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Armenian Action
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28
th
Year
October 2006
Vol. 28, No. 1 (95)
Ethnic Supplement to The Collegian
Dr. Chookaszian Appointed 6th
Henry S. Kazan Visiting Professor
Dr. Levon Chookaszian
Staff Report
Dr. Levon Chookaszian,
UNESCO Chair of the Department
of Art History at Yerevan State
University, Armenia, has been appointed the sixth Henry S.
Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at
Fresno State for the Fall 2006 semester.
Dr. Chookaszian is teaching a
three-unit course, Armenian Studies 120T, "Armenian Massacres and
Genocide Reflected in Ann em an
Art of the 20th Century," which is
offered on Tuesday and Thursday
afternoons from 2:00-3:15 PM. The
course is illustrated with slides. This
is the first time such a course has
been offered anywhere in the world.
Teaching the course gives Dr.
Chookaszian a chance to reflect
about it in a classroom setting, after
writing about the topic for so long.
He became interested in the topic
because his family includes genocide survivors, and also because
during many years of research he
has discovered more and more artists connected to the subject. He
has found dozens and dozens of
Armenian painters, who have utilized Genocide in their work, and
many non-Arm enian painters have
been concerned about the massacres, such as Jean-Louis Forain and
Theophile Alexandre Steinlen.
The Armenian Massacres of
1895-96 and of 1905-1907 stimulated the appearance of topics related to those events inthe works of
Armenian painters. The first artist
who represented the acts of violence and ethnic cleansing was
Haroutyune Shamshinian (1856-
1914). Later on numerous Armenian artworks were produced by
different artists depicting those
horrible pages of Armenian modern history.
During the Armenian Genocide
of 1915-1923, certain painters be-
see Chookaszian page 3
Eighth Annual Armenian Film
Festival at Fresno State to be
Held in Spring 2007
Spring 2007
(Exact date to be
announced soon)
Sponsored by the Armenian
Students Organization
Armenian Studies Program
California State University,Fresno
Partially funded by the Diversity
Awareness Program ofthe
University Student Union,
California State University,Fresno
First Call for Entries
Entries are being sought for the 8th
Annual Armenian Film Festival
to be held at the California State
University, Fresno campus.
Films made by Armenian directors/writers, or films with an Armenian theme are being sought.
Films up to 1 hour in length.
Films may be in any language,
English preferred.
Films may be on any topic, Armenian theme preferred.
Film must be in video (NTSC)/
or DVD format.
Deadline for entries to be
received is January 15,
2007.
Please send the video/DVD to:
Armenian Film Festival
c/o Armenian Studies Program
5245 N Backer Ave. PB4
Fresno, CA 93740-8001
Entries should be accompanied
by a CV of the director/writer
and a synopsis of the film.
Telephone: 559-278-2669
Email: barlowd@csufresno.edu
The Festival Committee will
meet to view and judge which
entries will be accepted for the
Film Festival. Entrants will be
contacted by email with the decisions.
Mamikonian Concert Attracts Hundreds to the
Opening ofthe Keyboard Concert Series
Sebouh Krioghlian
Staff Writer
On a Sunday afternoon, September 10, 2006, Vardan
Mamikonian, a prize-winning pianist, performed in the Fresno State
Concert Hall to a sold-out crowd.
This opening concert of the Philip
Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts series was co-sponsored by
the Armenian Studies Program.
Mamikonian's performance was
moving, to say the least.
Born in Yerevan, Armenia,
Mamikonian started studying music early, at the age of six, at the
Y ere van S chool of Musi c. H e then
moved on to studying at the Moscow Conservatory and later to the
prominent T chaikovsky Conservatory, where he became the pupil of
Valery Kastelsky. Following this,
he studied with Lazar Berman, and
received First Prize at the Balis
Dvarionas Piano Competition in
Vilnius in 1981. He soon received
Pianist Vardan Mamikonian (left) with Philip Lorenz Keyboard
Concert Series Director Andreas Werz.
many otherfirstprizes andrecorded
works by Ravel, Tchaikovsky,
Babajanian, Stravinsky, and
Khatchaturian for Solistice
Records; Chopin's Etudes Op. 10
and Op. 25 and waltzes by Ravel,
Liszt, Chopin, Scriabin for the
Callipe label; and works by Bach
and concerti by Rachmaninoff,
Liszt, and Mendelssohn for Orfeo
label.
Vardan Mamikonian began his
performance with music by Armenian composers, from Komitas to
Babajanian, winch compnsed the
more unique part of the recital.
see Concert page 7
Elementary Armenian Language Course Filled to
Capacity With New Students Eager to Learn
Knar Mekhitarian
Staff Writer
Nayiri, Hagop, Kelli, Svetlana,
Ani, Brad, Emily, Lara, and twenty-
two other students of all ages, await
anxiously in the Family Food and
Science Building, Room 216, for
instruction to begin. "Parev," a
simple "Hello" in Armenian, is
enunciated to the class from Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian,
as he promptly receives a greeting
in return.
T here are m any peopl e who have
never had the chance to learn to
read, speak and write Armenian
due to various reasons. Fresno State
is among the few universities in the
United States that offer an Armenian language class to students who
are interested in the opportunity to
learn a very beautiful and ancient
language.
A Course in Modem Western
Armenian, by Tom Samuelian, is
the text used in the class.
Worksheets, and reading and writing exercises are also passed out to
the students. Students learn to recite and write the Armenian alphabet in both lower and upper cases.
Johnny Oganesyan, a sophomore, is planning on attaining his
minor in Armenian Studies. Born
in Armenia, his family later moved
to Fresno when he was six. Johnny
Standing (I. to r.) Lara Agulian, Avo Arikian, Hagop Ohanessian, Emily
Derderian, Nayiri Moumdjian, Suzan Merdzhimekyan, Tigran Imirian,
Johnny Oganesyan, and Lindsey Nielson. Seated (I to r.) Seta Knnablian,
Timothy Aivazian, Brad Kalebjian, Ani Menendian, Aaron Telloian, John-
RossGlueck, Natalina Farinelli, Caitlin Tiftick, Ani Samarjian, Erin Surabian,
Kelli Parnagian, and Svetlana Bagdasarov.
attended the Armenian Commu-    to the Indo-European family and is
nity School of Fresno for over five
years. "This class is a great way for
me to refresh my reading and writing skills, as well as perfect my
grammar and spelling."
Tim Aivazian, aBuchananHigh
School graduate, is taking the class
as a freshman. Born in New Jersey
and raised in Fresno, Tim hopes to
get a lot out of the class. "I want to
learn how to read and write, and
expand my Armenian vocabulary.
Prof. Der Mugrdechian is a great
teacher, and I really enjoy Ms class."
The Arm enian language belongs
spoken by six to seven million
people worldwide. The Armenian
alphabet was created by Saint
Mesrop Mashtots in405 A. D. There
are 38 letters in the Armenian alphabet, each with a specific sound
and pronunciation.
Armenian 1A, Elementary Armenian is a four-unit class offered
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and
Friday mornings from 11:00 to
11:50AM. This semester Prof. Der
Mugrdechian is also teaching Armenian 2A, Intermediate Armenian.