USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies to Host Public Lecture by Dr. Hrag Papazian on Muslim Armenians in Turkey

LOS ANGELES — The USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies will host a public lecture this Thursday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m., featuring Hrag Papazian, Turpanjian Early Career Chair in Contemporary Armenian Studies and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at University of Southern California.

In his first public lecture at the Institute, Dr. Papazian will present “Naming Problems: From ‘Islamized’ and ‘Hidden’ to Muslim Armenians in Turkey,” a timely discussion centered on the descendants of Armenians who were forcibly converted to Islam during the Armenian Genocide and other periods of Ottoman and Turkish history.

In recent decades, this community has attracted growing attention in both academic and public discourse. Within this emerging field, labels such as “Islamized Armenians” and “hidden” or “crypto-Armenians” have become widely used. Dr. Papazian’s lecture will critically examine the politics and logic of naming behind these classifications, exploring the uses and misuses of such terms, their analytical limitations, and the ethical and political risks they may carry. The talk will also propose more nuanced ways of understanding this diverse and still vulnerable population.

The lecture is part of a broader series of events organized for Armenian History Month at USC, all of which are free and open to the public.

Event Details

What: Public Lecture by Hrag Papazian
Title: Naming Problems: From “Islamized” and “Hidden” to Muslim Armenians in Turkey
When: Thursday, April 16, 6:30 p.m.
Where: USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies
3518 Trousdale Parkway, DMC 351,
Los Angeles, CA 90089

Community members, students, scholars, and all those interested in Armenian studies, identity, and contemporary Turkey are encouraged to attend.