2001_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 2001

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Armenian Action
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December 2001
Vol. 23, No. 2 (76)
Year
Supplement to The Collegian
Society for Armenian Studies Holds Annual Meeting in San Francisco
Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Advisor
The Society for Armenian
Studies (SAS) held its annual membership meeting on Saturday, November 17, 2001, in conjunction
with the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) annual conference
held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in
San Francisco.
At the SAS meeting, election
results were announced for two positions on the Executive Council.
Elected were Christina Maranci, of
the University of Wisconsin and
Garabet Moumdjian of California
State University, Northridge.
They join President Barlow
Der Mugrdechian (CSU Fresno),
Treasurer Levon Chorbajian (University of Massachusetts), Secretary Houri Berberian (CSU Long
Beach), Richard Hovannisian
(UCLA), Robert Hewsen (CSU
Fresno), and ex-officio Dennis
Papazian (University of Michigan
at Dearborn).
Dickran Kouymjian, (CSU,
Fresno) and Peter Cowe (UCLA)
completed their term of three years
on the Executive Council.
- SAS members had an infor
mal dinner gathering with members of the Armenian Professional
Society (APS) of the Bay Area at a
local restaurant. The dinner offered
an opportunity for members to become familiar with the^ activities of
the two organizations. APS President Warren Donian and SAS President Barlow Der Mugrdechian organized the event.
On Saturday evening, SAS
members gathered for the annual
membership meeting, with reports
given on various aspects of the
Society's activities. Plans were
formulated for next year's meeting
which will be held in November in
Washington D.C.
During the MESA conference,
SAS members attended a variety of
panels and special sessions devoted
to different aspects of Middle East-
em studies.
This year, the Society for Armenian Studies sponsored two
scholarly panels as part ofthe conference.
The first panel, "Religious and
Political Issues Under the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and Its
Aftermath," was held Sunday, November 18 and was chaired by Robert Hewsen, Kazan Visiting Pro-
Left to Right: Dr. S. Peter Cowe, Dr. Rita Vorperian, and SAS
President Barlow Der Mugrdechian after a panel.
1700th Anniversary of Christianity
Marked with Lecture Series by Dr.
fessor of Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno.
Four papers were delivered: "The
Organization of the Armenian
Church in Cilician Armenia (1080-
1375)," by Robert Hewsen, "Relations Between the Papacy, the
Cilician State, and Greater Armenia in the First Half of the 14th
Century," by S. Peter Cowe
(UCLA), and "Cilicia After the
Kingdom: Population, Monasteries, etc. Under Mamluks, and
in Armenia
Robert Hewsen
Turcomans," by Thomas A. Sinclair
(University of Cyprus) (read by
Robert Hewsen). David Bundy
(Christian Theological Seminary),
who was to give a paper on "Cul
tures in Collision: The Synod of
Sis, 1243," was unable to attend.
A second panel, held on Monday, November 19, was "Constructions of the Feminine in Modem
Armenian Literature." The chair
for the panel was S. Peter Cowe.
Two papers were given, "Srpuhi
Dussap and the Construction ofthe
Modem Armenian Woman," by
Victoria Rowe (University of
Toronto) read by Peter Cowe) and
"Women's Issues in Modem Armenian Literature," by Rita
Vorperian (UCLA). David S.
Calonne (Wayne State University),
who was to give a paper on "Mythic
Time and the Feminine in
Varandyan' s 'The Well of Ararat',"
was unable to attend. Barlow Der
Mugrdechian of California State
University, Fresno, was the discussant for the panel. The topic of the
session provoked many interesting
questions from the audience.
Robert Torosian
Staff Writer
2001 marks the 1700th year
anniversary of the proclamation of
Christianity as the State Religion
of Armenia and the Fresno State
Armenian Studies Program is doing everything it can to help educate students about this important
event.
The ASP organized a three-
part lecture series this Fall, "The
Conversion of Armenia to Christianity," to be given by Dr. Robert
H. Hewsen, Henry S. Khanzadian
Kazan Visiting Professor for the
Armenian Studies Program. Dr.
Hewsen received his Ph.D. from
Georgetown University and has
spent the last 33 years teaching
both Byzantine and Russian history at Rowan University of New
Jersey.
On October 4th, Dr. Hewsen
Left to Right: Michael Kazarian, Dr. Robert Hewsen, Kristy
Melikian, and Kevin Kandarian after the lecture.
gave the first lecture of the series,
"Armenia on the Eve of the Conversion," to Fresno State students,
faculty, and community members.
Dr. Hewsen started off his lecture
by not talking just about the conversion of Armenians to Christian
ity, but he took a step further back
and began by discussing the origins of the Armenian people. He
talked about the geography of Armenia, the people, the culture and
the political system that existed
See Hewsen, Page 6
See SAS, Page 4
Reading by Novelist Marcom
Christopher Tozlian
Staff Writer
Three years after beginning
what eventually would take countless hours of hard work, Michel inc
Aharonian Marcom is finished. In
1997, Marcom began writing her
debut novel, Three Apples Fell
FromHeaven, which shecompleted
just last year. But don't let the title
fool you... this is not just another
book written by an Armenian on
Armenian folklore, as the title might
suggest. No, this is a masterpiece
of historical fiction based on the
Armenian genocide. The reason
for its tide, Marcom explained during her lecture, co-sponsored by
me Armenian Students Organization and Armenian Studies Program, is that there are many myths
surrounding the genocide, and the
Turkish government still considers
it to be simple Armenian myth, as
they continue to deny what the rest
ofthe world realizes to be the first
genocide of the twentieth century.
It is for this reason that the book is
so titled, Three Apples Fell From
Heaven, so that this piece of historical fiction may combat the
"myth" of the Armenian genocide.
This work, which has received
Micheline Aharonian Marcom
rave reviews by various scholars
and literary critics, was introduced
to the students of CSU Fresno and
the people of the Fresno community on Tuesday, November 27th,
as Marcom gave a reading from her
work, which was followed by a
"question and answer" session. As
Marcom read excerpts from her
book those in the auditorium listened, and reminisced ofthe stories
told to them by their parents and
grandparents who endured the
genocide. So powerful was her
choice of words and so clear was
her message that some in the auditorium were moved to tears, while
the rest of us simply sat in silence
on the edge of our seats. Marcom's
powerful work, Three Apples Fell
See Marcom, Page 3
Pilgrimage to Armenia,
Page 4
Cochrane Fellows,
Page 5
Gladzor Gospels,
Page 7
Hye Talk,
Page 8