Panel Discussion, “Who Is an Armenian American?”
Monday, October 16, 7:30 p.m. (Eastern)
In-person event at NAASR’s Vartan Gregorian Building, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA
Presented by NAASR through a grant from Mass Humanities under their Expand Massachusetts Stories Initiative.
Panelists:
Dr. Lisa Gulesserian, Preceptor on Armenian Language and Culture, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University
Julia Hintlian, Ph.D. Candidate in Religion, Harvard University
Stephen A. Kurkjian, Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and author
Moderated by Marc A. Mamigonian, Director of Academic Affairs, NAASR
The Armenian-American community, while it is often discussed as a homogeneous group, in fact consists of individuals with a multitude of backgrounds: descendants of the “old” Armenian-American community that was formed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries mostly by immigrants from the Ottoman Empire or later waves of immigrants from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and the Republic of Armenia, many of whom have an Armenian parent, grandparent, or even great-grandparent but nevertheless identify as Armenian as well. Within this diverse group is a multitude of languages, religious affiliations, and gender and sexuality identifications. We invite members of the community to join with us for the first in a series of programs exploring various aspects of Armenian-American identities, Exploring Hybrid Identities of Armenian-Americans in Mass, which is supported by Mass Humanities under their Expand Massachusetts Stories Initiative.