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Dick Barsamian Band to Perform at Armenian Assembly Dinner in Florida

Assembly Dinner and Dance Will Take Place in Boca Raton March 14, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) is pleased to announce that Dick Barsamian, Leon Janikian, Mike Gregian, and John Arzigian will perform live Armenian music at this year’s dinner and dance, capping off the Assembly’s annual members weekend in Boca Raton, Florida.

“We’re excited to feature live, traditional, and contemporary Armenian music for our members and friends as we gather for dinner and dancing on the last evening of the Assembly Annual Members weekend,” stated Assembly Fellow Trustee Michael Haratunian.

FL March Flyer-final

The Assembly’s annual members weekend will kick-off with a complimentary welcome reception on Friday, March 13 at 7:00 PM with select hors d’oeuvres and open bar. Author Irene Vosbikian will present her new book BEDROS at the welcome reception and sign copies that will be available for purchase with all proceeds benefiting the Assembly. On Saturday, March 14, guests are invited to a complimentary continental breakfast at 9:00 AM, with the annual trustees and members meeting starting at 10:00 AM. Lunch will be served between 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM for $35.00. The Assembly’s Armenian Genocide Symposium featuring Dr. Rouben Adalian, Dr. Rosanna Gatens, and Hannibal Travis, will take place from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. The symposium is free and open to the public and online registration is available here. On Saturday night, guests are invited to a cocktail reception at 6:00 PM, followed by a dinner and dance with live music at 7:00 PM. Tickets to the Saturday cocktail reception and dinner dance are available for $100 per person.

In addition, sponsorship opportunities for the Assembly’s Annual Members Meeting are still available at the Gold ($2,500), Silver ($1,250), and Bronze ($750) levels. Bronze sponsors will receive access to the welcome reception, breakfast, symposium and two tickets to the Saturday dinner dance. Silver sponsors will receive access to all events for two people. Gold sponsors will receive access to all events for four people.

All events of the Assembly’s annual members weekend will be held at the Marriott Hotel at Boca Town Center, 5150 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33486. Guests that are traveling from out of town should call (561) 392-4600 to reserve a room at the Armenian Assembly’s reduced rate of $169.00 per night. To register for the annual members weekend please contact Assembly South Florida Regional Council Chair Carol Norigian at southflaaa@gmail.com.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

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Assembly to Hold Armenian Genocide Symposium at Annual Members Meeting in Florida

Symposium Will Take Place in Boca Raton on Saturday, March 14, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) is pleased to announce the speakers for the Armenian Genocide Symposium that will take place during the Assembly’s Annual Members Meeting weekend in Boca Raton, Florida, March 13-14, 2015. Entitled, “A Century of Genocide: The 1915 Armenian Genocide & Its Lasting Impact,” the symposium will feature Dr. Rouben Adalian, Dr. Rosanna Gatens, and Hannibal Travis.

Dr. Adalian will present on the topic “The Armenian Genocide as a Prototype of 20th Century Mass Killings.” Dr. Gatens will discuss “The Impact of the Armenian Genocide on Holocaust Education,” and Hannibal Travis will present “The Armenian Genocide as a Political Act and International Crime.” Assembly Trustee Marta Batmasian will moderate the discussion.

The Symposium will take place on Saturday, March 14, 2015 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.

FL AG Symposium flyer

Dr. Rouben P. Adalian is the Director of the Armenian National Institute (ANI) in Washington, DC. He is the editor of The Armenian Genocide in the U.S. Archives 1915-1918 and its accompanying Guide and associate editor of the Encyclopedia of Genocide. Adalian is also the author of From Humanism to Rationalism: Armenian Scholarship in the Nineteenth Century and Historical Dictionary of Armenia and has contributed to Genocide in Our Time; Studies in Comparative Genocide; America and the Armenian Genocide; and Centuries of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts. He is a specialist on the Caucasus and the Middle East, and has taught at a number of universities, including George Washington University, Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University. He received a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Rosanna M. Gatens is the Director of the Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education (CHHRE) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida. Dr. Gatens is a specialist in the social and intellectual history of Germany, especially during the era of the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. Dr. Gatens has written about the collapse of academic freedom in German universities during the 1920s, the anti-fascist and anti-militarist campaigns of the German League for Human Rights during the interwar years, and racism as a component of National Socialism. Her research and writing in the area of Holocaust education focuses on the effectiveness of particular teaching and learning strategies for high school and college students. Dr. Gatens is a member of the Florida Task Force on Holocaust Education and a member of the Save Darfur Coalition of South Palm Beach.

Hannibal Travis is a Professor of Law at Florida International University (FIU) College of Law in Miami, Florida. He has published widely on Ottoman Turkey’s Christian genocide, freedom of expression, religious freedom in the contemporary Middle East, and human rights in Africa. Travis wrote the first comprehensive legal history of genocide in the Middle East and North Africa, entitled Genocide in the Middle East: The Ottoman Empire, Iraq, and Sudan. His second book, entitled Genocide, Ethnonationalism, and the United Nations: Exploring the Causes of Mass Killing Since 1945, undertakes the first in-depth exploration of the causes of genocide and politicide using the U.N. archives.

The Assembly’s Armenian Genocide Symposium will be held at the Marriott Hotel at Boca Town Center, 5150 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33486 on Saturday, March 14, 2015 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Guests that are traveling from out of town should call (561) 392-4600 to reserve a room at the Armenian Assembly’s reduced rate of $169.00 per night.

Online registration for the Symposium is available here. For additional information please contact Assembly South Florida Regional Council Chair Carol Norigian at southflaaa@gmail.com.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

Florida Atlantic University Conducts First Public Teacher Workshop on the Armenian Genocide in South Florida

Workshop is Part of a Series of Events in South Florida Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

By Taniel Koushakjian
FLArmenians Managing Editor

AG Workshop 1

As part of the South Florida commemorations of the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century, Florida Atlantic University (FAU) will conduct a two-part series of events. On January 20th, Dr. Rosanna Gatens, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education (CHHRE) at FAU and Reverend Fr. Paren Galstyan, Pastor of St. David Armenian Church in Boca Raton, Florida, held a workshop at the Alex and Marie Manoogian School. The workshop featured lectures, exhibits, and thought-provoking information and dialogue on the Armenian Genocide. Facilitated by Dr. Mary Johnson, Facing History and Ourselves, the workshop explored the role of World War I in the execution of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Fifteen teachers from Broward and Palm Beach County participated in the FAU workshop. “St. David’s Armenian school was the perfect setting for teachers, not only to learn about the Armenian genocide and how to teach it, but also to begin to understand Armenian identity,” stated Dr. Gatens. “All of us were fascinated by the richness of Armenian culture, but even more by the ancientness of Armenian Christianity,” Dr. Gatens said.

FAU AG Workshop C1

During the workshop instructors examined the exhibit “Witness to the Armenian Genocide: Photographs by the Perpetrators’ German and Austro-Hungarian Allies,” produced by the Armenian National Institute (ANI), the Armenian Genocide Museum of America (AGMA), and the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). The ten-poster set includes an introductory page, a detailed timeline, a color-coded map geographically matching the photographs with their location, and seven pages displaying 34 captioned historic photographs. The color-coded map in the exhibit is based on the previously-published ANI map of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkish Empire illustrating the three prevailing aspects of the Genocide: the deportations, the massacres, and the concentration camps.

FAU’s second lecture commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will take place on Sunday, April 19, 2015, as part of the Martin and Edith Stein Community Lecture Series. Dr. Tamar Akçam will discuss his book, “The Young Turks’ Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire.” Dr. Akçam is the Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Florida Atlantic University Events Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide:

January 20, 2015

Teacher Workshop: The Role of World War I in the Execution of the Armenian Genocide, facilitated by Dr. Mary Johnson, Facing History and Ourselves, FAU, Boca Raton Campus, 8.30-a.m.3.30 p.m. at St. David’s Armenian Church, Boca Raton. Substitute reimbursements available. April 2015 marks the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. This program is part of local commemoration of the first genocide of the Twentieth Century.

April 19, 2015

Martin and Edith Stein Community Lecture Series: Dr. Tamar Akçam will discuss his book, “The Young Turks’ Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire,” Dr. Akçam is Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University. This program is part of south Florida’s commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. FAU, Boca Campus, 7-9 p.m., location TBA.