The second Kerr Family Lecture will feature Khatchig Mouradian, Ph.D., lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University, and the Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist in the African and Middle Eastern Division at the Library of Congress, with introductory remarks by Antranik M. Dakessian, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Armenian Studies at Haigazian University. The event will be held in person and also will be available remotely via the Zoom webinar platform.
Pre-registration is required for this hybrid event. To register for in-person attendance or for participation via the Zoom webinar platform, please visit the event webpage at
This talk explores the role of Rev. Hovhannes Eskijian and his associates in the underground network of humanitarians, missionaries, and diplomats who resisted the destruction of the Armenian people during World War I. Piecing together hundreds of accounts, official documents, and missionary records—including Eskijian’s and his associates’ family archives—Mouradian presents a social history of genocide and resistance in Ottoman Syria. He argues that despite the violent and systematic mechanisms of control and destruction in the cities, concentration camps, and massacre sites in this region, the genocide of the Armenians did not progress unhindered—unarmed resistance proved an important factor in saving lives and laying the groundwork for postwar rebuilding.
This endowed lectureship is named in honor of the Kerr family, whose progenitors include Professor Stanley and Elsa Reckman Kerr, who helped to rescue and provide exemplary humanitarian care for survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23. The annual Kerr Family Lectureship is designed to amplify the stories of heroes and heroines who dedicated themselves to saving and supporting victims and survivors of violence and mass atrocities in times of crisis.
This event is co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies, Ararat-Eskijian Museum, National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), Haigazian University.