2003_10 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper October 2003

              October 2003
Hye Sharzhoom
5
Documentaries Provide Interesting Insight Into Armenian Culture
Mitchell Feuu
Staff WfctrzK
the
1   	
After watching frtages q}
Armers&i }ffiit9wo words c
to mild: inspring and educational
Not only did the
f Btnrefreshandr e -
inf orce myloiowl-
edge of Armenian
culture and history,but t also re-
mindedme ofthe
beauty and unbreakable spirit of
tiie     Armen ian
people.
Ttetellingone-
hour documentary, which aired
nationwide on
PBS, was written,
directed and produced by Muffie
Dunnand Andr ew
Goldberg,both of
Two Cats Inductions, based in
Hew Ycak City.
When the film
aired August 10 in Resno ,mem
bers ofthe Armenian Students Or-
ganization volunteered locally for
aple dge - dr &e f orpublic television
Nation KVPT.
The documentary sets out on a
H"
jspiRit
journey to e:<plore and celebrate
over 3 p00 years of Armenian his-
tcay, cubrre, and survival Wih
be autful visuals and a subtle undertone of traditional Armenian
musr ,the film gives an overview
of Armenian
history > rang-
ingfrom tradition and belief
to the present
state of the
country*
'for Armenians it's a
chance to see
feir Aory acknowledge don
naionalte te vi-
sicai," said Executive Producer Andrew
Goldberg*
"Too often Armenian histoiy
is notcovered
infe U.S.media because
there are not
enough large
audiencesto getfe media to pay
attention* For non-Armenians, a
filmlike this c an teach them a litle
bit about who Armenians are and
anpoitasa*V> teach fern fe true
story ofthe Genocide*"
As a fourth-generaion Armenian, I found this film to be an
e v& e llent introduc tionto the Arme -
nian culture and its people. It
touches on all of fe issues that are
most important to the Armenian
people including: the
beginningof
the counOy
and people
dating bade
to Mount
Ararat and
Noah's Ark,
t h e
c ountry 's
mo&famois
heroes, the
Armenian
Diaspora
thatbeganii
the litheen-
tmyandcon-
t in u e d
through the
20th, tiie
Christianre-
ligion and
unique architecture ofthechurch,aswellas
the Genocide and current situation
of Armenia*
The documentary also included
rarely ***** photographs of the
Ren*: tires c ue of fe Armenian re i i*
dents of Musa Dagh during the
Genocide, as we 11 as footage shot
undercover in Eastern Turkey
showing the devastated areas that
were once historic Aimenn*
Alongwilhthese inagesthefiin
afe o displ^s vide o >
fiin,and still photos that reveal the
true beauty and
soul that exists in
file current independent Armenian
Republic* I found
that some of tiie
mostamaringfoot-
agewahxnfefiln
was that of Ivbura
Ararat, Armenia's
symbol and the
many other reminders of
Aimenia's ancient
heritage. Thefiin
displays    many
monasterie s,
churches ^nemori-
als, forests, hkes
andmountains that
foimpartof fe elegant beauty of Aimenia's countryside.
Fr ide ,ange r )>t auly,sadness and
hope—tinis documentary encompassed aall It tells the story of a
courdryandpe ople fiiatnever gave
up hope, and overcame the impossible* I believe it is a must see for
wf Armenian or non-Aimenian
who is interestedii Earningabout
fine story of abeautiful,eternal nation whose <piri e everlasting.
Mages {$th£Armer£<m%piriti$
fe thirdPBS special on Aimenia
jrodo; edby Two Cats Productions,
wvizsxx She Armersan-Americans,
arid The Arm ersans :A Story <$&&*
vivat continues to celebrate fe
culture's spirit and legacy* Two
Cats is trying very hard to produce
a filtnon the Armenian Genocide
itself, but is having enormous
trouble findiig financial donors
whowfll contribute to tmke itpos-
sable.
