Chapman University

Chapman University is in Orange, Califoria.

Genocide Conference

CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY NEWS OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA RELATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mary Platt

9/12/2007 (714) 628-7271

Armenian Genocide to be Examined at Chapman University on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m.

Professor Richard G. Hovannisian of UCLA, Recognized as One of the World's Preeminent Scholars of Armenian History, Speaks at Chapman as part of the Holocaust Lecture Series

ORANGE, Calif. - A UCLA professor who is recognized as one of the world's preeminent expert on Armenian history will give a lecture, `Must We Still Remember? The Armenian Genocide as Prototype,' on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. in the Bush Conference Center, 404 Beckman Hall on the Chapman University campus in Orange. Dr. Richard G. Hovannisian, professor of Armenian and Near Eastern history and holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History at UCLA, will speak as part of Chapman's Schwartz Holocaust Lecture Series. The event is free of charge and open to the public. Call (714) 628-7377 or go to www.chapman.edu/holocausteducation for more information.

The Armenian Genocide - also known as the Armenian Massacres - is widely acknowledged by Western scholars to be the first systematic genocide of the modern age. As soldiers faced each other on the battlefields of World War I, hundreds of thousands of Armenian civilians - men, women and children; perhaps as many as 1.5 million - were singled out and murdered throughout the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1918. Under cover of war, the Armenian population was subjected to deportation, mass execution and brutal death marches. A fortunate few escaped and were hidden by their Turkish or Kurdish neighbors and friends. Today, 21 countries officially recognize these events as genocide; the government of the Republic of Turkey, however, rejects the characterization of the events as genocide. The United States does not officially use the word `genocide' to characterize the events, but 40 of the 50 states have adopted resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide as a historical event. The controversy over nomenclature continues, and will be addressed by Dr. Hovannisian in his talk.

Dr. Hovannisian is the author or editor of many books, including Armenia on the Road to Independence (1967); The Republic of Armenia, 4 volumes (1971-1996); The Armenian Holocaust (1980), and most recently Looking Backward, Moving Forward: Confronting the Armenian Genocide (2003) and The Armenian Genocide: Cultural and Ethical Legacies (2007). He is currently editing and contributing to a series of volumes on historic Armenian cities and provinces. He is the first social scientist living abroad to be elected to the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, and in 2007 was the first recipient of the `I Witness Award' of the Jewish World Watch.

The Schwartz Holocaust Lecture Series at Chapman University is presented by Chapman's Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education and is funded by the Jerry and Sally Schwartz Holocaust Education Fund, managed by the Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Orange County, in cooperation with the Jewish Community Center of Orange County.