Day: June 19, 2024

IRVINE, Calif.—On June 15, the rather new eight-year-old University of California, Irvine Armenian Studies program graduated its first Ph.D., Bedros Torosian. UCI Armenian Studies was first established in 2015 through the passion, guidance and years of labor of Sylvie Tertzakian, who galvanized the Armenian community to support the establishment of the program. 

Dr. Bedros Torosian with Prof. Houri Berberian

Prof. Touraj Daryaee, director of the Jordan Center for Persian Studies, and a community group helped support Armenian history courses and programming until the endowment of a lecture series and a chair in 2015, thanks to the generosity and vision of a few donors, especially Vahe and Armine Meghrouni and the Meghrouni family. In 2016, Prof. Houri Berberian became the first Meghrouni Family Presidential Chair in Armenian Studies. Her appointment was renewed in 2021. 

Dr. Torosian joined UCI Armenian Studies and the History Department’s graduate program in fall 2019 to work under the mentorship of Prof. Berberian. A native of Lebanon who was introduced to the program by one of the center’s longtime supporters, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Ara Apkarian, Dr. Torosian is a remarkable scholar whose dissertation, “Whiteness Across Waters: Domesticating Euro-American Racialisms and Masculinities in the Service of Ottoman Imperial and Communal Subalternities,” focuses on Armenian and Arab diasporic communities in the United States and makes significant contributions to multiple fields in Armenian, Ottoman and Middle East history, as well as diaspora, migration, race and gender studies. 

For 2024-2026, Dr. Torosian was awarded the Manoogian Postdoctoral Fellowship in Armenian Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship.  After careful consideration, he elected to join UC Davis’s History Department in fall 2024 as the prestigious UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow, where he will revise his dissertation into a book manuscript. Congratulations, Dr. Torosian!

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Confidence in democracy should increase, and a tough fight should be made against dictators like Ilham Aliyev https://t.co/ylwFnThBDu

— Emin Bred (@emin_bred) June 19, 2024

Iran Set to Triple Uranium Enrichment Capacity: Report  ایران اینترنشنال

Ship attacked by Houthi rebels believed to have sunk in Red Sea  CNN

1. Iran’s reformist presidential candidate eyes improved relations with US  The Guardian
2. Iran’s presidential candidates debate economic policies ahead of the June 28 vote  The Associated Press
3. Iran’s six presidential candidates debate economic issues as elections near  The Times of Israel

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EU and Azerbaijan agree to continue regular exchanges on foreign and security policy issues  Trend News Agency

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NEW MILFORD, N.J.—Shaké and Vahe Nahapetian initiated a transformative gift of over $335,000 to Hovnanian School in May to renovate the school gymnasium and to replace the school’s aging roof.

The gymnasium is the heart of Hovnanian School and is the area of the school most familiar to the community-at-large. It hosts all of the school’s beloved events and traditions, from the Food Festival and Art in Fall to Manti Night, the Lenten Dinner and Mother’s Day Luncheon. It is where the students make the stage come alive with their performances during the Armenian Cultural Month Showcase, Christmas Hantes, graduations and more. 

The Hovnanian School gymnasium during the 2023 Armenian Cultural Month Showcase

The Nahapetian’s gift will help enhance and elevate the existing space. The gym will receive technology upgrades including a new projector, screen and sound system. The walls will be freshly painted from floor to ceiling, and the floors will be sanded and stained with the current school seal in the center. The stage curtains will be replaced, and the school seal will be embroidered on the valence. The mural located at the back of the gym that was painted by Hovnanian School students and visiting artist Vatché Demirdjian in 2018 will be properly restored and protected. Finally, the current boys’ and girls’ bathrooms/locker rooms will both be renovated, and there will now be direct access to the locker room from the gym.

“Embracing our Armenian culture is as important to us today as it was five decades ago when we came to America,” said the Nahapetians. “We are so pleased to support the Hovnanian School, which provides exceptional education and honors the Armenian heritage so that our culture and traditions are preserved for generations to come. That is what global education is all about.”

Head of School Stephanie Torossian said, “All of us at Hovnanian School are so grateful for the Nahapetian family’s gift to renovate the gymnasium and replace the roof, which accomplishes two of our goals in our five-year strategic plan. I hope that this demonstration of commitment will inspire many others to support our important efforts and consequential improvements to our school. My heart swells with gratitude for Shaké, Vahe and their generosity.”

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