(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)April 7, 2010

(MAHWAH, NJ) – Aram Arkun, an accomplished scholar and writer, spoke at Ramapo College of New Jersey April 2010 under the auspices of the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Armenian National Committee of New Jersey. The title of his lecture, attended by approximately 150 students and community members, was “Zeytun and the Start of the Armenian Genocide.”

Because of its lofty location, as well as the independent nature of its residents, the predominantly Armenian town of Zeytun in Cilicia, was often called the “Eagles’
Nest.” Although the lecture focused on this remarkably independent hill town, Arkun placed Zeytun’s history in the context of the unfolding enmity between the Turks and Armenians. In particular, he examined the events leading up to the first deportations of what became the Armenian Genocide in 1915, why there was no major rebellion, and the significance of these early deportations. The talk was accompanied by an extensive array of photographs and maps.

Aram Arkun is a historian specializing in modern Armenian history. For many years he was assistant director and then co-director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center of the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern), he has also taught courses in a number of universities such as New York University and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

He edited the quarterly magazine ARARAT from the end of 2003 until 2008, periodically worked as a translator, and has held leadership positions in a number of other organizations, including the Armenian Center at Columbia University, the Anthropology Museum of the People of NewYork, and several awards committees of the Armenian Students Association. He has degrees from Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). His most recent article is titled “Zeytun and the Commencement of the Armenian Genocide.” It will be published by Oxford University Press in a volume edited by Ron Suny and Muge Gocek. At present, Aram is writing and working as a consultant.

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