Dr. Vahram Shemmassian to Speak at The 2013 Ohanessian Chair Lecture

Thursday, October 17
7:00 p.m.
President's Room
Coffman Memorial Union



Dr. Vahram Shemmassian is an associate professor and the director of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge. He is the foremost scholar on Musa Dagh the site of the famed resistance during the Armenian genocide.

Professor Shemmassian will talk about the resistance and the genocide in his presentation "The Musa Dagh Resistance to the Armenian Genocide and Its Impact through Franz Werfel's Historical Novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh."

Franz Werfel (1890-1945), Austrian poet, modernist playwright, and novelist, was born in Prague, the son of a Jewish merchant. During World War I, Werfel served for several years on the Russian front as a soldier in the Austrian army. His novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh published in 1933 detailed the mass murder and expulsion of Armenians from eastern Anatolia in 1915. The novel received much attention in the United States standing as a warning against future acts of mass murder and won lasting respect from Armenian communities throughout the world.

Sponsored by: The Institute for Global Studies, Center for Austrian Studies, Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, College of Liberal Arts, Critical Asian Studies, Study of the Asias.

The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity

Taner Akçam
The Tenth Annual Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Lecture

Monday, April 16, 2012, 7:00p.m.
Maroon & Gold Room, McNamara Alumni Center
200 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis MN 55455

This event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture.


Professor Akçam will speak on his just-published book, The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire (Princeton University Press), which is based on research in over 600 Ottoman documents.
Taner Akçam holds the Kaloosdian/Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University's Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Akçam is the leading scholar in the world today on the history of the Armenian Genocide. He has published more than a dozen books, many of which have appeared in multiple languages, including Turkish, Greek, and German, as well as in English. Before taking his current position at Clark, Professor Akçam taught at the University of Minnesota and was associated with the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He also taught at the University of Michigan - Dearborn.
The Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Lecture results from a generous gift by Arsham Ohanessian to the College of Liberal Arts. Arsham was a successful businessman, avid musician, and dedicated community leader. He was devoted to promoting peaceful reconciliation among peoples. His gift to the University of Minnesota supports a wide range of educational, research, and public programs concerning human rights, ethnic and national conflicts, and Armenian history and culture.
Sponsored by the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair in the College of Liberal Arts, The Human Rights University and the Human Rights Program in the Institute for Global Studies.

"Turkish-Armenian Relations through the Sociological Lens"

Fatma Muge Gocek
Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan

The Ninth Annual Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Lecture

Friday, April 1, 2011
7:00 p.m.
Mississippi Room
Coffman Memorial Union




Fatma Muge Gocek is Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies. Her research focuses on comparative analysis of gender issues in first and third worlds. She also studies the impact on women of processes such as economic development, nationalism and religious movements. Her published works includes East Encounters West: France and the Ottoman Empire in the 18th Century (Oxford University Press 1987), Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East: Tradition, Identity, Power (Columbia University Press, 1994 co-edited with Shiva Balaghi), Rise of the Bourgeoisie, Demise of Empire: Ottoman Westernization and Social Change (Oxford University Press 1996), and Social Constructions of Nationalism in the Middle East (SUNY Press, 2002).
The Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Lecture results from a generous gift by Arsham Ohanessian to the College of Liberal Arts. Arsham was a successful businessman, avid musician, and dedicated community leader. He was devoted to promoting peaceful reconciliation among peoples. His gift to the University of Minnesota supports a wide range of educational, research, and public programs concerning human rights, ethnic and national conflicts, and Armenian history and culture.
A reception will follow the lecture.
This event is free and open to the public.
Sponsored by the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair in the College of Liberal Arts, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, History Department, and Sociology Department.
For resources on Turkish-Armenian relations please visit the CHGS Armenian Genocide page.
Video of Fatma Müge Göçek's talk on nationalism and identity in the Ottoman Empire during the 19th Century: Facing History and Ourselves.