ZORYAN INSTITUTE CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

World War I and Beyond:
The Non-Turkish Minorities in the Ottoman Empire, Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks
New York, NY, May 21-22, 2015

The Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center, the Middle Eastern and Middle Eastern American Center (Graduate Center, City University of New York), and the Zoryan Institute are organizing a conference on World War I and the Non-Turkish Minorities in the Ottoman Empire: Armenian, Assyrians and Greeks.

Scholars from around the world will present original research on the Ottoman Turkish Genocides, affecting Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and Jews, to yield new insight into the overall strategy, planning, execution and aftermath of the campaign to eliminate the non-Turkish populations of Asia Minor. The conference aims to provide innovative analyses and insights from a broad range of disciplines and perspectives.

The conference will be hosted by the prestigious Middle Eastern and Middle Eastern American Center (Graduate Center, City University of New York) at 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street).


Program

Session 1: Nationalism, Military, Minorities 

Umit Kurt, “Race, Racist Discourses, Tones, Patterns and Colors as a Main Vein in Turkish Nationalism: The Case of Turk Yurdu (Turkish Homeland), 1911-1916”
Nora Cherishian Lessersohn, “Voluntary Enlistment, Prophesied Liberation: An Armenian Solider in the Ottoman Military (1910-1914)”
David Gaunt, “A Zone of Extreme Violence - the Intertwining of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides”
Alexandros Kastrinakis, “The Kemalist Movement and the Christians of Pontos, in 1919-1923, from an International Politics’ Perspective”

Session 2: Genocide

Sabri Atman, “Women in the Assyrian Genocide”
Steven Leonard Jacobs, “The State and Fate of Jews in the Ottoman Empire during World War I”
Robert Shenk, “American Women During the Crisis at Kars”
Stavros Stavridis, “The Deportation and Massacre of Pontian Greeks in 1921-22: Official Documents and News Reports”

Session 3: Women Survivors, Building Community

Inger Marie Okkenhaug, “Armenian Women Refugees during and after World War I: Biographies of Survival, Strategies and Relocation
Arda Melkonian and Doris Melkonian, “Symbolic Resistance of Armenians during Genocide”
Hasmik Grigoryan, “The Problem of Mass Suicide in the Context of the Armenian Genocide”
Jennifer Manoukian, “Towards Social Reconstruction: Armenian Education in Constantinople (1918-1922)
Constantine Hatzidimitriou, “The Persecution and Destruction of  American Educational/ Philanthropic Institutions in Turkey during the Ottoman Genocides and the Role of the United States Government: The Case of Anatolia College”

Session 4: Aftermath, Representation and Denial

Gregory Aftandilian, “’Separation is the Only Way’: The Impact of the Armenian Genocide on Post-World War I Armenian Demands for Territorial Redemption”
Nickos Michailidis, “State Denial, Music and Memory in Contemporary Trebizond”
Dan Georgakas, “Mass Media and Denial”
Hannibal Travis, “National Security Justifications for Genocidal Acts: From the Late Ottoman Empire to Bosnia, Darfur, and Iraq”

Tentative Schedule

Thursday, May 21, 2015 - Proshansky Auditorium

Session 1 - 3:15 pm to 5:15 pm

Break - 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm

Session 2 - 6:15 pm to 8:45 pm

Friday, May 22, 2015 Proshansky Auditorium

Session 3 - 3:15 pm to 5:45 pm

Break: 5:45 pm to 6:45 pm

Session 4 - 6:45 pm to 8:45 pm