Khatchig Mouradian (Clark University), Kazan Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno, will give his final public lecture, in a series of three presentations, on the topic of “The Tale of Two Midwives: The Notebooks of Siphora and Nuritza Shnorhokian of Aintab, 1890-1930” at 7:30pm on Wednesday, November 30, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191, on the Fresno State campus.
For almost half a century, Siphora and Nuritsa Shnorhokian served as midwives first in Aintab (beginning in 1890s) and then in Syria, after being forced to leave their hometown. They conducted thousands of births in Armenian, Muslim, and Jewish families in Aintab, and then thousands more in Syria in the newly formed families post-genocide, documenting every birth, and their personal journey, in their notebooks. In this lecture, Mouradian examines half a century of community life, survival, and resilience through the notebooks of these two sisters, interviews with their neighbors, relatives, and the stories of several Turks, Kurds, and Armenians who were born with the midwives’ help.
Khatchig Mouradian holds a Ph.D. in history from the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University and a graduate certificate in Conflict Resolution from UMass Boston. He is a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) at Rutgers University, where he also serves as the coordinator of the Armenian Genocide Program.
Mouradian is the author of several articles and book chapters, including, most recently, “The Meskeneh Concentration Camp, 1915-1917: A case study of power, collaboration, and humanitarian resistance during the Armenian Genocide,” Journal of the Society of Armenian Studies, Vol. 24 (2015); and “Genocide and Humanitarian Resistance in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1916,” Études arméniennes contemporaines, Vol. 7 (2016).
The lecture is free and open to the public. Free parking is available, using parking code 273707 (use the code in kiosks in the parking area to receive the permit) at Fresno State Lots P5 and P6, near the University Business Center, Fresno State.
For more information about the lecture please contact the Armenian Studies Program at 278-2669, or visit our website at fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies.
