A symposium in memory of Professor Richard G. Hovannisian presented by the Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA.
Saturday, April 6, 2024
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Mong Learning Center (Engineering VI Building)
404 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Professor Hovannisian was a faculty member at UCLA for over 50 years and was the first holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Professorial Chair in Modern Armenian History, now named in his honor. His monumental work includes The Republic of Armenia in four volumes, several volumes on the Armenian Genocide, fifteen volumes in the series Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces, and over one thousand interviews of genocide survivors conducted with his students.
This all day symposium will encompass the vast range of Prof. Hovannisian's contributions as a historian, scholar, teacher and mentor, and will feature remarks by his former students, distinguished colleagues and friends and family. The day will also feature screenings of short videos and a musical performance of Historic Armenian pieces provided through the UCLA Armenian Music Program.
Agenda
8:00 AM REGISTRATION & REFRESHMENTS
Engineering VI Patio and Lobby
9:00 AM WELCOMING REMARKS
ANN KARAGOZIAN, Director of the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute and Distinguished Professor in the UCLA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
SEBOUH ASLANIAN, Richard Hovannisian Endowed Professor of Modern Armenian History at UCLA, Director of the Armenian Studies Center within the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute
9:15 AM BIOGRAPHICAL VIDEO AND REFLECTIONS
GARIN HOVANNISIAN, Armenian American Writer, Filmmaker, and Producer
9:45 AM ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESEARCH: DOCUMENTATION, DENIAL, AND RECOGNITION
Speakers:
TANER AKCAM, Inaugural Director of the Armenian Genocide Research Program within the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute
BEDROSS DER MATOSSIAN, Professor of Modern Middle East History in the Department of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Panelists:
HENRY THERIAULT, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Worcester State University
RUBINA PEROOMIAN, Independent Scholar, Author/Researcher, and Former Lecturer of Armenian Studies at UCLA
LEVON MARASHLIAN, Emeritus Professor of History at Glendale Community College
Moderator: ANN KARAGOZIAN, Director of the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute and Distinguished Professor in the UCLA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
10:25 AM ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESEARCH: SURVIVOR TESTIMONY COLLECTION & ARCHIVING
Speakers:
CARLA GARAPEDIAN, Filmmaker/Director/Writer and Board Member of the Armenian Film Foundation
SEBOUH ASLANIAN, Richard Hovannisian Endowed Professor of Modern Armenian History at UCLA and Director of the Armenian Studies Center within the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute
Panelists:
TAMAR M. MASHIGIAN, Executive Director at La Cienega Design Quarter
MANUK AVEDIKYAN, Project Manager of the “California History through the Armenian Experience” Oral History Project at USC Institute of Armenian Studies
ARDA MELKONIAN, Graduate Student at Fuller Theological Seminary
SHANT DER MEGERDICHIAN, Assistant Principal at Eleanor J. Toll Middle School
Moderator: ANN KARAGOZIAN, Director of the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute and Distinguished Professor in the UCLA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
11:10 AM COFFEE BREAK
Engineering VI Patio and Lobby
11:25 AM MODERN ARMENIAN HISTORY: FIRST ARMENIAN REPUBLIC, HISTORIC ARMENIAN CITIES/PROVINCES SERIES
Speakers:
RONALD GRIGOR SUNY, William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History and Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Chicago
JIRAIR LIBARIDIAN, Retired Diplomat and Professor, Former Holder of Alex Manoogian Chair in Modern Armenian History at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Panelists:
ARMEN BAIBOURTIAN, Professor of Practice of Political Science at University of Massachusetts Amherst and Two-Time Consul General of Armenia in Los Angeles
FATMA MUGE GOCEK, Professor of Sociology at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
ARMEN DER KIUREGHIAN, President Emeritus at American University of Armenia and Taisei Professor of Civil Engineering Emeritus at University of California, Berkeley
VAHRAM SHEMMASSIAN, Professor and the Director of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge
Moderator: KRISTINE MARTIROSYAN-OLSHANSKY, Director of UCLA’s Research Program in Armenian Archeology at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
