Armenian studies reaches out to the community

Published: Friday February 27, 2009

In the course of covering news from our communities, we see dozens of organizations and hundreds of people working hard to make a difference. We may sometimes smile at the hyperbole: is every event as "extremely successful" and every award and venue as "prestigious" as promoters would have readers believe? Perhaps not, but when we think of the work - almost always volunteer hours - and generosity that goes into these events, we purse our lips and say, "Thank you."

Stepping back from particular initiatives, we can sometimes observe larger trends. Today we'd like to remark on one positive phenomenon: the vigorous community outreach of Armenian studies programs.

The Armenian Studies Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, now under the direction of Gerard Libaridian, has been particularly active. In January, the prominent French-Armenian author Gérard Chaliand delivered the Berj Haidostian Lecture, "U.S. Policy at the Periphery of Russia: The Geopolitics of the World Today." We did not have to travel to Ann Arbor to hear what he had to say; the lecture was webcast live.

From March 18 to 21, the program will host a major conference on "Armenia and Armenians in International Treaties." Again, anyone can watch the conference through the World Wide Web, and even ask questions by email.

The program only recently hosted a lecture by Professor Seta B. Dadoyan, "Islam and Armenians." This lecture was not a recap of what we may have already known; rather, it argued for a new way of looking at relations between Armenians and Muslims. Likewise, a lecture on February 10 by Jasmine Dum-Tragut, a Manoogian Simone Foundation Visiting Scholar, offered a fresh perspective on the role of the church in Armenian identity today. Manoogian Simone Foundation post-doctoral fellows Sebouh Aslanian and Fuat Dundar have also given public lectures, enhancing the community-outreach aspect of the program. Indeed, another talk by Mr. Aslanian is scheduled for March 3 - with the intriguing title, "Trust in Gossip but Bastinado when Needed."

In the Greater Boston area, the Armenian Library and Museum of America has been active in educating the public in a participatory way, with dance workshops, a lace workshop, and concert series in addition to its exhibits. The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research is reaching out with a March 5 talk by Prof. John Greppin on Urartian influence on Armenia, and a March 22 showing of J. Michael Hagopian's The River Ran Red.

The Zoryan Institute is sponsoring a March 13 symposium in Washington to assess the official report of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. It is also collecting artwork for an exhibit on genocide, and sponsoring, for the 8th year, a human rights and genocide course; the course will be held this summer at the University of Toronto.

These are but a few of the signs of lively community outreach by Armenian studies institutions. Join us in thanking the administrators and sponsors as well as the scholars who are engaging in the outreach. And we urge you not to miss out on the learning opportunities they are offering.