Beirut Professor Ara Sanjian Named Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies

Dr. Ara Sanjian, assistant professor of Armenian History at Haigazian University in Beirut, Lebanon, has been appointed for the fall 2003 semester as the Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno.

Sanjian will be teaching a three-unit course, Armenian Studies 120T, "Armenia in the Soviet Period, 1920-1991." Students in the course will study important Armenian historical issues in the Soviet period, including the background to Soviet rule of Armenia, the rise to power of Stalin and its implications for the USSR and Soviet Armenia, relations between Soviet Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora, the Armenian repatriation of 1946-47, the Karabagh movement, and the emergence of a new Armenian Republic in 1991.

In addition, Sanjian also will give three public lectures on "Mountainous Karabagh in the Soviet Era." The lectures will be published as a monograph.

Sanjian received his Ph.D. in modern Middle East history from the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London. His doctoral dissertation was on “Turkey and Her Arab Neighbors, 1954-1958.” He received a master’s degree in Armenian History from the Faculty of History at Yerevan State University in Armenia.

For the past seven years Sanjian has taught a variety of courses at Haigazian University. He is currently chair of the Department of Armenian Studies.

Sanjian is the author of two books, “Turkey and Her Arab Neighbors, 1953-1958: A Study in the Origins and Failure of the Baghdad Pact” (2001) and “The Negotiation of 'The Contract of the Century' and the Political Background to the Revival of Azerbaijan's Oil Industry,” (1997) as well as numerous articles on a variety of topics in the area of Armenian history and culture. He is fluent in Armenian, Arabic, English, Turkish, Russian and French.

Sanjian is on the Editorial Board of Armenian Forum and Haigazian Armenological Review. He has lectured and presented papers both in the United States and abroad and has traveled throughout the world in his studies and research.