The Armenian Studies Program web page is sponsored by a grant from
The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable
Foundation, Fresno.
The
Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) held an international conference, “Armenian
Studies at a Threshold,” marking the 35th anniversary
of the organization, at
the
The
Society of Armenian Studies is composed of scholars
and students (and some
non-scholarly supporters of Armenian Studies). Its membership is international,
although the overwhelming majority
of members are based in the
The
aims
of the Society for Armenian Studies are to promote the study of Armenian
culture and society, including history, language, literature,
and social,
political, and economic questions; to facilitate the exchange of scholarly
information pertaining to Armenian studies around
the world; and to sponsor
panels and conferences on Armenian studies at national conventions of
organizations such as the Middle East
Studies Association, the American
Historical Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of
Slavic Studies.
Fresno
State
Armenian Studies Program Director Barlow Der Mugrdechian participated in
a panel on “The State of Armenian Studies Chairs and Programs
in the
Dr.
Richard Hovannisian, AEF Professor of Modern Armenian History and President of
the Society for Armenian Studies opened the conference
with his welcoming
remarks on Thursday, March 26. Hundreds of students and community members
attended the various sessions during the
three day conference.
More
than sixty scholars were invited to participate in the conference, presenting
papers in a wide variety of
disciplines. One panel on “New Perspectives on the
Armenian Genocide,” brought together scholars who presented their findings
based
on new research. Taner Akçam of Clark University gave a paper on “Ottoman
Documents and Genocidal Intent of the Union and Progress
Party,” while Vahram
Shemmassian of
Other
panels
included “Medieval Literature and the Arts,” Medieval History and
Culture,” “Researching the Contemporary Armenian Diaspora: Consolidating
the
Past, Situating the Future,” “ Armenian History as Connected History,”
“Economy, Society, and Culture of Early Modern East Central
Europe (14th-19th
centuries),” “Between Perversion and Representation: Sexual Allegories in
Armenian Literature,” “Contemporary Armenia,”
“Discourse and Violence:
Revisiting the Adana Massacres of 1909,” “Church Politics and Identity,” and
“Armenians, World War II, and
Repatriation.” A full listing of conference
participants and individual papers can be found on the SAS website at
http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/sas/SAS/35th
Anniversary Program.htm
A
gala banquet held at the
Congratulatory
letters to the
SAS were received from Dr. Radik Martirosyan, President of the
Armenian Academy of Sciences; Academician Dr. Vladimir Barkhudaryan;
Davit
Sargsyan, Director of the National Library of Armenia; Dr. Virgina Aksan,
President of the Middle East Studies Association; Hrachia
Tamrazyan, Director
of the Matenadaran; William Taubman, President of the American Association for
the Advancement of Slavic Studies;
and Dr. Valentina Calzolari, President of
the International Association of Armenian Studies.
The
Society for Armenian Studies was founded
in 1974 in Boston by five scholars:
Richard Hovannisian (UCLA), Avedis Sanjian (UCLA), Nina Garsoian (Columbia
University), Robert Thomson
(Harvard, then Oxford), and Dickran Kouymjian (AUB,
then Fresno State). Since its inception, the Society has grown to over 250
members,
with scholars in all the major countries of the world represented.
Fresno
State Professor Dickran Kouymjian (Berberian Chair of Armenian
Studies,
Emeritus) was President of SAS in 1985-1986 and 1993-1994, while Professor
Barlow Der Mugrdechian was President (2001-2004).
The
Armenian
Studies Program at
Those
interested in learning more about the Society or in applying for membership may
go
to the web page for the Society for Armenian Studies at
http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/sas/index.htm.