* We know that iithe U*S */iin,
television and other media is tiie
way to inf hence public opinion
andawareness* Indeed^&>a2£er'j
&? made the Holocausta household natne "said GoUberg*
Two Cats is currently woiking
on a major documentary titled,
frond to Serve, The &$en c&zd
Women tgthe USJmy, Iwillbe
hosted and narrated by Walter
Cfronkie, and feature interviews
with Bob Dole, Shaquille O'Neal,
and Jessica Lynch along with over
twenty soldiers. JL is scheduled to
air on public television in M*rch
2004.
New Foundation to Support Ag
Education Projects in Armenia
StattRtpout
The Armenian Agribusiness
Education FVmd (A AEF), a non-
prof i,iidependent ,50 l(c y&Sow.-
dation,was established in January
dtinisyearto serve asanewmecha-
nismfor developing long-termfi
nanchl support for agribusiness
education iniiatives in Armenia.
Housed onthe carapus of Cal*
fomia State Uhi-
versity, FYesno,
file AAEFis en-
dorsedbyfe Armenian Studies
frogram at CSU
Resno, tiie US
Department of
Agriculture 's
Marketing Assistance Project x\
Aimenia andthe
AgriculturalEio-
nomics Department at Teras
A#MUniversiy*
Agribusiness
continues to pfc^
a significant role
in Armenia's
transition to a
market-driven
econouQT and ii
is drive toward
agricubjral self-
ftifficiency, accounting for near^
40% of tine countries national income* Accordrngto AAEFE«cu-
tive Director Bill Qysian, bng-
term fundingfor educations era*
calf or Aimenia to re main c onpeti
tive inworld food markets*
"Curriculum reform in
Aimenia's higher education system now makes t possible f or cot
fe ge students to study moderne co-
nomics, fiiance and free macket
principles in preparation for careers in Armenia's growing
agribusiness sector," ei-plarned
Ekysian. "Our message is that an
investment ii Aimenn's higher
education contributes directly to
priv^e enterprise development and
the creation of new jobs."
The AAEFhasrecent>/targeted
its f inane ialefforts to develop long*
termsupportforthe Agribusiness
Teaching Center (ATC) in Yerevm,
a unijue undergradoae i\sta\aion
Lto R: AAEF Eaecuti\e Director Bill Erysian, Agriculture
Academy Rector, Arshduys Tsrverdian, former Fresno
State President Dr. Harold Haakt and Barlow Der
Mjgrdechian.
tha has r #p id^ ga fe d a reputa tion
as one ofthe top agribusiness programs xx file entire region* The
ATCisbeingfeaturedinthe October, 2003 issue of AIM Magazine *
Chsses attiie ATCaretaugntin
Biglishby quabfiedU*S* and Armenian professors* Students undergo rigorous and practr al tr axn-
inginrmtiieting/iiance ,account-
ing^nana ^mentandertrepreneur-
sh4» thatprepare s them for care ers
in managing firms ii Armenia's
foodmdasrrulnrralsectAr*
At this year's graduation cer-
emoryforthe ATC,DeputyChif
of Mission for the USE&bassym
Armenia,^* Vivian Walker, ac*
taowledgedthe class of 2003 as
^:&&nples of Aimenn's gre^tea
ri^ural resource for the future"
The AAEFhas drawn pontile
e^ertise of avar i&tyof indxnduals
with e^erience iihi^ier education >ag?icultural development and
Aimenian studie s *
The current Board
of Directors includes Harold H.
Haak, Ph.D.,
Chairmant President Eneritus,
California State
Univers ity,
Resno; John E*
Anderson, Vice
Resident, Wealth
Management Advisor, Merrill
Lynch; Kenneth F*
Farrell, Ph.D.,
Vice President
Eto rims > Agriculture and Natural
Resources, University of Calif or*
m:i_ Barlow Der
Mugrdechian,
Lecturer, Armenian Studies, Cali-
University, Resno;
PhD., Professor
f omia State
John P* Nichols,
& Associate He ad. Department of
Agricultural Eronomics, Texas
A&M University; and Paul
Somner s ^L ecturer, Co He ^ of Ag-
ricubrre > California State Uhwer-
siy, Pomona*
For more inf oimation on the
AAEFandii higher edoc ^icr* programs in Aimenia, call 559-278-
0317 or email aaef fgesufresno .edu.
