Lecture by Dr. Ara Sanjian: “ Armenians in the Midst of Civil Wars: Lebanon and Syria Compared

FRESNO — Dr. Ara Sanjian, Director of the Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn will give a presentation on “ Armenians in the Midst of Civil Wars: Lebanon and Syria Compared ” at 7:30PM on Tuesday, December 2, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191, on the Fresno State campus.

The lecture is part of the Fall Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program, supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation.

During the Lebanese Civil War of 1975-1990, Armenians adopted the policy of positive neutrality. Most Armenians in Lebanon and Syria today think that this was a wise choice and that it helped to minimize somewhat the heavy toll of civil war for the Armenian community in Lebanon. Why has it not been possible to adopt a similar attitude during the Syrian crisis since 2011? In what ways are the Lebanese and Syrian civil wars different from one another? How do these differences affect the Armenians suffering in Syria today?

Dr. Ara Sanjian is Associate Professor of Armenian and Middle Eastern History and the Director of the Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. From 1991 to 1994 he did his PhD in modern history of the Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London.

From 1996 to 2005 he was the Chairman of the Department of Armenian Studies, History and Political Science at Haigazian University in Beirut. In fall 2003, he was the Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno. His research interests focus on the post-World War I history of Armenia, Turkey and the Arab states of Western Asia.

Dr. Sanjian is the author of Turkey and Her Arab Neighbors, 1953-1958: A Study in the Origins and Failure of the Baghdad Pact (2001), as well as a monograph and a number of scholarly articles. He is currently working on a book-length project on the Armenian quest for Mountainous Karabagh under Soviet rule in 1923-1987.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Free parking is available, with a parking code 273502, after 7:00PM at Fresno State Lots P5 and P6, near the University Business Center.

For more information about the lecture please contact the Armenian Studies Program at 278-2669, or visit our website at www.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies.