Dr. Bedross Der Matossian will present an in-person lecture entitled “The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early Twentieth Century” at 7 p.m. Friday, August 26, at the Whitten Boardroom of the Smittcamp Alumni House. The lecture is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in Fresno State Lots P1 and P2 (parking permits are not required on Friday evenings). 

In his lecture, Der Matossian will examine the two waves of massacres that shook the province of Adana, located in the southern Anatolia region of modern-day Turkey, killing more than 20,000 Armenians in April 1909. The central Ottoman government failed to prosecute the main culprits, which would have repercussions for years to come. Despite the significance of these events and the extent of violence and destruction, the Adana Massacres are often left out of historical narratives. “The Horrors of Adana” offers one of the first close examinations of these events, analyzing sociopolitical and economic transformations that culminated in a cataclysm of violence. Drawing on primary sources in a dozen languages, Der Matossian develops an interdisciplinary approach to understand the rumors and emotions, public spheres and humanitarian interventions that together informed this complex event.

Dr. Bedross Der Matossian is the Vice-Chair, Associate Professor of Modern Middle East History, and Hymen Rosenberg Professor in Judaic studies at the Department of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Born and raised in East Jerusalem, he graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He completed his Ph.D. in Middle East History at Columbia University in 2008, taught at MIT and the University of Chicago, and is the President of the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS). He is the author, editor, and co-editor of multiple books, including the award-winning book “Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire” (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2014). His most recent book is “The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early Twentieth” (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2022). Copies of The Horrors of Adana will be available for purchase at the lecture.

The presentation is part of the Fall Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program. The Leon S. Peters Foundation is a co-sponsor of the event. For information about upcoming Armenian Studies Program presentations, please follow us on our Facebook page or visit the program website.