LOS ANGELES–The tenth in the series of international conferences on historic Armenian cities and provinces will be held at UCLA on Saturday and Sunday–May 4-5.
The Armenian Communities of the Black Sea-Pontus region will be featured–with the participation of scholars from Argentina–Armenia–France–Georgia–Great Britain–Russia–Ukraine–and the United States. The Saturday sessions are devoted to the ties between Armenia and the Black Sea region from ancient times to early modern times–with several papers on the Hamshen or Hamshinli groups. The Sunday sessions will concentrate on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Sunday morning session only will be conducted in the Armenian language.
The conference is organized by Professor Richard Hovannisian–Holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History at UCLA. A map of the UCLA campus may be found on the UCLA web site at www.ucla.edu/map. The UCLA Armenian Studies web site may be accessed at http://www.uclaarmenian.org/.
The conference hotel is the Holiday Inn Brentwood/Bel-Air–170 Church Lane–Los Angeles–CA 90049. The Armenian Studies Conference rate is $95.00 for single or double occupancy–including breakfast. For reservations call (310)-476-6411. For further conference information call (310)-825-3375 (a.m. hours) or e-mail Hovannis@history.ucla.edu
The conference–sponsored by Armenian Educational Foundation Chair In Modern Armenian History and co-sponsored by the UCLA Division of Social Sciences–Letters and Science Center for European and Russian Studies–will be held at the UCLA DicksonAuditorium.
During the morning sessions on Saturday–May 4–from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.–Richard Hovannisian of UCLA will present "The Black Sea Armenian Coastal Communities: An Introduction," Robert Hewsen of California State University–Fresno will present "Armenia’s on the Black Sea–The Pontic Shore" Richard Wilkinson from London will talk on the "Contacts between Armenia and Pontus in the Pre-Christian Period," and Babken Harutyunyan from Erevan State University will present "Armenia and Armenia’s on the Black Sea Coast until the 7th Century."
Following intermission–Mikael Nichanian from the University of Paris IV–will present "The Byzantine Province of the Armeniakon in the 7th and 8th Centuries," Abraham Terian from St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in New York will present "The Armenian Ties to Medieval Trebizond" and Oleksandr Halenko from the National Academy in Kiev–Ukraine will present "Armenian Communities in the Southern Crimea in the 16th Century."
After lunch–during the afternoon sessions 2-5:30 p.m.–A. Elizabeth Redgate of University of Newcastle upon Tyne will present "The Foundations of Hamshen and Armenian Descent Myths: Parallels and Interconnections," followed by Claire Mouradian of CNRS–Center for Studies of the Russian–Soviet–and Post-Soviet World–Paris who will talk on "The Islamization of the Hamshentsis/Hemshinli," followed by Christina Maranci of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who will present "Armenian Manuscript Illumination during the Dark Ages: The Images of Hamshen."
After intermission Hovann Simonian of the University of Southern California will present "History and Identity among the Hemshinli," and Bert Vaux from Harvard University will present "Homshetsma: The Language of the Hamshen Muslim Armenia’s," followed by Vartiter Kotcholosian Hovannisian of the Southern California Kaiser-Permanente Medical Group who will present "A Pilgrimage to Ordu and the Pontus."
On Sunday–May 5 during the morning session from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Vartan Matiossian from Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires will present "Azzi-Hayasa on the Black Sea? Another Puzzle of Armenian Origins," David Kertmenjian from the Erevan State University of Architecture and Construction will present
"Remnants of the the Armenian City Quarters and Architectural Legacy of the Pontus," Aleksandr Kananov from Research on Armenian Architecture in Tbilisi and Erevan will present "The Artvin-Artanuch District and Its Monumen’s," and Avetis Papazian of Los Angeles–formerly the Institute of History–Erevan will present "Trebizond–the Genocide–and the Postwar Turkish Courts-Martial."
After lunch–during the afternoon sessions (in English) from 1:30-5:30 p.m. Marc Nichanian of Columbia University will present "Minas Pzhshkian and the "History of Pontus"–Patmutiun Pontosi," Bedross Der Matossian of Jerusalem and Columbia University will present "The Black Sea Armenian Communities in the 19th Century," and Barbara Merguerian of the Armenian International Women’s Association in Boston will present "Revolution–Reform–and Repression: The Armenia’s of Trebizond in the 1890s."
After intermission Simon Payaslian of UCLA will present "The Fate of the Black Sea Armenian Communities–1908-1915," Richard Hovannisian of UCLA will present–"The Competition for Trebizond–1916-1920," and Igor Kuznetsov from the Kuban State University in Krasnodar will present "Armenian Pontic Communities in Abkhazia and the Kuban."
A photographic exhibit by Richard and Anne Elizabeth Elbrecht from Davis–California is also on display.
The conference and lectures are open to the public. There is limited seating and no admission charge. Park in parking structure 3–on Hilgard Ave. on the entrance near Sunset Blvd.