The Armenian Studies Program’s spring lecture series will feature a presentation by Dr. Yektan Türkyılmaz, who will discuss life before the Armenian Genocide.

The lecture, titled “Van Vaspurakan Armenians: From Renaissance to Resistance and Genocide,” will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the University Business Center’s Alice Peter’s Auditorium, Room 191.

In his presentation, Türkyılmaz will provide an overview of the 19th and early 20th centuries of the Van/Vaspurakan Armenians with references to Armenian, Ottoman and Russian archival materials, according to a news release.

He will detail the economic growth and developments that coincided with massacres and social destruction for Armenians during the period leading up to the Genocide.­Türkyılmaz is a research fellow at the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin, Germany, according to the news release.

A reception will be held at 6:30 p.m., and the lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and parking is free in lots P5 and P6. A free permit can be obtained at kiosks with the code 273825.

For more information, contact the Armenian Studies Program at (559) 278-2669 or visit their website at www.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies.