Dr. Richard Hovannisian to Present New Book “Armenian Communities of the Northeastern Mediterranean: Musa Dagh-Dört Yol-Kessab” at Fresno State

FRESNO — Dr. Richard Hovannisian, Professor Emeritus of Armenian and Near Eastern History at UCLA , will present a talk on his newly published book “ Armenian Communities of the Northeastern Mediterranean: Musa Dagh-Dört Yol-Kessab ” at 7:30PM on Friday, January 27, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191, on the Fresno State campus.

The presentation is the first in the Armenian Studies Program Spring Lecture Series that is supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation. The Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Association of Fresno is a co-sponsor for this event.

“Armenian Communities of the Northeastern Mediterranean” focuses on the history, economic, cultural, educational and political developments among the Armenians in Musa Dagh, Dört Yol, and Kessab. It also presents the thriving Armenian communities of Beylan and Antioch and the onetime Armenian villages in the Ruj Valley and those near Latakia.

Prof. Hovannisian will explore dramatic episodes in Armenian history and the heroism of the rugged and sturdy people who lived and defended these communities and, in the case of Kessab and a single village in Musa Dagh, continue to endure there. The presentation will also examine the fraudulent transfer of the Sanjak of Alexandretta to Turkey in 1939 and the three-month occupation of the area by the al-Nusra front in 2014.

Dr. Richard G. Hovannisian is Professor Emeritus of Armenian and Near Eastern History at UCLA, President’s Fellow at Chapman University, and Adjunct Professor of History at USC to work with the Shoah Foundation on testimonies of survivors of the Armenian Genocide. He received a Ph.D. in history from UCLA and was a member of the UCLA faculty since 1962, where he organized both the undergraduate and graduate programs in Armenian history and served as the Associate Director of UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies for two decades. Professor Hovannisian is a founder and six-time president of the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS), and a member of a number of editorial boards, scholarly organizations, and civic organizations.

Dr. Hovannisian has given more than 2,500 university and community lectures in 48 countries and has participated in numerous teacher workshops and international forums and media events. He has published more than 30 volumes on Armenia History and culture and seven other books on Near Eastern history, society, and culture. In addition, he has edited and contributed to fourteen volumes in the UCLA conference series, “Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces.”

Copies of “Armenian Communities of the Northeastern Mediterranean,” as well as other publications in the “Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces Series,” will be available the night of the lecture.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in Fresno State Lots P5 and P6, near the University Business Center, Fresno State. No parking permits are needed for the lecture.

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