U.S. Fulbright Scholar Dr. Hayk Demoyan will give a lecture, “Multiple Identities and Memories of the Armenian World,” at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 19, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191. The presentation is part of the Spring Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program and is funded through the Leon S. Peters Foundation.

Dr. Demoyan’s presentation will analyze and discuss modern aspects of identity and memory politics in Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora, taking particular note of the instrumentalization of history and historical markers—old and new symbols, heroes, historical events, etc. For a long time, such questions were considered as taboo within the official rhetoric of both the Armenian state and certain diasporan circles.

In fact, in different diasporan circles there are contradictory views towards Armenia and its status as ‘Homeland.’ At the same time, the institutionalization of Artsakh as a separate political entity, contrary to the initial policies of unification and merging, as well as the development of parallel diasporas, create further challenges.

Dr. Hayk Demoyan, a U.S. Fulbright visiting scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies of Harvard University, is researching the identity transformation processes in the South Caucasus. He has been the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum and Institute (AGMI) in Yerevan, Armenia since 2006. Dr. Demoyan is Head of the Scientific Council of the AGMI. He is also a chief editor of the International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in Fresno State Lots P5 and P6, near the University Business Center, Fresno State. A parking code must be used at a kiosk to receive the free permit. You may call the Armenian Studies Program at 559-278-2669 to receive the code.

For more information about the lecture please contact the Armenian Studies Program at 278-2669, visit our website at http://www.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies or visit our Facebook page at @ArmenianStudiesFresnoState.