12:10 PM MUSICAL PERFORMANCE OF HISTORIC ARMENIAN PIECES
Introductions: MELISSA BILAL, Promise Chair in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture at UCLA and Director of the UCLA Armenian Music Program
HASMIK HARUTYUNYAN, Voice
VARDAN BAGHDASARYAN, Kamancha
ARMEN ADAMIAN, Duduk
12:40 PM LUNCH
Engineering VI Patio and Lobby
1:45 PM REFLECTIONS AND VIDEO
ANI HOVANNISIAN KEVORKIAN, Documentary Filmmaker
2:15 PM PIONEERING ARMENIAN STUDIES AS A FIELD: ORGANIZATIONS AND UNIVERSITIES
Speakers:
HOURI BERBERIAN, Professor of History and Meghrouni Family Presidential Chair in Armenian Studies and Director of the Center for Armenian Studies at UC Irvine
CHRISTINA MARANCI, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and President of Society for Armenian Studies
Panelists:
PETER COWE, Narekatsi Professor of Armenian Studies at UCLA
HAGOP KOULOUJIAN, Kachigian Family Lecturer in Armenian Language and Culture at UCLA
MARC MAMIGONIAN, Director of Academic Affairs at the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
Moderator: KRISTINE MARTIROSYAN-OLSHANSKY, Director of UCLA’s Research Program in Armenian Archeology at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
2:55 PM COFFEE BREAK
Engineering VI Patio and Lobby
3:15 PM SHORT VIDEO
3:20 PM LIFE/PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AS A TEACHER/MENTOR (SESSION I)
Speakers:
SHUSHAN KARAPETIAN, Director of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies
DAVID MYERS, Distinguished Professor and Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History at UCLA
Panelists:
RAFFI TACHDJIAN, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
RAZMIG SARKISSIAN, Attorney; Law Clerk at Los Angeles Superior Court
DORIS MELKONIAN, Graduate Student at Fuller Theological Seminary
SHANT SHEKHERDIMIAN, Associate Professor of Pediatric Surgery at UCLA Department of Surgery
Moderator: ALINA DORIAN, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and Associate Professor in the Community Health Sciences at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
4:05 PM LIFE/PROFESSIONAL IMPACT AS A TEACHER/MENTOR (SESSION II)
Speakers:
MARY PAPAZIAN, Executive Vice President at Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges and Former President of San Jose State University and Southern Connecticut State University
BARLOW DER MUGRDECHIAN, Professor and Director of the Armenian Studies Program at CSU Fresno"
Panelists:
ARA SOGHOMONIAN, Senior Director and Creative at Jarrow Formulas and Natrol
ARDY KASSAKHIAN, Glendale City Councilmember
JANO BOGHOSSIAN, Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
RAFFI KASSABIAN, Attorney and Founding Partner at Bezdik Kassab Law Group and Lecturer in the UCLA Department of Communication
ANNA ALEKSANYAN, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Armenian Genocide Research Program within the Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA
Moderator: ALINA DORIAN, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and Associate Professor in the Community Health Sciences at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
4:55 PM CLOSING REMARKS
ANN KARAGOZIAN, Director of the UCLA Promise Armenian Institute and Distinguished Professor in the UCLA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
5:00 PM CLOSING RECEPTION
Engineering VI Patio and Lobby
This event will take place at the Mong Learning Center (Engineering VI Building)
Visitor parking available at UCLA Parking Structure 8.
- Park on the roof of Parking Structure 8
- Pay for parking at a Paystation
- Take the stairs or the elevator to Level 1/Westwood Plaza
- Cross the street diagonally, then turn slightly left, continuing north, past the bus stop
- Engineering VI will be on your right as you walk north on Westwood Plaza
Please note: This event will be photographed and recorded for documentation and distribution. All audience members agree to the possibility of appearing in these photographs and recordings by virtue of attending the event or participating in the event.
Download file: RGH-Bio-for-PAI-event-Apr2024-ov-4lh.pdf
Sponsor(s): The Promise Armenian Institute, Center for Near Eastern Studies, The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law, Fowler Museum at UCLA, UCLA Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History,UCLA Narekatsi Chair in Armenian Studies, UCLA Armenian Music Program, National Association for Armenian Studies and Research NAASR, Ararat-Eskijian Museum, Society for Armenian Studies, UCI Center for Armenian Studies, CSU Fresno Armenian Studies Program, USC Institute of Armenian Studies, USC Shoah Foundation, UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy