Photo courtesy of Erica Magarian
Many universities across the nation are celebrating International Education Week. The purpose is to celebrate the benefits of international education and at Fresno State.
The week started off with “Armenia Reflections,” a presentation on various aspects of life in Armenia.
Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian, director of the Fresno State Armenian Studies Program, led the hour-long session which included students, faculty, staff and members of the community.
The event began with videos and slides of an earthquake that struck Armenia.
The images provided showed the major cities in ruins.
“The Armenian earthquake struck on Dec. 7, 1988, in northern Armenia,” Barlow said. “The population [was] 20,000, of which 18,000 were killed in the earthquake.”
With an earthquake magnitude of 6.7, to this day, neither the population size nor construction has recovered. It also happened during the middle of wintertime.
“The added effect was tremendous,” Barlow said.
Subsequent reports revealed that the Soviets that built the collapsed buildings had cheated on construction materials. They were not putting the proper amount of cement into the buildings as a result; anything more than five stories was destroyed in the earthquake.
Another tragic event that was touched on and some students are unfamiliar with, is the Armenian genocide between the years of 1915-1918.
Nursing major Faten Kassabian helped organize the event and he said he thinks it’s important to educate students from different ethnicities of Armenia’s tragic past.
“I’m really proud that Barlow mentioned the Armenian genocide during the lecture, because a lot of people don’t know [about it],” Kassabian said. “1.5-million Armenians died in the genocide, and I personally think that it should be taught in every grade level.”
Last year Kassabian was the president of the Armenian Students Organization, which accepts students of different nationalities.
“We do have the genocide memorial on April 24, but a lot of people don’t know because they just walk by to their next class,” Kassabian said.
Through out the week, students from Fresno State will travel abroad and share their experiences with others from foreign countries.
Vice President for Continuing and Global Education Dr. Berta Gonzà lez, alumna from Fresno State, has been in charge of sponsoring Education Week to promote global experiences and international exchanges with foreign institutions.
“Right now we have 16 visiting scholars from 16 different countries that are staying here at Fresno State, and we have another 13 coming in,” Gonzà lez said. ”Students from here who have gone abroad and those from abroad who have come here, will be exchanging information and experiences.”
This week of activities also include “coffee hour,” where students who studied in India have returned. They will be speaking on their experiences.
Through the International Week, Barlow was asked to participate and share a part of Armenia’s past to the public.
For more than two decades, Barlow has been teaching Armenian language, history, literature, culture, art, church and a variety of other topics on Armenia and Armenians at Fresno State.
Barlow said that it is always good for students to know about history and culture, whatever their ethnic background may be.
Barlow is planning a student trip to Armenia this summer. Years ago, the process was tougher. Students needed to get an invitation from the Soviet government in order to visit Armenia. This summer, he plans on taking tours and teaching classes.
“Once you learn about a culture and actually visit the place, it makes it more exciting,” Barlow said.
With a positive student turnout, Barlow stressed the Armenian genocide during his presentation. Barlow said that many students are unfamiliar with the atrocities that were done to the Armenian people.
“You just have to keep talking about it and teach in order for students to learn.”