SUBJECT: Armenian Genocide Conference

TO: Drew Community

FROM: James Pain, Dean, Graduate School

RE: Conference on the Armenian Genocide, April 28, 1997, 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Baldwin Gym

We are extremely pleased to announce that the Graduate School is sponsoring a conference on the Armenian Genocide. Over the past fifteen years several related controversies have focused on the Armenian Genocide. One cause of debate is the attempt by some scholars in the United States and elsewhere to argue that the Genocide never occurred, or if it did occur, it was the result of civil war and the chaos surrounding the breakup of the Ottoman Empire and not part of an active government campaign. The other source of controversy is the active effort by the Turkish government to make this version the dominant scholarly interpretation of the Genocide, as well as their efforts to block such things as commemorative resolutions of the Genocide by state legislatures and Congress. These two issues have come together through the Turkish government's funding of scholarly chairs at several leading American universities and the placing in at least one of these chairs, a former Turkish government employee and Armenian Genocide Revisionist.

Drew University is interested in exploring these complex issues--the actual evidence of the Genocide, the historiography since, and the involvement of the Turkish government in American higher education. Thus, following consultation with leaders of the Armenian scholarly community, we have constructed the attached program on the Armenian Genocide.

The date for the conference is April 28th. The month of April is the commemorative month for the Genocide and April 24th the actual date of commemoration.

Logistics

The cost of the conference is $40,which includes lunch and reception. We ask that you respond to us by April 21. Responses should come to Drew University Graduate School, by email (WROGERS@DREW.EDU), phone (201) 408-3285 or fax (201) 408-3040. Checks can be made out to Drew University (Armenian Conference).

The ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL CONTROVERSIES

"Controversy and Academic Responsibility"

Baldwin Gym

Drew University

Sponsored by the Graduate School

9:00-5:00

April 28, 1997

Welcome/Introductory Remarks

Thomas H. Kean, President, Drew University

Keynote I: An Introduction to Armenia

Richard Hovannisian, UCLA
A leading historian of Twentieth Century Armenian history, Dr. Hovannisian will review the history of Armenia for those in the audience who are less familiar with this people. He will highlight the cultural and religious differences in the region and end up with a account of the Armenian genocide. He will also present some of the historiography of the genocide over the past 80 years.

Keynote II: The Historiography of the Armenian Experience in the Ottoman Empire--The Genocide Controversy

Robert J. Lifton,CUNY
Israel Charny, Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide
(Dr. Charny cannot be with us, but will be sending an unpublished paper to be read.)

These scholars will concentrate on the events of the last 15 years, the campaign to change history and the Princeton situation. The idea is to show how the "story" of the genocide has changed in the scholarly and popular communities. This recounting of the changing "story" will be fascinating and show clearly how history is constantly being rewritten--not always for the better.

Panel 1: The Armenian Genocide: The Evidence of the Missionaries

Suzanne Moranian
Dale Patterson, UMC Archives
Barbara Merguerian
Susan Billington Harper, (invited)

This panel will discuss the role of the missionaries in documenting the Genocide. This is where the pictures from the Methodist Archives at Drew will be presented.

Lunch

Baldwin Gym
($40 for non-Drew attendees, $20 for Drew community members)

Concurrent Sessions (Various campus locations)

Panel 2: The Role of Memory in the Meaning of the Genocide

Vigen Guroian G'78, Loyola University, MD
Peter Balakian, Colgate University
Paul Boghossian, New York University, (invited)

Panel 3: Comparisons of Genocides in the 20th Century

Robert Melson, Purdue University
Helen Fein,
Ervin Staub, University of Massachusetts

Panel 4: Contemporary Reaction (1915-1923) to the Armenian Genocide

David Eisenberg, UCLA
Henry Morgenthau III
Ara Sarafian
A session on the testimony of Ambassador Morgenthau and other witnesses.

Panel 5: Impact of Lewis Civil Trial in France on the Armenian Genocide Controversy

Rouben Adalian, Armenian National Institute

Concluding Remarks

President Kean

Reception

Mead Hall
(Serving traditional Armenian foods)