PRESS RELEASE
MASHDOTS COLLEGE
411 E. Acacia Avenue
Glendale, CA 91205
Tel. (818) 548-9345
Fax: (818) 548-9342
E-mail: mashdots@aol.com
Website: mashdotscollege.org
Contact person: Sofi Boyle-Kambourian

DR. DER-YEGHIAYAN’S RECENTLY-PUBLISHED BOOK ON HISTORIC ARMENIA WILL
BE PRESENTED BY PROF. DEKMEJIAN ON APRIL 6TH

Dr. Garbis Der-Yeghiayan’s recently-published book (Eastgate Institute
Press, 2008) "The Presence of the Past – Embracing the Land of our
Ancestors" will be presented by Dr. R. Hrair Dekmejian, distinguished
Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institue of
Armenian Studies at the University of Southern California, on Sunday,
April 6, 2008 at 6:00 P.M. at the Glendale Armenian Church of the
Nazarene, 411 E. Acacia Avenue, Glendale, California.The event will be
emceed by Mr. Vatche Mankerian, Project Manager at the USC Institute
of Armenian Studies, and an internationally-renowned pianist andauthor
of several textbooks on Armenian culture.

Logistically, the book is a synopsis of diaries written by the author
as heventures through several cities in Cilicia, Cappadocia and
Western Armenia.Although the book gives practical instruction and
interesting descriptions of the cities for someone planning to visit
them, this fascinating publication is not a mere touristic guide. It
is rather a chronicle of recent pilgrimages of an Armenian scholar
from the Diaspora (California to be exact); visiting the ancestral
lands of his forefathers – remnants miraculously surviving the
Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Turks.

Roxanne Makasdjian, a well-known community activist in California and
a member of the 2006 pilgrimage organized by Mashdots College, wrote
the book’s introduction.

The event is open to the public. For further information, please
contact Mashdots College at (818) 548-9345.