1998

Armenian Leaders Roll Out The Red Carpet For Nevada Faculty

published by the Office of Communications

The Armenian government rolled out the red carpet for University of Nevada, Reno faculty members Berch Berberoglu and Viktoria Hertling.

Berberoglu, chairman of the sociology department, and Hertling, director of the Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Peace Studies, were guests last month of the Armenian government and met with Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossian at the presidential palace in Yerevan.

MEETING THE PRESIDENT: Viktoria Hertling and Berch
Berberoglu, right, talks with Armenian President Levon
Ter-Petrossian, left. Joining in the talks is Levon Vartan,
center, of Haigazian University College of Beirut, Lebanon.

The Nevadans joined Ter-Petrossian and other U.S. and United Nations dignitaries in the opening of the Museum of Armenian Genocide and paid homage to the more than 1.5 million
Armenians who perished in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, the first largescale genocide of the 20th century.

During their stay, Berberoglu and Hertling were widely interviewed by Armenian radio, television and newspaper reporters. As guests of state they also took part in numerous functions.

They also participated in a weeklong conference commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Berberoglu presented a paper, "The Armenian Genocide in Historical Perspective: A Sociological Analysis." Hertling discussed questions related to the problem of genocide in the 20th century.

The conference included 50 prominent scholars from such countries as the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Australia, and Israel as well a scholars from the Armenian Academy of Sciences.

Nevada's Center of Holocaust, Genocide and Peace Studies, under Hertling's direction, plans to inform the local community and university of the significance of the Armenian genocide and its implications for other genocides of this century. The center's aim is to develop an understanding of the causes for such crimes against humanity and to help prevent their occurrence in the future through education and public awareness.

In wrapping up their visit, Berberoglu held high-level talks with scholars, administrators and government officials to promote the University of Nevada's new Institute for International Studies. He met with Mihran Agbabian, president of the American University of Armenia, officials of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, and directors of several research centers and institutes to establish inter-institutional ties of cooperation with the Uniyersity of Nevada and to advance international studies in a variety of academic disciplines. He also met with Harry Gilmore, U.S. ambassador to Armenia, and Ray Morton, deputy director of the U.S. Agency for International Development. They discussed ways to develop various training programs for Armenian professionals who will be visiting Nevada in the near future.

Viktoria Hertling and Berch Berberoglu, right,
standing at the tomb for victims of the
Armenian genocide.