Addaionalboardmeabersare cur-
rentVbeing solicited*
SAS To Holds Annual Meeting
BarlowDer Mqgrdi chian J^resi-
dent ofthe Societyfor Armenian
Studie s (SAS) ,announce dtinattine
Araoial Meni^ersh^ Meeting of
tine SAS would be he Id at8:00 PM
on Friday, November 21, ii the
T\idor 8 room, of The Farrmcaa
Royal York Hotel in Toronto,
Canada.
Resutsof fe electionsfornew
Executive officers will be announced at file annual meeting*
Cucrent SAS executive members
include, Vice-President Simon
Payaslian( Clark Uhiversiy); Sec ■
re tacy Houri BeA^erian (C SU Long
Beach); Treasurer, Levon
C^io^ajian (diversity of Massachusetts, Lowell); and advisors
(reorge Bournoutian (Ior*a College), Oarabet Moucndjian, and
Christina Maranc i (University of
Wise onsin, Milw^ike e) *
The SAS is holding its annual
meeting in conjunction wih the
American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies an-
raialconvention* There willbe one
SASsponsoredpanelatfiie confer-
ence, 4Sdoc^ior« and Famiy if*
Post-Soviet Aimenia," on &tur-
day, November 22, from 8-9:45
AM. George Bournoutian, lona
Co Be ge ,w ill char the panel which
willincbde file folbwingpapers:
Ruty Chorbajian, Warren Wilson
College and Levon Chorbajian,
University of Massachusetts,
Lowell "Undaneek: Armenian
Families in the Global Millennium/' Barlow Der Mugrde chian j
Calf oma Stae lAnifersiy,I^esro;
'Eefoan x\ HigJ^er Education: The
Case of tiie Faculty of Economics
at Yerevan State University, Armenia/' and Rubina Peroomiar«>
UCLA,"The Rou^iRoadof Transition: Teadning History in Soviet
and Post- Sov£tAm£n& ■ Ideology f
Approach, Mefiiodolo©'." Levon
Iv^ra^diar* of Glendale Comtai-
niy College is fe discussant for
file panel.
Go to tiie following web sie
for more specific inf oimation on
tiie c onf erenc e http 31
www fas liarvard.edu/"*aaass/
The SASwasfoundediil974
andwillcelebrate its 30fii anniversary in 2004 with a variety of ac-
tr/a^s* The SAS is composed of
scholars and students (and some
rcn- scholar V patrons of Aimenian
Studies). Its meabership is international, a ihou^ithe overwV^e h&
ingmajor iy of members are base d
ii the X^iited Jtaes and Canada.
The Sec retariat of SAS is based at
fe Armenian Studies Progratn,
5245N. Backer Ave. PB4,Resr^o,
CA 93740-8001.
The Society f»>r Armenian
Sudieswasfoundedbyagroi^of
scholars from the universities of
C^fcf omia, Columbia; and Ifevard
onfiie iniiative of Itofessor Richard G. Hovarcriisiari. His dedicated
to the development of Aimenian
Studies as an a cade mi: disc^line.
T>^e ains of fe SAS are to
promote the study of Aimenian
culture and society,inclidinghistory, hnguage, literature, and social political, and economx questions; to facilitate the exchange of
scholarly inf oimationpertainingto
Aimenian studies aroundtie worlds
and to sponsor panels and conferences on Aimenian studies*
The programs of the Society
iic ludepublicatbn of a A£ wsletter
and the Jburnal t# the Society ft&
Arm eric&i Studies $ nc oura gement,
^onsorshp andpublicatim of re-
search on allfacets of Aimenian
culture and society; and such other
activities as tiie SAS Executive
Counc B m^ from time to tine
determine*