the book will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 on Zoom.
Dr. Suren Manukyan will give a publice lectur on “Architects of the Armenian Genocide: The Top-Level Perpetrators” at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17 on Zoom. The presentation is part of the Fall 2021 Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program.
Dr. Manukyan is the author of some thirty articles in the field of genocide and oriental studies. In his research interests, Dr. Manukyan explores the history of genocide, which explains the origins of social behaviors that lead up to mass murder, including prejudices, stereotypes, racism, religious and ethnic hatred, and discrimination.
Prof. Der Mugrdechian began teaching at Fresno State in 1985. Since 2008 he has been the Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program and Director of the Center for Armenian Studies at Fresno State.
The Armenian Studies Program held its 33rd Annual Banquet on Sunday, May 2. The Banquet was held virtually and a special video to mark the occasion was prepared.
The Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of Fresno has prepared a video, “2021 Armenian Genocide Commemorative Virtual Event,” in place of the annual commemorative event at the Armenian Genocide Monument at Fresno State.
In Dr. Dzovinar Derderian’s lecture, she will discuss how migrants or itinerants from provinces like Van, or more precisely “pandukhts” in Armenian, are often characterized in the existing scholarship and popular discourse as destitute and melancholic people.
Displacement and dispersion loom large in the Armenian collective memory, as seen through their music and the work of the composer and musicologist Komitas. A longing to reclaim elements of lost culture pervades the Armenian diaspora, where Home is reconstituted in exile.
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 National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) announced “Armenian-American Sketches” by Bedros Keljik was one of two books selected as the winner of the 2020 Dr. Sona Aronian Book Prizes for Excellence in Armenian Studies.
Political consultant and commentator Eric Hacopian will participate in “The Artsakh War and Armenia: A Conversation with Eric Hacopian” at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, Jan 30, virtually on Zoom.
Four new books have been released in the Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno, in 2020. The Armenian Series was founded through the Armenian Studies Program with funding established by the M. Victoria Karagozian Kazan and Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Endowment. The new books represent volumes eight through 11 in the […]
Dr. Zeynep Devrim Gürsel, associate professor of anthropology at Rutgers University, will give a presentation on “Portraits of Unbelonging: Photography, the Ottoman State and Armenians Leaving for America 1896-1908” at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, November 12 on Zoom.
The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State will hold a two-day conference on “The State of the Art of the Early Turkish Republic Period: Historiography, Sources, and Future Directions” at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, on Zoom and 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, on Zoom.
Dr. Ohannes Kılıçdağı, the 2020-21 Henry Khanzadian Kazan visiting professor, will give his first public talk at Fresno State “‘Living together requires dying together’: Conscription of Armenians into the Ottoman Army after the 1908 Revolution” at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 18 on Zoom. The event is free and open to the public.
Dr. Tamar M. Boyadjian, assistant professor of medieval literature at Michigan State University, will present “The City Lament: Jerusalem Across the Medieval Mediterranean” at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24 on Zoom.
Dr. Christina Maranci, Tufts University Department of Art History and Architecture chair and Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel associate professor, will give a virtual presentation on “Ani Cathedral, its Sculpture, and its Inscriptions Revisited” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3 on Zoom.
On Friday, April 24, amid COVID-19 concerns, a small group of campus leaders, photographers, and videographers assembled to record a virtual ceremony for the Armenian community. Social distancing was maintained throughout the ceremony.
Three of the formative revolutions that shook the early twentieth-century world occurred almost simultaneously in regions bordering each other. Though the Russian, Iranian, and Young Turk Revolutions all exploded between 1904 and 1911.
The Armenian migratory experience in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries both parallels and sheds light on themes such as smuggling, deportation, and the criminalization of migration, that are central to the issue of global migration in the 21st century.
The lecture presents an overview of the political and social developments that happened in the Ottoman Empire during the Armistice period and it explores how the Armenian community organized itself while facing political turmoil.
The Feb. 22 concert will feature music by pianist Michael Krikorian, violinist Armen Derkevorkian, and cellist Garik Terzian. Lauren Movsesian, Colette Compton, and Clarise Compton will perform vocal selections, accompanied by Derrick Lowe.
Along the cobbled streets and golden walls of Jerusalem, brilliantly glazed tiles catch the light and beckon the eye. These colorful wares are iconic features of the Holy City. Silently, these works of ceramic art also represent a riveting story of resilience and survival.
Şekeryan will give three public lectures in the Spring semester, under the general theme of the Armistice years. Based on a collection of Armenian and Ottoman Turkish press, the lectures provide new research on a neglected period in the history of the late Ottoman Empire and Ottoman Armenians.
While there is an extensive body of literature addressing the foundations of Turkish nationalism and its racist aspects in the early Republican Era and contemporary Turkey, a significant gap persists in the critical period between 1911-1916, when the existence of the Ottoman Empire was at stake.
