“The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early Twentieth Century” by Dr. Bedross Der Matossian

FRESNO –Dr. Bedross Der Matossian will present an in-person lecture entitled “The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early Twentieth Century” at 7:00PM on Friday, August 26, 2022, in the Whitten Boardroom of the Smittcamp Alumni House, on the Fresno State campus. The presentation is part of the Spring Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program. The Leon S. Peters Foundation is a co-sponsor of the event.

In April 1909, two waves of massacres shook the province of Adana, located in the southern Anatolia region of modern-day Turkey, killing more than 20,000 Armenians. The central Ottoman government failed to prosecute the main culprits, a miscarriage of justice that would have repercussions for years to come. Despite the significance of these events and the extent of violence and destruction, the Adana Massacres are often left out of historical narratives. The Horrors of Adana offers one of the first close examinations of these events, analyzing sociopolitical and economic transformations that culminated in a cataclysm of violence. Drawing on primary sources in a dozen languages, Der Matossian develops an interdisciplinary approach to understand the rumors and emotions, public spheres and humanitarian interventions that together informed this complex event.

Dr. Bedross Der Matossian is the Vice-Chair, Associate Professor of Modern Middle East History, and Hymen Rosenberg Professor in Judaic studies the at Department of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Born and raised in East Jerusalem, he is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He completed his PhD in Middle East History at Columbia University in 2008. He has taught at MIT and the University of Chicago. He is the President of the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS). He is the author, editor, and co-editor of multiple books including the award-winning book Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2014). His most recent book is The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early Twentieth (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2022).

Copies of The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early Twentieth will be available for purchase at the lecture.

The lecture is free and open to the public. The Smittcamp Alumni House is located at 2625 E. Matoian Way on the Fresno State campus. Free parking is available in Fresno State Lots P1 and P2 (parking permits are not required on Friday evenings). Enter the campus at Shaw and Maple Aves. and turn right onto Matoian Way (first Stop Sign). The Smittcamp Alumni House is the second building on the left.

For information about upcoming Armenian Studies Program presentations, please follow us on our Facebook page, @ArmenianStudiesFresnoState or at the Program website, https://fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies.