Author: zohrabcenter

Register today for the Badarak Reading Course!

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The Zohrab Center warmly invites you to sign up for “Խորհուրդ Խորին / Mystery Profound” a Գրաբար reading course to take place Mondays 2:00–4:00pm ET from September 8th to December 15th via Zoom. Don’t miss this opportunity to understand the Holy Badarak (Divine Liturgy) in its original language.

Registered participants only will receive course materials and access to the recordings of the Zoom sessions. Register for the course at this Zoom registration link.

The course will be led by Zohrab Center director Dr. Jesse Arlen and will focus on the hymns, chants, and prayers of the Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church (Ս. Պատարագ), including hymn verses not commonly sung in contemporary practice as well as prayers of the Eucharistic service, said silently by the celebrant.

Participants will also have the opportunity to read from manuscript missals (Խորհրդատետր) containing the text of the Divine Liturgy.

In order to benefit from the course, participants should be able to comfortably read the Armenian alphabet and have some prior experience with classical or modern Armenian.

Book presentation with Katia Karageuzian in-person on October 7th

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The Zohrab Center warmly invites you to a book presentation and signing with Katia Tavitian Karageuzian, who will present her memoir Forbidden Homeland: Story of a Diasporan. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.

About the Author

Award-winning author, Katia Tavitian Karageuzian, Pharm. D. was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Growing up during the Lebanese civil war, she often found refuge in books, eventually developing a lifelong curiosity about historic figures and world events. In 1984, she immigrated to California with her family. She majored in Biology at Cal State University, Northridge, and in 1992 received her Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Southern California where she also met her husband. The couple has two sons. After a long career at chain drug stores, she transitioned to hospital pharmacy in 2015. She currently practices as a pediatric specialty pharmacist. In parallel to her career in pharmacy, Karageuzian is also active in several non-profit organizations. She served for over a decade on the board of her local Homenetmen chapter, contributed articles to Asbarez newspaper, and is a member of the ANCA community.

In 2022, she published her inaugural book Forbidden Homeland: Story of a Diasporan. The memoir became a best seller in Ottoman/Armenian history in its first week of publication. It was very well received by the local Armenian community, garnering a turnout of over 200 strong at its “Kinetson” launch at the Glendale Central Library. Weaving her experiences of growing up in war-torn Lebanon with her journey to unveil the truth about the Armenian cause, Karageuzian strives to highlight stunning historic truths and invites the reader to retell the Armenian story based on the findings of current academic scholarship. She has given many interviews and talks including at Fresno State University, her alma mater USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy as well as several local high schools and organizations. The book is acclaimed for its thought-provoking and vivid writing style, its relatable American story of family and immigration, and its extensive research. Forbidden Homeland has won a 2023 Literary Titan Gold Book Award, a 2023 BookFest Award and a 2024 International Impact Book Award.

Praise for the Book

“Forbidden Homeland immerses you in centuries of world-shaping history as its written pages become the rich landscape of a deeply personal journey…making you feel a part of it and reaching into your core. So it did to me. In her riveting odyssey to find the missing pieces of her own identity, Katia Tavitian Karageuzian takes the reader with her to uncover hidden truths and connect past with present. Dr. Karageuzian masterfully weaves her life’s unexpected twists and turns, layered within stories of Armenian Genocide, Lebanese Civil War, immigration, and current world events, and paints a vivid, living mosaic of the unique and shared experiences of exile and resilience, loss and rebirth, discovering finally that even when forbidden our homeland, if we search, we will find home.” – Ani Hovannisian Kevorkian, Filmmaker, The Hidden Map

“Every migrant finding a haven in America has bittersweet memories of the Old Country to hold and cherish. Karageuzian’s story stands out with the persistence of a dark shadow hovering over her picturesque description of a happy childhood interrupted by the terrors of Lebanese civil war. Halfway through her skillfully wrought narrative, the shadow closes in; she begins to untie the knots, and the narrative becomes the story of the Armenian Genocide through the lens of a third-generation survivor.” – Rubina Peroomian (PhD), Armenian Genocide Scholar, Author

“I am sure this enticingly timely volume will be read with great interest by researchers, and all readers interested in the recent turbulent history of Lebanon, the Middle East and Armenia.” – Tatul Sonentz-Papazian, Editor, Hai Sird

Գրաբար Reading Course on the Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church (Ս. Պատարագ)

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The Zohrab Center warmly invites you to sign up for “Խորհուրդ Խորին / Mystery Profound” a Գրաբար reading course to take place Mondays 2:00–4:00pm ET from September 8th to December 15th via Zoom.

The course will be led by Zohrab Center director Dr. Jesse Arlen and will focus on the hymns, chants, and prayers of the Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church (Ս. Պատարագ), including hymn verses not commonly sung in contemporary practice as well as prayers of the Eucharistic service, said silently by the celebrant.

Participants will also have the opportunity to read from manuscript missals (Խորհրդատետր) containing the text of the Divine Liturgy.

In order to benefit from the course, participants should be able to comfortably read the Armenian alphabet and have some prior experience with classical or modern Armenian.

Register for the course at this Zoom registration link.

For questions about the course, email zohrabcenter@armeniandiocese.org

REMINDER: In-person event tomorrow (Tuesday) with Ara Merjian

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On Tuesday, May 13th at 7:00pm in Yerevan Room at the Diocesan Complex, the Zohrab Center will host a book presentation by NYU professor of Italian studies, Ara H. Merjian, translator of Aram’s Notebook (Swan Isle Press / University of Chicago Press, 2024), a novel based on the Armenian Genocide, originally written in Catalan. Prof. Merjian will speak about the novel, after which there will be a Q&A and book signing, with copies of the book available for sale at the event.

St. Nerses Shnorhali in His Context, May 8-10 (in-person & Zoom)

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The Zohrab Center warmly invites you to an upcoming international conference, Շնորհալի եւ պարագայ իւր “Nerses Shnorhali in His Context,” to be held at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary from May 8–10, 2025.

You may register for the Zoom Webinar via this link.

The conference flyer and program are below. For more information, visit the St. Nersess seminary website.

 

“Creating Culture after Cultural Genocide: 100 Years Later” a Lecture by Dr. Jesse Arlen

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On April 24th, 2025, Zohrab Center director Dr. Jesse Arlen gave a keynote lecture entitled “Creating Culture after Cultural Genocide: 100 years later” at Saint Elizabeth University in Morristown, New Jersey during an evening of remembrance held in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. The event was hosted by St. Elizabeth University’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education.
A recording of the program is available to view on YouTube.

REMINDER: Narine Abgaryan with translators in-person tomorrow (April 29)

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On Tuesday, April 29th, at 7:00pm, the Zohrab Center will host a conversation between internationally renowned author, Narine Abgaryan, and her English-language translators, Margarit Ordukhanyan and Zara Torlone, in celebration of the release of the short story collection To Go on Living (Plough Press, 2025) and as part of the author’s April US tour.

At the event will be copies of the book for sale and a book signing with the author and translators.

Dr. Jesse Arlen to speak at St. Elizabeth University’s Evening to Honor and Remember the Armenian Genocide

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On April 24th, 2025 at 6:30pm in the Dolan Auditorium in the Annunciation Center of Saint Elizabeth University Campus in Morristown, New Jersey, an evening of remembrance will be held in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

Beautiful Armenian music will be provided by Sarita Maldjian and her children, along with a buffet of various traditional foods.

The program, which is free and open to the public, will feature Dr. Jesse Arlen as the keynote speaker with his lecture, “Creating Culture after Cultural Genocide: 110 Years Later”.

The program is hosted by St. Elizabeth University’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education  with special thanks to the Dadourian Foundation, Roy Stepanian, and Vartan Abdo.

For more information, visit the Center’s event page.

May 13, Book Release: Aram’s Notebook by Maria Àngels Anglada: A Presentation and Signing by the Book’s Translator Ara H. Merjian

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On Tuesday, May 13th at 7:00pm in Yerevan Room at the Diocesan Complex, the Zohrab Center will host a book presentation by NYU professor of Italian studies, Ara H. Merjian, translator of Aram’s Notebook (Swan Isle Press / University of Chicago Press, 2024), a novel based on the Armenian Genocide, originally written in Catalan. Prof. Merjian will speak about the novel, after which there will be a Q&A and book signing, with copies of the book available for sale at the event.

Ara H. Merjian is professor of Italian Studies at New York University, where he is an affiliate of the Institute of Fine Arts and the Department of Art History. He is a member of the College of Professors in the Department of History, University of Milan, and the author of Giorgio de Chirico and the Metaphysical City: Nietzsche, Modernism, Paris and Blueprints and Ruins: Giorgio de Chicrico and the Architectural Imagination from the Avant-Gardes to Postmodernism, both from Yale University Press.

DAY/TIME CHANGE: Գրաբար Reading Group: Medieval Armenian Poetry Part II

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Following the successful experience of the 12-week Գրաբար medieval Armenian poetry reading course and based on student demand, a ten-week continuation course will be offered April 7 – June 9 on Mondays from 2:00pm–4:00pm ET by Zoom, taught by Zohrab Center director Dr. Jesse Arlen.

In part 1 of the course, in addition to some basic grammar lessons, participants read and translated hymns by two early female hymnographers, Khosrovidukht Goghtnatsi and Sahakdukht Siwnetsi, a poetic meditation on the transience of this world by Anania of Narek, selections from the prayerbook of St. Gregory of Narek, as well as one of the latter’s liturgical odes on the Resurrection.

In the continuation course, participants will read from the poetic works of St. Nerses Shnorhali and other later medieval poets.

There is no course fee, but some basic familiarity with Classical Armenian (or knowledge of Modern Armenian) is recommended for participants.

Please register at this link. Those unable to follow the sessions live may have access to the recordings and course materials by registering at the above Zoom link.