“The Stateless Diplomat” tells the story of Diana Apcar, who in 1920 was appointed by Prime Minister Hovhaness Kachaznuni of the Republic of Armenia as Honorary Consul to Japan. Apcar worked on behalf of Armenia and genocide survivors her entire life.
Educated at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid and the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris, Melikyan has gained international attention while performing in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and Salle Cortot in Paris.
The conference was organized based on this discussion and from the 2010 report that UNESCO had placed Western Armenian on the list of the world’s endangered languages.
In his new role as Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, La Porta, inspired by his love of travel, plans to expand study abroad opportunities for students which he considers essential to broadening their horizons. In addition, he would like to facilitate faculty-student mentorships and promote more service-learning courses.
The effort to establish the scholarship was led by Fresno State alumnus James L. Melikian, who annually hosts a gathering of friends at his home to raise funds for charitable purposes. Melikian (“The Popcorn Man”) established his company, “The Popcorn Man,” in 1977.
English Department Chair Dr. Kathleen Godfrey was also named interim associate dean of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development, effective at the start of the semester.
The events mark the anniversary of the April 24, 1915 arrests of Armenian intellectuals and leaders by the Ottoman Empire which started a genocide in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
Cadence Ensemble has rapidly developed into one of the world’s premier ensembles performing original works and arrangements by classical and contemporary European, Russian, Armenian, and American composers including world music and pop.
The Knights and Daughters of Vartan have named Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian and news anchor Stefani Booroojian “Man of the Year” and “Woman of the Year.” The two were honored at a special Banquet held on Sunday, March 30, 2019.
Born into the Armenian merchant elite of Istanbul in 1869, the renowned oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian made his fortune as a ‘business architect,’ persuading rival oil companies to collaborate for their mutual enrichment, particularly in the Middle East.
This year’s Banquet will feature special guest H. E. Dr. Armen Baibourtian, Consul General of the Republic of Armenia. Dr. Baibourtian was appointed Consul General on September 6, 2018.
Learn about the rise of Nikol Pashinyan from a young and controversial journalist in the mid-1990s to a politician with immense power and even a cult figure in 2018.
Oud master Richard Hagopian will present a talk and performance on “Armenian Song Repertoire of the Middle East” at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 26, in the University Business Center, Room 191.
Dr. Christopher Sheklian, director of the Zohrab Information Center, Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church, will present an illustrated lecture on “Liturgy and Property in Istanbul: The Armenian Minority in Turkey Today,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, in the University Business Center (Room 191 Auditorium).
Writer and broadcast journalist Paul Chaderjian will speak about his newly published book, “Letters to Barbra” at 7:30PM on Tuesday, February 12, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, at Fresno State. The lecture is free and the community is invited.
Dr. Levon Chookaszian, Chair of the Department of Armenian Art History at Yerevan State University will give a talk titled “Germans and Armenians: Historic and Artistic Relations” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb 1, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, at Fresno State. The presentation is part of the Armenian Studies Program Spring 2019 […]
The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, in conjunction with the William Saroyan House Museum, presents the international premiere of “Lights! Camera! Saroyan!” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan 25 in the Satellite Student Union. Admission is free and parking is available in Lots P15, P16, P5, and P6 without a permit. Directed by Harut […]
The sense of community that flourished at the Armenian Studies Program’s well-attended events made the Fall 2018 semester exceptional. Between the ceremony for the opening of the William Saroyan House Museum, a jazz piano concert, a CineCulture movie, and a series of riveting lectures, Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program […]
By Annie Rubio Music is a universal language, with messages and emotions that can be understood regardless of one’s background. Modern artists are always seeking new ways to push the boundaries of their craft, to continuously innovate. Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan artfully melds modern and traditional sounds into his music and he also ties in […]
Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies Dr. Ümit Kurt will give his third public lecture on “The Curious Case of Ahmed Necmeddin Bey: A Look into the Sociopolitical Climate in Aintab on the Eve of 1915” at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6 in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus.
Armenian Studies Program Coordinator Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian announced that Dr. Ümit Kurt has been appointed as the 15th Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at Fresno State for the Fall 2018 semester. The Kazan Visiting Professorship was established through a generous endowment established by Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan.
The work of two artists combines with ArtHop in Downtown Fresno for a look at intersecting points of views on violence from past and present perspectives in the exhibition “The Business of Regret: Perspectives on War, Chaos and the Rejection of Violence exhibition.” A selection of artwork by Fresno’s Varaz Samuelian will be exhibited […]
The Armenian Studies Program will hold an international conference on “The Committee of Union and Progress: Founders, Ideology, and Structure” on Friday, October 12, and Saturday, October 13, 2018. The conference will be held in the University Business Center (5245 N. Backer Ave.), A. Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus. All sessions […]
~ This story was republished from The Collegian By Seth Casey Fresno State hosted guest speaker Dr. Clint Curle, senior advisor to the president at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, for the opening reception of the Genocides of the 20th Century exhibit on Sept. 6. Following a reception of appetizers, refreshments and conversation, the […]
The exhibition, sponsored by the Madden Library and the Armenian Studies Program,
will be free and open to the public during regular Library Hours from September 1, 2018
– October 31, 2018.
