Back
to Page 2
In response to the tremendous interest and excitement generated by Hilmar
Kaiser?s spring 1999 lecture on ?The Adana Massacres of 1909,? the Armenian
Studies Program has decided to organize an entire conference on the subject.
On Saturday, October
9, 1999, the California State University, Fresno Armenian Studies Program,
in conjunction with the Armenian National Committee of Central California
and the C.S.U.F. Armenian Students Organization, will host a conference
from 9:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. titled, ?The Armenian Massacres of Adana (1909-1999).?
A rare photographic exhibition featuring never before seen archival scenes
from Adana will be held in conjunction with the Conference. The photo exhibit
is part of the Gomidas Institute Outreach Program and the photographs are
reproduced with permission from the Ernst Jackh Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript
Library, Columbia University.
SUMMARY: The 1909 Cilician Massacres:
An Overview
The period of Young
Turk rule from 1908 until the onset of World War I was full of contradictory
elements for the Ottoman Armenians. It began with great enthusiasm
and hope that the old restrictions and persecutions of Ottoman Armenians
would be eliminated. Massacres in April and May of 1909 in Cilicia,
and their aftermath, coinciding with a coup attempt in Constantinople,
soured this enthusiasm. Some twenty thousand Armenians were killed,
and many more made homeless. The vacillating attitude of the Ottoman
government after the massacres, and failed attempts to bring the perpetrators
of crimes to justice served to weaken Armenian confidence in the Young
Turks and the Ottoman constitution. The developments leading up to
the massacres, during the so-called ?honeymoon period? of Ottoman-Armenian
relations, will be presented in this talk. The extent of the massacres
and their causes will be discussed, as well as the attempts to cast blame
on the Armenian victims after the event.
Professor Dickran
Kouymjian, Chair of the Conference, will introduce the four speakers at
9:45 a.m. The Conference has been organized by Professor Kouymjian
and Hilmar Kaiser.
The speakers and their respective topics are as follows:
Aram Arkun (New York),
?The 1909 Cilician
Massacres: An Overview.?
Aram Arkun is a specialist in modern Armenian history who serves as the
Assistant Director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center.
He has published articles and annotated translations on Ottoman and Iranian
Armenian topics, as well as contemporary Armenian events, in scholarly
journals, encyclopedias, and books. He is the chairman of the editorial
board of the periodical Ararat, chairman of the Armenian Student Association
Arthur H. Dadian Armenian Heritage Award committee, and member of the board
of directors of the Armenian Center at Columbia University. Mr. Arkun
is a Princeton University graduate (B.A.), with a master?s degree in international
relations (University of Pennsylvania), and a doctoral candidate in Armenian
history (C.Phil.) at UCLA, for which he is completing his dissertation
on the Armenians of northern Cilicia after World War I. He
has taught at UCLA and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and lectured
in various parts of the U.S. and Europe.
Vahram Shemmassian (Los Angeles), ?The 1909 Armenian Massacres in Northwest
Syria.?
Dr. Shemmassian received
his Ph.D. in History from UCLA. He has taught Armenian and Middle
Eastern History, as well as Western Civilization at the Pasadena City College,
UCLA, and National University (Fresno). He has also served as Chairman
of the Armenian Studies Department at the American Armenian International
College in La Verne, CA. He is currently the principal of the C. &
E. Merdinian Armenian Evangelical School in Sherman Oaks, CA.
Hilmar Kaiser (Florence), ?The Politics of Relief in Adana and Cilicia.?
Hilmar Kaiser studied
history with special reference to the Ottoman Empire at the Ruhr-University
Bochum, in Germany, where he received his M.A. in 1992. The same year he
received the university award for extraordinary academic achievements.
Since 1991 he has conducted research in more than 40 archives in the Middle
East (Turkey, Israel), Europe (Germany, Italy, France, Britain, Austria,
Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland), and the U.S. In 1996 he was banned
from the Turkish archives for his work on the Armenian Genocide. After
having lived in Turkey from 1991 to 1992, he joined the European University
Institute, in Florence, Italy, in 1993; there he will defend his dissertation
on the ?Socio-economic Transformation of the Cukurova, 1890-1915? next
year. His publications include Imperialism, Racism, and Development Theories:
The Construction of a Dominant Paradigm on Ottoman Armenians (1997) and
most recently Marsovan, 1915: The Diary of Bertha B. Morley (1999).
Gregory Goekjian from Portland, Oregon, ?Adana 1909: The Turkish Argument
and Genocidal Denial.?
Dr. Goekjian is a
professor of English at Portland State University. He has been a
visiting professor at Yerevan State University and the West Sussex Institute
of Higher Education in England. He has written articles on Milton,
Derrida, and genocide.
The conference will
be held in the Alice Peters Auditorium, located in the University Business
Center, on the Fresno State campus. Admission is free. For further details
contact the Armenian Studies Program office at (559) 278-2669.
Education Abroad Program in Armenia
The University of California
Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) and the American University of Armenia
is jointly sponsoring a new study abroad program in Armenia for Summer
2000. It is a six-week program based in Yerevan to study general
history and current issues of the Transcaucasus region.
Applicants must have
a junior standing by the time of departure, and both US and non-UC students
may apply. The program also requires a relevant background in the
social sciences or the humanities and a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
Flyers for the program
should be available at the Education Abroad Program offices at each UC
campus. Details on the program may also be found on the EAP Web site
at www.uoeap.ucsb.edu. Applications must be postmarked by March 31,
2000.
Membership in AIEA
The General Conference
of AIEA in Vienna rapidly approaches. Over 40 lecturers have been scheduled
to talk on a wider range of topics in Armenian Studies, from ancient times
down to the 20th century. This makes it one of the largest Armenian Studies
gatherings held outside the Republic of Armenia.
If you wish to have
details about the Program and activities, please write to the Conference
Organizer, Dr. Jasmine Dum-Tragut, dum-tragut@salzburg.co.at
The process of admission
to membership of AIEA is complex and, under normal conditions, takes a
year. A candidate must apply to the Secretary (Dr. Valentina Calzolari
[valentina.calzolari@lettres.unige.ch, valentina.calzolari@bluewin.ch];
the candidacy must then be approved by the Committee of AIEA and voted
upon by the Full Members.
At Vienna there will
be a committee meeting and a General Meeting of the membership, so it will
be possible to processes admission of members rapidly. Persons who wish
to become members are encouraged to contact the Secretary as soon as possible.
There is a special
category of Student Members (with a reduced membership fee) and all students
of Armenian Studies are most warmly invited to join. The number of student
members has doubled in the last two years.
Michael E. Stone
President, AIEA
