Fresno State will host professor Umit Kurt as a guest speaker for a lecture on historical figures of the Armenian Genocide in the University Business Center at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 21.

The discussion is part of the Fall Lecture Series presented by the Armenian Studies Program and is the first of three scheduled lectures entitled, “Actors, Actions and Ideas in Mass Violence at the Ottoman Periphery.”

According to a news release from the Armenian Studies Program, this discussion, titled “A rescuer, an Enigma and a Genocidaire: Cemal Pasha,” will focus on Pasha, a military general and ruler of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

The lecture will be preceded by a reception featuring hors d’oeuvres from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the University Business Gallery before the discussion, which will be in the Alice Peters Auditorium Room 191.

Kurt is a Ph.D. scholar who received his degree from the Department of History at Clark University in 2016 and currently serves as a Polonsky Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.