Dr. Hasmik Khalapyan Lectures on Ottoman-Armenians and Women’s Social Participation

GLENDALE — The Friends of the UCLA Armenian Language and Culture Studies, a university recognized organization liaising with the Armenian community of Southern California, is pleased to announce an upcoming lecture by Dr. Hasmik Khalapyan, currently a visiting professor in the UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, on the following topic “The Philosophy and Policies of Education and Charity among the Ottoman-Armenians and their Impact on Women’s Social Participation (1876-1914).” The event will be held on Sunday, January 27 (4-6 p.m.), at the Glendale Public Library.
Dr. Khalapyan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Yerevan State University, where she teaches graduate level courses in the fields of Sociological and Social Theory, Intercultural Studies and Communication, and the Psychology of Gender. Since 2009 she is concurrently Academic Director of the AGBU Armenian Virtual College. After a BA and MA in English and French Linguistics, Khalapyan explored the field of English Literature in a second Masters at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, before continuing to her doctorate in the discipline of history at the prestigious Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, investigating the social status and role of women in Ottoman-Armenian society. During her research there, she also served as a teaching assistant in the Department of Gender Studies, where she offered a course on Oral History in the 20th Century. Returning to Yerevan after defending her thesis, she also taught a course on worldwide Women’s Movements in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries in the Department of Political Science at Yerevan State Linguistics University. The recipient of a variety of fellowships, she has authored several book chapters and articles in peer reviewed journals and presented the results of her investigations in a variety of international conferences in Odessa, Ukraine, Istanbul, Amsterdam, and Montreal. A periodic visitor to Los Angeles to take part in the UCLA Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies and to speak at the conference on Armenians of Asia Minor, she has now returned to UCLA to offer a popular course entitled “Local Endeavors, Global Context: Armenian Women’s History and Movement from 19th to 21st Centuries.”
Her lecture at Glendale Public Library focuses on educational initiatives among the Ottoman-Armenian community over the period 1876 to 1914 pursued by numerous charitable organizations under the impact of Modernity. It will highlight the ways in which this movement stimulated new formulations and perceptions of charity that promoted women’s schooling. It further explores the ways in which women were influenced by and participated in the reform in education and charity that they believed would result in the wellbeing of the nation in general and women and children in particular. The lecture will be illustrated by a powerpoint presentation.
Glendale Public Library (222 E. Harvard St., Glendale CA 91205). For further information (310) 275-2767 or (818) 952-1058.