Worcester, Mass.—The Clark University Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies will present "Ancient Civilization and Modern Statecraft: Armenia at the Crossroads," by Raffi Hovannisian, founding director of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS) in Yerevan, Armenia, at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 15, in Room 320 of the Jefferson Academic Center, 950 Main Street.
In his lecture, Mr. Hovannisian will assess the next phase of Armenia's development, which he holds is to rediscover its role as a member of the family of nations while striving to unite the vast political, economic, cultural, and intellectual potential of Armenians throughout the world.
Mr. Hovannisian served as independent Armenia's first Minister of Foreign Affairs, helping the country gain entry into the United Nations. His educational background includes: J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center; The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (M.A.L.D. awarded in 1982; and University of California, Berkeley and Los Angeles (B.A., summa cum laude, awarded in 1980 in History and Near Eastern Studies; Justin Turner Prize for Outstanding Honors Thesis). This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact 508-793-8897.
Founded in 1994, ACNIS serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also functions as a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider understanding of the new global environment.
The mission of the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies is to educate undergraduate and graduate students about genocide and the Holocaust; to host a lecture series, free of charge and open to the public; to use scholarship to address current problems stemming from the murderous past; and to participate in the public discussion about a host of issues ranging from the significance of state-sponsored denial of the Armenian genocide and well-funded denial of the Holocaust to intervention in and prevention of genocidal situations today.
Clark University is a private, co-educational liberal-arts research university with 2,000 undergraduate and 800 graduate students. Since its founding in 1887 as the first all-graduate school in the United States, Clark has challenged convention with innovative programs such as the International Studies Stream, the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the accelerated BA/MA programs with the fifth year tuition-free for eligible students. The University is featured in Loren Pope's book, "Colleges That Change Lives."