Author Antonia Arslan hosted by friends of UCLA Armenian program

Published: Tuesday February 23, 2010

Antonia Arslan. Jerry Bauer

Members of the Board of the Friends of UCLA Armenian Language and Culture Studies. Seated (l to r) Garbis Bedoyan (Membership Chair), Gia Aivazian (President), Prof. Peter Cowe; Standing (l to r) Ani Aivazian (Banquet Chair), Rita Mahdessian, Esq. (Publicity Chair), Hilda Fidanian (Secretary), Art Honanyan (Treasurer). Not pictured: Hasmig Baran (Vice-President), Dr. Hrach Khudatyan, Dr. Raffi Dishakjian and Dr. Minas Kojayan . Courtesy photo

Los Angeles - Friends of the UCLA Armenian Language and Culture Studies will hold their Eighth Annual Banquet at the Walter and Laurel Karabian Hall of the TCA Arshag Dickranian School in Hollywood on Sunday, March 21, 2010.

The event will honor Italian-Armenian scholar and novelist Antonia Arslan in recognition of her significant contribution to the treasury of Armenian culture and specifically her novel La Masseria delle Allodole (Skylark Farm) - a novel about the Armenian Genocide. This novel has been translated into a number of languages including Armenian and English.

Also, a film in Italian bearing the same title and with English subtitles was produced in 2007; it will be shown on March 19 at UCLA's Melnitz Hall at 8:00 p.m ahead of the banquet.

The Friends were organized in 1998 under the auspices of UCLA to support Armenian language and culture studies in conjunction with the programs of the Grigor Narekatsi Chair of Armenian Studies. The latter was established in 1969. Since July of 2000, the holder of the Narekatsi Chair has been Professor S. Peter Cowe.

In addition to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees offered within this program and in the absence of a specifically Armenian Studies undergraduate major, there exists an Individual Major program that tailors courses around the needs of individual students. Impelled by student enthusiasm, efforts are currently underway to establish a fully-fledged Armenian Major (B.A. degree).

To facilitate the creation of an Armenian Studies major, the base of courses in Armenian studies on campus was expanded to include instruction in such areas as Armenian art history, ethnomusicology, archaeology, architecture, etc. The Friends group is participating in this effort by raising funds towards courses to be taught by visiting professors.

The primary purpose of the Friends Annual Banquet is to inform the community about, and encourage it to support, Armenian language and culture studies at UCLA.

On this occasion, the Master of Ceremonies will be Mr. Alex Kalognomos who, in the past several years, has been Director of the Annual Film Festival of the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art (AFFMA). The program will also include Hamazkayin's Ani Dance Company and the extraordinarily talented tenor Bakur Kalantaryan. More details to follow.

The Walter and Laurel Karabian Hall of the TCA Arshag Dickranian School is located at 1200 Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood. The banquet will start at 6:00 p.m. with a reception followed by dinner and program.

For inquiries regarding donations and the banquet, please contact the Friends at (310) 275-2767 or (818) 249-3330.