PRESS RELEASE, May 12, 2010
Center for European and Eurasian Studies (CEES)
Contact: Jim Robbins
Email: jrobbins@international.ucla.edu
Tel: 310-825-4060 310-825-4061
Professor Richard Hovannisian in Many Forums
UCLA-After a half century affiliated with the University of California,
Professor Richard G. Hovannisian, AEF Chair in Modern Armenian History at
UCLA, continues with numerous professional and outreach activities while
still teaching a full complement of courses.
From BU, Georgetown, MIT to Asia Minor
Hovannisian began the year in January by representing the Society for
Armenian Studies at the annual meeting of the American Historical
Association in San Diego. Hovannisian began the year in January by
representing the Society for Armenian Studies at the annual meeting of the
American Historical Association in San Diego. At Boston University, February
12-14, he chaired two panels in a major international conference on the
Armenian Diaspora. The conference, which included a workshop of graduate
student papers, was organized by Charles and Elizabeth Kinosian Chair Holder
Dr. Simon Payaslian. From February 28 to March 2, Richard Hovannisian
participated in and chaired a panel of the Second Annual Policy Forum
Armenia (PFA) at Georgetown University, organized by a committee headed by
Dr. David Grigorian. Member of the Armenian Parliament Raffi K. Hovannisian
delivered the keynote address, "Armenia-Diaspora Relations: Twenty Years
since Independence."
On March 7, Professor Hovannisian was in New York City to speak in a
panel titled "Armeno-Turkish Relations: Pitfalls and Possibilities."
Organized by the ARF, the panel also included Ambassador John Evans, Mr. Ken
Hachikian, and Dr. Dennis Papazian. A week later on March 13, Hovannisian
gave the keynote address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
in a conference on "America’s Response to the Armenian Genocide: From
Woodrow Wilson to Barack Obama." The conference, organized by Professors
Bedross Der Matossian and Christopher Capozzola, was sponsored by the
Faculty of History, the Center for International Studies, the Office of
Religious Affairs, and the Program on Human Rights and Justice. During the
same conference, Hovannisian also gave a paper titled "From Turkey to the
Soviet Union and Back" in the session dealing with the Cold War period.
On the weekend of March 19-20, Hovannisian organized the 18th UCLA
conference in the well-attended series on Historic Armenian Cities and
Provinces. This conference focused on the smaller communities of Asia Minor
such as Adabazar, Armash, Bardizag, Bolu, Kutahia, and Konia. He then
traveled to Armenia where he consulted on the on-going transcriptions of the
UCLA Armenian Oral History collection of genocide survivors and was invited
to discuss his academic and professional work on Armenian television.
From Clark to Poland-Ukraine
On the occasion of the 95 th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,
Professor Hovannisian participated in a number of programs. On April 7-8, he
was at Clark University in Worchester, Massachusetts, for an international
genocide conference organized by Dr. Taner Akcam, Kaloosdian-Mugar Chair in
Armenian History and Genocide Studies, and the Strassler Center for
Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair of
the University of Minnesota, and NAASR. Hovannisian gave the opening talk,
"So, Where Do We Go from Here," and was one of four panelists in an evening
public session on "The Armenian Genocide: 95 Years Later-Academic and
Personal Reflections."
During the following week, Dr. Hovannisian organized lectures at UCLA
by Mr. Matthias Bjornlund of Copenhagen, speaking on Smyrna as a "special
case" during the Armenian Genocide, and Dr. Ugur Ungor of Amsterdam and
Dublin, discussing on the Young Turk seizure of Armenian property. He then
joined these two young scholars, along with Dr. Wolf Gruner of the
University of Southern California, on April 18 for a Sunday afternoon
symposium on the 95th anniversary, held in cooperation with Glendale Public
Library Armenian Outreach Director Ms. Elizabeth Grigorian. The event, which
was supported by UCLA’s European-East European and Near Eastern centers and
the Organization of Istanbul Armenians, was given extensive coverage on
Armenian state television. On April 20, Hovannisian appeared before the
World Affairs Council of Orange County in a panel relating to the causes and
effects of genocide, and on April 24, he was a featured author at the Abril
Bookstore’s Armenian Booth at the UCLA annual Book Fair.
From April 26 to 30, Drs. Richard and Vartiter Hovannisian were in
Poland for a conference on art of the Armenian Diaspora, held in the
historic town of Zamosc, where an Armenian mercantile community flourished
from the sixteenth to eighteenth century. The participants also visited
nearby Lvov, now in Ukraine, and the historic Armenian sites there,
including the Armenian cathedral which in recent years has been restored to
the jurisdiction of the Armenian Apostolic Church. While in Warsaw, the
Hovannisians met long-long acquaintances Ambassador and Mrs. Ashot Galoyan,
who had spent several years at UCLA, where Dr. Galoyan was an exchange
scholar and taught as a visiting lecturer at Hovannisian’s invitation.
From Chicago and Madrid to Arshile Gorky
Hovannisian will be in Chicago on May 15 at the invitation of the
Pontic Greek Society for a commemorative lecture, "Genocide and Ethnic
Cleansing: the Fate of the Christian Populations of the Ottoman Empire and
the Republic of Turkey. The large audience, made up largely of Greeks,
Assyrians, and Armenians, engaged in a brisk discussion period. While in
Chicago, Hovannisian will also attend an opening reception and panel of the
Armenian Bar Association during its midyear meeting.
The UCLA professor will be in Madrid, Spain, on May 21-22, for a
conference on Recognition of the Armenian Genocide, sponsored by the
European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy. His topic is "U.S.
Recognition of the Armenian Genocide: From Condemnation to Amnesia to Medz
Eghern." Richard Hovannisian rounds out the academic year on June 20 with a
lecture at the Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art on the Armenian national
trauma during the formative years of Arshile Gorky in conjunction with a
major exhibition of the artist’s works at the museum.
END