Dr. Bournoutian End Semester With Fond Memories of Students
Hagop Ohanessian
Former Hye Sharzhoom editor Mark Malkasian (left) with Dr. George Bournoutian
Photo: Barlow Dur Mugrdechian
May 2009 • Vol. 30, No. 4 (106)
Dr. George Bournoutian, Professor of History at Iona College in New York, was appointed as the seventh Henry Khanzadian Kazan Visiting
Professor of Armenian Studies for the Spring 2009 semester. This semester he taught a three unit course on the Armenian Diaspora and
Genocide, Monday evenings from 6:00-8:50 PM. The course focused primarily on the Diaspora, that began with the fall of the Arshakuni Kingdom,
the first partition of Armenia in the fourth century, and continued through the political upheavals of the twentieth century, and
up to the present day.
When asked about his class and students at Fresno State, Dr. Bournoutian stated, “I would rate my students
as very good.” He was impressed with how well his students did on their midterm, “Several students in particular received an A on
the midterm.” Dr. Bournoutian believes in research and seminars for students, over memorization.
Each student in the class chose a topic on the
Diaspora or the Genocide and wrote a research paper. Some of the topics chosen
by students
included writing about the Armenian communities of Russia, France,
Greece, Poland, Hungary, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Argentina,
the United
States, and many more. Other students focused on the Armenian Genocide, the
first Genocide of the twentieth century.
The most
memorable moments for Dr. Bournoutian were
his three public lectures where he talked about three important Armenian
Diasporan communities.
All three presentations were fascinating, in particular
the one on Southeast Asia where he showed
photos of the different Armenian churches.
When Dr. Bournoutian was asked about what he felt was
different about teaching in Fresno
from other places he answered by stating, “The
Armenian Center, the director,
and the staff of the university was extremely friendly.” This is interesting
because Fresno State is
one of only a few other
programs that has a strong Armenian Studies undergraduate program. Dr.
Bournoutian enjoyed his stay in Fresno
and
in particular he loved the fruits and the trees blooming all over the
Valley. When asked if he would return to Fresno
to teach another
course his answer was a definite yes.
On behalf of the students taking his
class at Fresno State, we thank Dr. Bournoutian for all
of
his hard work and dedication.
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