February 18, 2015
USC INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN STUDIES
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
Contact: Salpi Ghazarian, Director
[email protected]
213.821.3943
USC’S YEAR100.ORG DOCUMENTS HOW THE WORLD COMMEMORATES THE GENOCIDE
The University of Southern California Institute of Armenian Studies
has launched a global directory of events — Year100.org — to boost
awareness of the variety of publications, conferences and other events
and activities, marking the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, and
thus augment their impact.
“Year100.org does more that just shed light on the past and its place
in memory and scholarship today; it is, in its broadest sense, a
centralized indicator of directions that scholarship and community can
take,” said Salpi Ghazarian, Director of the Institute of Armenian
Studies.
“It is heartening to see how scholars, artists, writers, activists
throughout the world are commemorating the centenary of the Armenian
Genocide in myriad new and significant ways. The directory includes
not just the work of Armenians, or scholars, but of people of
conscience everywhere. We believe it is our responsibility to share
information about events, activities, books and websites, in order to
maximize the flow of information and the conversation around the
content,” said Ghazarian.
The site is in three languages: English, Armenian and Turkish. The
purpose is to reach a broad range of scholars, students and anyone
wanting more information about the Genocide itself, or trying still to
understand its causes and consequences, and the ways in which it is
remembered, studied and discussed. This is a work-in-progress and will
continue to grow as new events are added.
The content on Year100.org is significantly enhanced by the
presentation of evocative images by photographers Hrair Hawk
Khatcherian (Canada), Stepan Norair Chahinian (Brazil) and Matthew
Karanian (US). New publications and exhibitions by each of these
photographers constitute a part of Year100 activities. In addition,
these pictures are the most direct representation of the loss of land
and way of life that are being memorialized through the events listed
on the site, as well as survival and revival.
“It’s the 100th year after the genocidal events of 1915. And this
directory demonstrates that this nation and people have moved past
survival to revival and growth and creation,” concluded Ghazarian.
Year100.org intends to be comprehensive, not selective. The
availability of information and its accuracy depends on organizers
from around the world ready to share their programs and
plans. Submissions are encouraged and welcomed at
“One of the positive outcomes of this commemorative year is the
readiness of many in the international scholarly and artistic
community to share in the memorializing. The variety of types of
events – readings, concerts, books, conferences, exhibitions, lectures
– and the variety of locations from South America to Southeast Asia —
will also spur further sharing by communities, institutions,
organizations thus broadening the reach and impact of each activity,
and supporting deeper inquiry into the subject,” concluded Ghazarian.
Year 100.org is a project of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies
which supports multidisciplinary scholarship to re-define, explore and
study the complex issues that make up the contemporary Armenian
experience — from post-Genocide to the developing Republic of Armenia
to the evolving Diaspora. The Institute encourages research,
publications and public service, and benefits from communication
technologies to link together the global academic and Armenian
communities.
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