~ By Barlow Der Mugrdechian, reprinted from FresnoStateNews.com The Fresno house where famed writer William Saroyan spent the last two decades of his life will open as a museum on Aug. 31, the 110th anniversary of his birth, with a private reception. Beginning in September, the William Saroyan House-Museum will be open for tours by […]
Oud master Richard Hagopian will present a talk and performance on “Armenian Song Repertoire of the Middle East” at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 26, in the University Business Center, Room 191.
The Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of Fresno will hold a commemorative event on April 24, marking the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at the Armenian Genocide Monument at the Maple Mall (south of the Satellite Student Union).
The Press at California State University, Fresno, will celebrate several of its recently published authors at a reception from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 19, in the Smittcamp Alumni House. Featured authors and publications will include: Armen Bacon, author of “My Name is Armen (Volume II), Outside the Lines.” This book is a follow-up to Bacon’s […]
The Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professorship in Armenian Studies is an opportunity that happens only once each academic year, for a semester. This year the Armenian Studies Program hosts Dr. Yektan Türkyilmaz as the Kazan Visiting Professor during the spring semester. Türkyilmaz’ final lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, in the University Business Center in the Alice Peters Auditorium at Fresno State.
Dr. Ümit Kurt will give a presentation on “A Farewell to Arms: Broken Hopes and Total Departure from the Homeland, in The Heroic Battle of Aintab” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 6, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus. The presentation is part of the Spring […]
U.S. Fulbright Scholar Dr. Hayk Demoyan will give a lecture, “Multiple Identities and Memories of the Armenian World,” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 19, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus. The presentation is part of the Spring Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program and is funded through the Leon S. Peters Foundation.
The Armenian Studies Program of Fresno State will hold its 30th annual banquet on Sunday, March 18, at the Fort Washington Country Club in Fresno. This year’s banquet will feature Fresno State President Dr. Joseph I. Castro as one of the main speakers. Dr. Castro was appointed the eighth president of Fresno State in 2013.
Dr. Yektan Türkyılmaz, Kazan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies at Fresno State, will give a lecture, “Armenians on Records: Music Production from Homeland to Diasporas,” at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus.
The Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concert Series presents the Chilingirian-Bagratuni-Hakobyan Trio at 8 p.m. Friday, March 2, in the Concert Hall at Fresno State. This is the second of three special events this year, in conjunction with the International Chamber Music Series. This concert brings together three of today’s most prominent Armenian musicians Levon Chilingirian on […]
Ara Sarafian, director of the London-based Gomidas Institute, will present a lecture entitled “Van 1915: The Great Events of Vasbouragan” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191. The presentation is part of the Spring Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program.
The Fresno State Music Department will present the sixth annual Violin and Viola Festival, an intensive weekend of master classes and performances for violinists and violists with three or more years of experience. Dr. Limor Toren-Immerman is the music director for the festival.
Dr. Yektan Türkyılmaz will give a presentation on “Van Vaspurakan Armenians: From Renaissance to Resistance and Genocide” at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus. The presentation is part of the Spring Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program.
Dr. Sergio La Porta and Dr. Alison Vacca will present a lecture entitled “An Armenian Narrative on Early Islam: Ghevond’s History” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 26, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191. The presentation is the second in the Spring Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program. The Leon S. Peters Foundation is a co-sponsor of the event.
Here’s a look back at our Top 10 Arts and Humanities stories for all of 2017: No. 10: New Faces: Dr. Gina Sandí-Díaz, Theatre Arts No. 9: New Faces: Art and Design welcomes two new professors No. 8: Three from College of Arts and Humanities named 2017 Fulbright recipients No. 7: New Faces: Four new […]
Nika Babayan, will present a lecture entitled “Awards of Armenia and the Armenian Church” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 19 in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191. The free, public presentation is part of the Fall Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program.
As we approach the end of the semester, we look back at what has been another eventful month in the College of Arts and Humanities. Here are the top 5 stories from the month of November.
Adrienne Alexanian will discuss her father’s memoir, “Forced into Genocide: Memoirs of an Armenian Soldier in the Ottoman Empire,” in a lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus.
The Armenian Studies Program and Hamazkayin Taniel Varoujan Chapter of Fresno are co-sponsoring a special event — a concert by the National Chamber Choir of Armenia, under the direction of Robert Mlkeyan, featuring Robert Amirkhanian.
Dr. Boris Adjemian, director of the AGBU Nubar Library, will present a lecture entitled “The AGBU Nubar Library in Paris: Safeguarding Western Armenian Heritage through Documentation, Research, and Publication” and “The Armenians of Ethiopia” at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 9, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191. The presentation is part of the Fall Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program.