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GROUNDBREAKING SYMPOSIUM AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY FOCUSING ON MONUMENTS & MEMORY
By MassisPost
Updated: February 3, 2015
By Taleen Babayan
Major scholars from around the world will participate in a timely,
and thought-provoking conference at Columbia University, "Monuments
and Memory: Material Culture and the Aftermath of Histories of Mass
Violence" on Friday, February 20, 2015.
This all-day symposium concentrating on material culture and memory,
with the ruins of the ancient Armenian city of Ani as the centerpiece,
is organized and hosted by Peter Balakian, Donald M. Constance H.
Rebar Professor of the Humanities at Colgate University, and Rachel
Goshgarian, Assistant Professor of History at Lafayette College, and
sponsored by the Armenian Center of Columbia University, Columbia's
Institute for the Study of Human Rights, the Institute for Comparative
Literature and Society, and the Armenian General Benevolent Union.
The conference will explore the general themes of restoration,
restitution and social justice and will be groundbreaking in its
comparative analysis of Jewish monuments in Eastern Europe, Muslim
monuments in the Balkans, and Armenian-Christian monuments in Turkey.
Four sessions revolving around these topics will take place throughout
the day, each chaired by a member of the Columbia community who will
conduct and moderate the question and answer sessions.
The first session, "Monuments and Memory: the Significance of Material
Culture in the Aftermath of Genocide," (10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.),
chaired by Christine Philliou, Associate Professor of History at
Columbia University, will address the historical contexts for the
destroyed or appropriated material cultures of minority peoples in
the aftermath of histories of mass violence. The current conditions of
these monuments will be analyzed, as well as their roles in collective
memory for both occupying and exiled cultures. Presenters include
Peter Balakian; Andrew Herscher, Associate Professor of Architecture
at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Marianne Hirsch, William
Peterfield Trent Professor of English and Comparative Literature at
Columbia University.
The second session, "The Medieval Armenian City of Ani: A Case Study
in the Politicization of Art History, History, Historical Monuments
and Preservation in a Post-Genocidal Context," (11:30 a.m. to
12:45 p.m.), chaired by Nanor Kebranian, Assistant Professor in
the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies
at Columbia University, will include papers on subjects related to
Ani's multicultural past, cultural destruction, restoration projects,
depiction in modern Turkey, and place in the construction of Armenian
identity. Presenters include Rachel Goshgarian; Christina Maranci,
Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Associate Professor of Armenian Art
and Architecture at Tufts University; Heghnar Watenpaugh, Associate
Professor of Art History at the University of California, Davis;
and Yavuz Ozkaya, Restoration Architect at PROMET Architecture and
Restoration Co.
The third session, "Monuments, Memory, Restitution, and Social Justice:
What issues do monuments raise in these historical contexts?
How can social justice and restitution be achieved decades after the
event of genocide or mass-killing?" (2:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) will be
chaired by Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies
and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Presenters include
Osman Kavala, Founder of Anadolu Kultur; Leo Spitzer, Kathe Tappe
Vernon Professor of History at Dartmouth University; and Elazar Barkan,
Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
The concluding session will be a round table discussion followed by
a reception for participants and attendees.
"Rachel and Peter are bringing together a wide range of speakers
to address the issue of Ani, from historians to cultural heritage
advocates, to practicing architects actively engaged in restoration
projects at Ani," said Maranci.
"I hope that it will galvanize more dialogue about the fate of the
churches and other ancient monuments in and around Ani, because of
their historical and architectural importance and because of their
structural vulnerability."
"There is tremendous opportunity here to address the painful history
of Armenians and Turkey and forge a different way forward regarding
Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey," said Watenpaugh, who recently
published, "Preserving the Medieval City of Ani: Cultural Heritage
Between Contest and Reconciliation" in the Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians. "This is the right time to have a critical
and public discussion about this site, and the broader issues it
raises."
Mark Momjian Esq., Chair of the Armenian Center and an alumnus of
Columbia College and Columbia Law School, emphasized his alma mater's
role not only in aiding the survivors of the Armenian Genocide,
but in advocating support of the Armenian Republic.
"Ambassador Henry Morgenthau was an alumnus of Columbia Law School,
and he is in the pantheon of heroes to the Armenian people. Talcott
Williams was the first director of Columbia's School of Journalism,
and he was heavily involved with Near East Relief. George Edward
Woodbury, a comparative literature professor at Columbia, assailed
the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. And there are countless
others," said Momjian, a Philadelphia lawyer and community activist.
"This symposium marks the centennial of the Armenian Genocide,
but it also honors the many Columbians who denounced this terrible
crime against humanity and who worked tirelessly to help the Armenian
people."
The event will take place in Room 1501 of Columbia University's
Morningside Campus International Affairs Building, located at 420
West 118th Street, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. with breaks for lunch
and coffee. A reception will follow. This event is free and open to
the public.
http://massispost.com/2015/02/groundbreaking-symposium-at-columbia-university-focusing-on-monuments-memory/
By MassisPost
Updated: February 3, 2015
By Taleen Babayan
Major scholars from around the world will participate in a timely,
and thought-provoking conference at Columbia University, "Monuments
and Memory: Material Culture and the Aftermath of Histories of Mass
Violence" on Friday, February 20, 2015.
This all-day symposium concentrating on material culture and memory,
with the ruins of the ancient Armenian city of Ani as the centerpiece,
is organized and hosted by Peter Balakian, Donald M. Constance H.
Rebar Professor of the Humanities at Colgate University, and Rachel
Goshgarian, Assistant Professor of History at Lafayette College, and
sponsored by the Armenian Center of Columbia University, Columbia's
Institute for the Study of Human Rights, the Institute for Comparative
Literature and Society, and the Armenian General Benevolent Union.
The conference will explore the general themes of restoration,
restitution and social justice and will be groundbreaking in its
comparative analysis of Jewish monuments in Eastern Europe, Muslim
monuments in the Balkans, and Armenian-Christian monuments in Turkey.
Four sessions revolving around these topics will take place throughout
the day, each chaired by a member of the Columbia community who will
conduct and moderate the question and answer sessions.
The first session, "Monuments and Memory: the Significance of Material
Culture in the Aftermath of Genocide," (10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.),
chaired by Christine Philliou, Associate Professor of History at
Columbia University, will address the historical contexts for the
destroyed or appropriated material cultures of minority peoples in
the aftermath of histories of mass violence. The current conditions of
these monuments will be analyzed, as well as their roles in collective
memory for both occupying and exiled cultures. Presenters include
Peter Balakian; Andrew Herscher, Associate Professor of Architecture
at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Marianne Hirsch, William
Peterfield Trent Professor of English and Comparative Literature at
Columbia University.
The second session, "The Medieval Armenian City of Ani: A Case Study
in the Politicization of Art History, History, Historical Monuments
and Preservation in a Post-Genocidal Context," (11:30 a.m. to
12:45 p.m.), chaired by Nanor Kebranian, Assistant Professor in
the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies
at Columbia University, will include papers on subjects related to
Ani's multicultural past, cultural destruction, restoration projects,
depiction in modern Turkey, and place in the construction of Armenian
identity. Presenters include Rachel Goshgarian; Christina Maranci,
Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Associate Professor of Armenian Art
and Architecture at Tufts University; Heghnar Watenpaugh, Associate
Professor of Art History at the University of California, Davis;
and Yavuz Ozkaya, Restoration Architect at PROMET Architecture and
Restoration Co.
The third session, "Monuments, Memory, Restitution, and Social Justice:
What issues do monuments raise in these historical contexts?
How can social justice and restitution be achieved decades after the
event of genocide or mass-killing?" (2:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) will be
chaired by Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies
and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Presenters include
Osman Kavala, Founder of Anadolu Kultur; Leo Spitzer, Kathe Tappe
Vernon Professor of History at Dartmouth University; and Elazar Barkan,
Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
The concluding session will be a round table discussion followed by
a reception for participants and attendees.
"Rachel and Peter are bringing together a wide range of speakers
to address the issue of Ani, from historians to cultural heritage
advocates, to practicing architects actively engaged in restoration
projects at Ani," said Maranci.
"I hope that it will galvanize more dialogue about the fate of the
churches and other ancient monuments in and around Ani, because of
their historical and architectural importance and because of their
structural vulnerability."
"There is tremendous opportunity here to address the painful history
of Armenians and Turkey and forge a different way forward regarding
Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey," said Watenpaugh, who recently
published, "Preserving the Medieval City of Ani: Cultural Heritage
Between Contest and Reconciliation" in the Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians. "This is the right time to have a critical
and public discussion about this site, and the broader issues it
raises."
Mark Momjian Esq., Chair of the Armenian Center and an alumnus of
Columbia College and Columbia Law School, emphasized his alma mater's
role not only in aiding the survivors of the Armenian Genocide,
but in advocating support of the Armenian Republic.
"Ambassador Henry Morgenthau was an alumnus of Columbia Law School,
and he is in the pantheon of heroes to the Armenian people. Talcott
Williams was the first director of Columbia's School of Journalism,
and he was heavily involved with Near East Relief. George Edward
Woodbury, a comparative literature professor at Columbia, assailed
the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. And there are countless
others," said Momjian, a Philadelphia lawyer and community activist.
"This symposium marks the centennial of the Armenian Genocide,
but it also honors the many Columbians who denounced this terrible
crime against humanity and who worked tirelessly to help the Armenian
people."
The event will take place in Room 1501 of Columbia University's
Morningside Campus International Affairs Building, located at 420
West 118th Street, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. with breaks for lunch
and coffee. A reception will follow. This event is free and open to
the public.
http://massispost.com/2015/02/groundbreaking-symposium-at-columbia-university-focusing-on-monuments-memory/