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LOWELL HIGH HOSTS PANEL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)
April 5, 2015 Sunday
The Lowell Sun
LOWELL -- Lowell High School hosted a scholarly panel recently
to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the Armenian
Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, during which, between 1 million and
1.5 million Armenians died.
The panel was conceived and organized by LHS Social Studies teacher
Lisa Menasian Colloca, who participated in the panel along with
2014 UMass Lowell graduate Julianne Tavitian and Asya Darbinyan,
an internationally acclaimed scholar of the Genocide.
Darbinyan has been deputy director of the Armenian Genocide Museum
and Institute in Yerevan, Armenia, and has held fellowships in Paris
and Los Angeles.
The event began with a welcome from LHS alumnus Aram Jeknavorian
(Class of 1956), who, with his four siblings, is a first-generation
Armenian American. His father, Abraham, survived the Genocide and
made his way to Lowell, along with many other Armenians who formed
an important community in the city.
Abraham became a fixture of the community, founding the Post Office
Locksmith Shop, which is still run by his son, Armen.
Aram Jeknavorian drew parallels between his family's experience and
the later experience of other refugee immigrant groups, especially
the Cambodian community.
Menasian Colloca teaches Advanced Placement courses at LHS, has
traveled to Armenia, and is a board member of the Boston branch of
the Society for Orphaned Armenia Relief. She conceived the panel in
early 2014 as a way to honor her grandparents and other survivors
and victims of the Genocide. She also hoped that the lessons of the
Genocide would find resonance for students at LHS who have experienced
similar horrors in places like Burma and Iraq.
In her talk, Menasian Colloca gave a geography and history lesson
that sketched the early history of Armenia, pointing out that it was
the first country to formally accept Christianity in 301 A.D.
She showed some of the impressive architecture and art of medieval
and present-day Armenia, and mapped out the position of Armenians in
the Ottoman and Russian Empires.
Darbinyan went into great detail about the mechanics of the Genocide,
which began with government edicts that set in motion multiple waves
of oppression, massacres and large-scale death marches from April
1915 until 1918. Her presentation also focused on the politics of the
Armenian Genocide in Turkey (the successor state to the Ottoman Empire)
and independent Armenia today, as well as the Armenian diaspora to the
United States and the role of Americans in response to the Genocide.
Americans, led by the child movie star Jackie Coogan, gave $110 million
(the equivalent of $5 billion today) in relief aid to surviving
Armenians during and after WWI.
Finally, Darbinyan noted that the Genocide is not specifically an
Armenian event, but an event against humanity, a fact that she said
must be understood for every genocide, no matter where it occurs.
Tavitian passionately spoke about her experience as a second-generation
Armenian American and how her travel in Armenia has transformed
her understanding of the Genocide and what it means to be Armenian
American. She also spoke out strongly against Genocide deniers,
noting the experience of many members of her family.
One LHS student said Tavitian's emotional discussion of how she was
shaped by her grandparents' experiences in the Genocide resonated
strongly with what he feels from his own parents' experience with
the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
During the question-and-answer period, the issue of "crimes against
humanity" and genocide law was raised. Darbinyan had already noted
that the first recorded use of the term was made during the Genocide,
when it was mentioned in an international memorandum.
She further spoke about how Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew who coined
the term "genocide" and is considered the father of modern human
rights and genocide law after WWII, had begun his work in the area
after the trial of an Armenian charged in the assassination of one
of the three Ottoman architects of the Genocide.
The audience comprised a large number of students, educators and
members of the Greater Lowell Armenian American community. The panel
was part of Lowell High School's Occasional Series on Contemporary
Issues, which was instituted last spring and seeks to bring scholars
of significant standing to the school, as well as to showcase the
expertise of faculty at LHS.
GRAPHIC: Panelists for Lowell High's recent discussion of the Armenian
Genocide include, from left, LHS teacher Lisa Menasian Colloca,
Genocide scholar Asya Darbinyan and 2014 UMass Lowell graduate Julianne
Tavitian.COURTESY PHOTO Sun staff photos can be ordered by visiting
our SmugMug site.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)
April 5, 2015 Sunday
The Lowell Sun
LOWELL -- Lowell High School hosted a scholarly panel recently
to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the Armenian
Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, during which, between 1 million and
1.5 million Armenians died.
