WATERTOWN, Mass.—Author Matthew Karanian will discuss his recently published book The Armenian Highland: Western Armenia and the First Armenian Republic of 1918, at the Armenian Museum of America, 65 Main St., Watertown, Mass., on Thursday, May 9, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by the Armenian Museum of America and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR).
The Armenian Highland is a geographic term that has been used for millennia to identify the vast highland plateau of Asia Minor—the ancient homeland of the Armenian nation.
One century ago, and lasting for a period of thirty months, the Armenians formed an independent democratic republic for the first time in their history, on lands that covered roughly 20 percent of their homeland on the Armenian Highland. Today, the words Armenian Highland have been purged from most maps and the Armenians have a free state on just 10 percent of their ancestral lands on this Highland. But the cultural history of the Armenians here is still present.
Author and lawyer Matthew Karanian explores this vast Armenian homeland in his new book The Armenian Highland: Western Armenia and the First Armenian Republic of 1918. His illustrated presentation celebrates the ancestral home that Armenians today know as Western Armenia, as well as Ani and Kars, on the lands of the Armenian Highland that are located outside the borders of today’s Republic of Armenia.
Matthew Karanian practices law in Pasadena, California, and he is a former law professor and associate dean of the law school at the American University of Armenia. He is the author of several books about Armenia and he is the 2016 recipient of Armenia’s Arshile Gorky Medal, in recognition of his service to homeland and for his role in helping to unite the homeland and the worldwide diaspora of Armenians.
This event is free and open to the public. A reception and refreshments will take place before and after the program.
For more information about this program, contact the Armenian Museum of America at 617-926-2562 or sgarafolo@armenianmuseum.org, or NAASR at 617-489-1610 or hq@naasr.org.
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Matthew’s work over the last few decades has been a real gift to the Armenian community and the general
public. This book has been highly anticipated with his super photography and educational value for us on western
Armenia. I hope that the book sells out and that the crowd is overflowing. The topic and the author are certainly
worthy of it. Matthew’s books should be purchased by all to educate themselves and their children. This particular
topic on the highlands is the center of our history and civilization. Bravo Matthew!