Unpacking Armenian Studies

Latest Episodes:

Unpacking Armenian Studies with Dr. Donald Miller May 07, 2020

Show notes

Studying genocides and religion — Dr. Donald Miller, co-founding director of strategic initiatives for the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC, studies global religious trends. He talks to Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian about oral histories of Rwandan and Armenian genocide survivors and the questioning of faith during atrocities.

Learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies at http://armenian.usc.edu.

For more, read Miller's latest book Becoming Human Again: An Oral History of the Rwandan Genocide Against the Tutsi.

Unpacking Armenian Studies with Dr. Mehmet Polatel Mar 22, 2020

Show notes

Confiscation and destruction — Dr. Mehmet Polatel is a historian and a postdoctoral fellow at the USC Shoah Foundation, researching the confiscation and looting of Armenian properties during the genocide. He speaks with Institute director Salpi Ghazarian about the dispossession of Armenians and the late Ottoman Empire.

Learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies at http://armenian.usc.edu.

Unpacking Armenian Studies with Sato Moughalian Mar 06, 2020

Show notes

How did the Armenian ceramic tradition go from Kutahya, Turkey to Jerusalem? What is the place of material culture in the loss of genocide & the renewal that came after? Flutist & author Sato Moughalian talks about her grandfather, David Ohannessian's role in that journey & about her book, Feast of Ashes.

Learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies at http://armenian.usc.edu.

"Sisters" by John Hadfield, performed by Perspectives Ensemble members Sato Moughalian, Jacqui Kerrod, & John Hadfield.

Unpacking Armenian Studies with Keith David Watenpaugh Feb 21, 2020

Show notes

The refugee as the ultimate modern person — Keith David Watenpaugh, professor and founding director of Human Rights Studies at UC Davis, studies the contemporary Middle East and the role of refugees and displaced persons in world history. He speaks to Institute director Salpi Ghazarian about being an activist scholar, the role of human rights in developing policy, and the Article 26 Backpack, a toolkit for academic mobility.

Learn more about the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, at http://armenian.usc.edu.

Unpacking Armenian Studies with Dr. Rik Adriaans Jan 31, 2020

Show notes

"Those who criticize it will also dance to it at weddings." Anthropologist Rik Adriaans speaks to Institute director Salpi Ghazarian about ethnomusicology, patriotic music videos, post-socialism and the "R" word. Dr. Adriaans, a teaching fellow in digital anthropology at the University College London, studies the politics of Armenian public culture and the anthropology of rabiz music.