Lecture at NAASR by Susan Pattie On Bringing Armenian History to Young Readers

BELMONT, MA — Author and anthropologist Dr. Susan Pattie, Director of the Armenian Institute in London and Senior Research Fellow, University College London, will give a lecture entitled “Who Are the Armenians? Bringing Armenian History and Culture to Young Readers” on Thursday, June 2, 2011, at 8:00 p.m., at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA.

While in the area, Dr. Pattie will also speak to fourth graders at St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School in Watertown.

Who Are the Armenians? is a guide for both children and adults to learn about the Armenian people. Aimed at children aged 5–12, the book brings the 3,000-year-old Armenian history and culture to life through folktales, language, food, religion, music, dance, art, poetry, sports, and games. The book includes information about the Republic of Armenia and also explains how Armenians have made homes all over the world. Who are the Armenians? presents the lives of children in Armenia and diaspora countries showing how they live today. A CD is included with songs, poems, dance music, and spoken words. (The book Who Are the Armenians? has no connection with the still-existing permanent and travelling exhibitions of the same name created earlier by the Armenian Library and Museum of America in Watertown, MA.)

Dr. Susan Pattie is a Senior Research Fellow at University College London (anthropology), teaches for the Syracuse University London Program, and is Director of the Armenian Institute. She was a Visiting Scholar in the Armenian Studies Program and Anthropology Department at the University of Michigan in autumn 2009. Author of Faith in History: Armenians Rebuilding Community (Smithsonian Institution Press) and numerous other publications, Dr. Pattie’s research has focused on Armenians in diaspora, beginning with fieldwork in Cyprus.

Admission to the lecture at NAASR is free (donations appreciated). The NAASR Center is located opposite the First Armenian Church and next to the U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available around the building and in adjacent areas. The lecture will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m.

More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610, faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing hq@naasr.org, or writing to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.