Panel Discussion at Glendale Library on State of Armenian Genocide Research

The Glendale Public Library and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will present a panel discussion on “The State of Armenian Genocide Research and Future Needs ” on Tues., June 14, at 7 p.m. at the Glendale Central Library, 22 Harvard St., 2nd floor, in Glendale, Calif. The discussion will feature Prof. Richard G. Hovannisian, AEF Chair in Modern Armenian History, University of California, Los Angeles; Prof. Taner Akçam, Kaloosdian/Mugar Chair in Modern Armenian History and Armenian Genocide Studies, Clark University; Prof. Vahram L. Shemmassian, director, Armenian Studies Program, California State University, Northridge; and Marc A. Mamigonian, director of Academic Affairs, NAASR.

The event will build on the April 2010 workshop “The State of the Art of Armenian Genocide Research: Historiography, Sources, and Future Directions,” held at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University and organized and co-sponsored by Akçam, Eric Weitz (the Distinguished McKnight University Professor of History and Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Professor, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota), and NAASR.

The Clark workshop attempted to assess known resources and where the scholarship stands, and to create a serious discussion around the main problems and the fundamental questions of the field.

Among the topics to be touched on are: How has the field of Armenian Genocide studies evolved and what have been the paradigm shifts in explaining the genocide? Can we speak of different models of explaining the genocide? What is the place of Armenian Genocide research within general genocide research and within Armenian studies? What is the state of some of the key archival sources? How much work has been done on them, and have they been viewed in relation to each other? What are the future research goals and perspectives that should be aimed for?

NAASR’s co-sponsorship of the workshop and this panel discussion are supported by a generous contribution from Marie Broussalian in memory of her late husband, Dr. Vartkes Broussalian, NAASR Board Member (1991-2003).

For more information, contact Elizabeth Grigorian at (818) 548-3288 or Egrigorian@ci.glendale.ca.us; or contact NAASR at (617) 489-1610 or hq@naasr.org.