1992_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 1992

              The Newspaper of the California State University, Fresno
Armenian Studenrs Organization & Armenian Studies Program
Fresno, CA 93740
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Fresno, CA.
December 1992
Vol. 14, No. 2 (42)
Supplement to the Daily Collegian
Kouymjian lecture discusses Armenian social
change and survival during the time of Columbus
By Barlow DerMugrdechian
Advisor and
Armen Aghishian
Staff Writer
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, Haig
and Isabel Berberian Professor of
Armenian Studies at CSU Fresno,
discussed the oppression and unstable political environment that
Armenia experienced during the
time of Columbus and throughout
history, as part of the Columbus
Quincentanary lecture series. His
lecture, titled," Armeniain the Age
of Columbus" was presented
Thursday evening, December 3,
1992 and was sponsored in cooperation with die Departments of
Geography and History, and the
School of Social Sciences.
The lecture also acted as the
Annual Lecture of the Berberian
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian speaks on "Armenia in the Age of Coumbus."
Endowed Chair given by the chair
holder.
Kouymjian's main thesis centered on the momentous social
change which took place in Armenian society in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. Kouymjian
began by stating that "Armenia in
the Age of Columbus is full of
paradoxes...The period was one of
great distress but also of continuance. The radical transformation
of Armenian society from a medieval to a modern one resulted."
Kouymjian characterized Columbus as a "shadowy man with
origins which are not clear." He
said that some historians said he
was Armenian, some Italian, and
yet others claimed he was Jewish.
"All of us, young and old, have at
least thought of the
recent 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of
America."
Kouymjian also one of great distress but also
said that Colum- ^it-jL-«M4 n
bus- life spanned of continuance.
two centuries, the !
15th and 16th (1451-1506) and
simultaneously, during this "offshoot of European colonialism,"
there was a radical transformation
of Armenian society beginning
when the last Armenian kingdom
of Cilicia under King Levon, was
seized by the Mamelukes in 1375.
For Armenians the Age of Columbus was the middle of the Ar
menian dark ages. As a nation it
struggled to survive. The period is
either ignored in standard histories
or relegated to a page or two. Armenians lived in quite a depressed
state. There
was widespread suffering   including star-
vat i o n ,
heavy taxation, and de-
     portation.
"Life was difficult for Armenians during the Age of Columbus," emphasized Kouymjian. "Armenians endured foreign conquests
during these centuries but ultimately survived."
The depredations of the rival Aq
Koyunlu and Kara Koyunlu tribes
See COLUMBUS, page 8
"Armenia in the Age
of Columbus is full of
paradoxes...The period was
ASP Annual Fund the most
successful of all time at CSUF
By Barlow DerMugrdechian
Advisor
Last July, die Armenian Studies Program joined a small group of
academic departments at California State University, Fresno which
conduct an annual support program. Such an effort, part of the Academic
Annual Funds, is usually conducted to benefit a school. "We felt there
was an identifiable constituency that would be interested in and able to
support the program," said Richard K. Francois, Director of University
Development, in explaining the strategic decision. "And the Advisory
Board for the Kalfayan Center for Armenian Studies was willing to back
the effort—another important factor."
The results were gratifying-more than 170 gifts were received
totalling S22J42 and some requests to foundations are still being
discussed. The results made the Armenian Studies Academic Annual
See ANNUAL FUND, page 8
Cramer gives first-hand account of Karabakh
Fresno (California) Bee reporter John D. Cramer recently
spent one month on a free-lance reporting trip in Nagorno-Karabagh,
talking to soldiers and civilians on both sides of the front This is the
first installment of his stories,
A general assignment reporter for the Bee since 1991, Cramer
perviously worked for the Los Angeles Times and the Savannah
(Georgia) News-Press.
The morning was clear and
bright as the trucks moved out of
the valley and into the dusty
foothills in theeast Beyond were
mountains, snowy and shining
in the sun. The convoy was
loaded with relief supplies-flour,
medicine, gasoHne,cement-from
Yerevan, Armenia; It wasbound
for Stepanakert, the capital of
die republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The convoy rumbled through the
Armenia countryside. Villagers sat
in the shade of trees along the road.
They watched silendy and held up
their fists, palms forward, as the
trucks passed. The drivers did the
same;
"It means fight for Karabakh,
unite Karabakh and Armenia" a
driver said, holding up his fist.
"God willing, we will do it."
Barefoot children laughed
and chased die long line of trucks
vanishing in the dust and diesel
fumes. The road was steep,
switch-backing up, and the
trucks went slowly through the
brown rocky hills and then green
sloping fields of wildflowers and
finally the snowy peaks.
"We want no more fighting
with Azerbaijan, but they do not
give up so easily," said a soldier.
His face was blank, his eyes
hard and dull, his hands holding
See KARABAKH, page 2