The panel was conceived and organized by LHS Social Studies teacher
Lisa Menasian Colloca, who participated in the panel along with
2014 UMass Lowell graduate Julianne Tavitian and Asya Darbinyan,
an internationally acclaimed scholar of the Genocide.
Darbinyan has been deputy director of the Armenian Genocide Museum
and Institute in Yerevan, Armenia, and has held fellowships in Paris
and Los Angeles.
The event began with a welcome from LHS alumnus Aram Jeknavorian
(Class of 1956), who, with his four siblings, is a first-generation
Armenian American. His father, Abraham, survived the Genocide and
made his way to Lowell, along with many other Armenians who formed
an important community in the city.
Abraham became a fixture of the community, founding the Post Office
Locksmith Shop, which is still run by his son, Armen.
Aram Jeknavorian drew parallels between his family's experience and
the later experience of other refugee immigrant groups, especially
the Cambodian community.
Menasian Colloca teaches Advanced Placement courses at LHS, has
traveled to Armenia, and is a board member of the Boston branch of
the Society for Orphaned Armenia Relief. She conceived the panel in
early 2014 as a way to honor her grandparents and other survivors
and victims of the Genocide. She also hoped that the lessons of the
Genocide would find resonance for students at LHS who have experienced
similar horrors in places like Burma and Iraq.
In her talk, Menasian Colloca gave a geography and history lesson
that sketched the early history of Armenia, pointing out that it was
the first country to formally accept Christianity in 301 A.D.
She showed some of the impressive architecture and art of medieval
and present-day Armenia, and mapped out the position of Armenians in
the Ottoman and Russian Empires.
Darbinyan went into great detail about the mechanics of the Genocide,
which began with government edicts that set in motion multiple waves
of oppression, massacres and large-scale death marches from April
1915 until 1918. Her presentation also focused on the politics of the
Armenian Genocide in Turkey (the successor state to the Ottoman Empire)
and independent Armenia today, as well as the Armenian diaspora to the
United States and the role of Americans in response to the Genocide.
Americans, led by the child movie star Jackie Coogan, gave $110 million
(the equivalent of $5 billion today) in relief aid to surviving
Armenians during and after WWI.
Finally, Darbinyan noted that the Genocide is not specifically an
Armenian event, but an event against humanity, a fact that she said
must be understood for every genocide, no matter where it occurs.
Tavitian passionately spoke about her experience as a second-generation
Armenian American and how her travel in Armenia has transformed
her understanding of the Genocide and what it means to be Armenian
American. She also spoke out strongly against Genocide deniers,
noting the experience of many members of her family.
One LHS student said Tavitian's emotional discussion of how she was
shaped by her grandparents' experiences in the Genocide resonated
strongly with what he feels from his own parents' experience with
the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
During the question-and-answer period, the issue of "crimes against
humanity" and genocide law was raised. Darbinyan had already noted
that the first recorded use of the term was made during the Genocide,
when it was mentioned in an international memorandum.
She further spoke about how Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jew who coined
the term "genocide" and is considered the father of modern human
rights and genocide law after WWII, had begun his work in the area
after the trial of an Armenian charged in the assassination of one
of the three Ottoman architects of the Genocide.
The audience comprised a large number of students, educators and
members of the Greater Lowell Armenian American community. The panel
was part of Lowell High School's Occasional Series on Contemporary
Issues, which was instituted last spring and seeks to bring scholars
of significant standing to the school, as well as to showcase the
expertise of faculty at LHS.
GRAPHIC: Panelists for Lowell High's recent discussion of the Armenian
Genocide include, from left, LHS teacher Lisa Menasian Colloca,
Genocide scholar Asya Darbinyan and 2014 UMass Lowell graduate Julianne
Tavitian.COURTESY PHOTO Sun staff photos can be ordered by visiting
our SmugMug site.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress