Akçam Appointed to UCLA Armenian Genocide Research Program within Promise Armenian Institute

In this far-reaching constellation of activities and structures that comprises the PAI, one thing that was missing was Armenian Genocide research and documentation, but this was already in the works. Karagozian said, “When we decided to establish this research program, we did a full search as per UCLA’s requirements, and Taner [Akçam] was selected to be the inaugural director. This will be an entity that certainly will be related to Armenian studies, and there certainly will be overlapping interests with the Armenian Studies Center, but it is going to be a separate program within the Promise Armenian Institute.”

Akçam declared, “The reason why they make this an administrative position, but not a faculty position, in my understanding, is that this is the easiest way to establish such a position. A faculty position would have to go through different boards, meetings and departments and it would have taken maybe 3-4 years because it is a state university.”

Akçam is leaving his tenured chair at Clark University permanently. He acknowledged that this move is a little risky, as the position must be renewed every year. He said, “There is a risk, but I thought I should take this risk because it is worth it.”

Karagozian was very positive about the program, declaring: “I am confident that the Armenian Genocide program will continue. If it is successful – and I have every reason to believe it will be entirely successful – we are hopeful that it will eventually become an endowed chair associated with this program.”

Akçam stated that his work at UCLA will be academic and primarily research oriented. As inaugural director, he has been asked to develop the program.

He said, “One of my main goals is to train young scholars.” The Armenian Genocide program will have at least one or two post-doctoral positions. In addition, Akçam said that he will be ready to serve as an adviser for doctoral students studying with a concentration in genocide studies in various departments like History Political Science, or Sociology.

Akçam also wants to teach students through coursework and is planning to teach one course per semester. Ideally, he would prepare one advanced course on genocide in general and one course specifically on the Armenian Genocide. He said that he will have to decide which courses he will teach based on the needs of the various departments and Armenian-related programs.

However, he does not want to teach too many courses, he declared, “because the ultimate goal of this program is research, and I would like to develop a systematic genocide research program.” He bewailed the fact that up until now, not a single Armenian Genocide research institute or program in a university setting has been created, while there are around 250 Holocaust and Genocide research institutes and programs in North America.

As part of his plan to develop further his field, he explained that the UCLA Armenian Genocide Research Program would direct funding to needed areas. He said, “Normally, individuals come up with ideas and approach institutions for funding. I will change this to the opposite manner. We will develop a plan of which areas need to be researched and what are the necessities of the field. I will organize this research and find individuals to conduct the necessary projects.”

He gave the example of a serious study of Russian archival materials on the Armenian Genocide as one area he would like to pursue in this manner. He would have to get in touch with scholars in Moscow, study the archival materials, discuss the situation with experts, and develop an idea of what must be done. Then, most likely, he said, he would hire a young scholar for a three- or four-year project, and an edited volume will result from his work.

Akçam exclaimed, “I would love to hear everyone’s suggestions! I can make a list of the areas that must be seriously researched but I am sure that people have other useful ideas.” He added that another aspect of his job as program director will be to raise funding for these kinds of projects.

Finally, as part of his new job, Akçam said he will organize small lectures, workshops, and conferences.

Broader Vision

Akçam said that he needs to work out the vision of the Armenian Genocide Program in the PAI, and sees three layers to it. First, he said, is an understanding of where genocide studies as a general field is going. He said, “In this regard, we have to take part in new debates and tendencies of the field. One such new aspect is to include natural catastrophes and environmental destruction, including global warming, in the field as part of human destructiveness.”

“Secondly,” he stressed, “what I really want to develop is a systematic coordination between the studies of different genocides within the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East. It was the same Ottoman government that exterminated, oppressed, or deported Kurds, Greeks and Assyrians, and we have to incorporate these different mass atrocities within the Armenian Genocide Program. Armenian Genocide studies, more advanced than those of the cases just mentioned, should play a role similar to what Holocaust Studies has played in broader genocide studies – it should lead and help in the development of studies of other genocides.”

Third is the advancement of Armenian Genocide studies itself, he continued. New areas should be explored. Gender studies, he said, is not developed sufficiently, nor post-genocide studies. The role of religion must be further explored.

Continuing Projects

While initiating all of the aforementioned projects, Akçam said that his first priority will be to continue with the work that he already has begun. One example is the transliteration and translation into English of the materials in the collection of Fr. Krikor Guerguerian. Much of the Ottoman language materials are first being transliterated into modern Turkish. Many reports of Armenians surviving the Armenian Genocide and sent to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople were written in difficult handwriting so these must be electronically typed before translation. Akçam said, “Getting Krikor Guerguerian’s materials into English will be a huge contribution to Armenian Genocide research. Nobody could use them before because they were still in their original languages.”

He will continue work on the fate of confiscated or plundered Armenian properties during the early period of the Turkish Republic, an oral history project on the 1938 Dersim Genocide, Ottoman press coverage of the Genocide, and the impact of the Armenian Genocide on the foundation of the Turkish Republic.

Turning Point

Akçam declared that the UCLA program is a historic turning point because until now, Armenian Genocide research had been based on the tenacious work of individuals like Dr. Vahakn Dadrian or Richard Hovannisian, but this is the first time that institutionalization of the field has begun.

Karagozian in turn had nothing but good words about Akçam, describing him as the ideal inaugural director for the program. She stated: “We are very excited about Taner joining us at UCLA. He is truly a world-class historian and one of the world’s leading experts – if not the foremost expert, on the Armenian Genocide and its documentation, so we are very happy he has agreed to continue his research activities here at UCLA.”

Akçam concluded, “This is really a dream job for me, a dream come true. Do you know why? In 1993, I returned to Turkey after 17 years in exile, to establish a center for documentation and research on the last period of the Ottoman Empire. I had the funding for it but the Turkish government got wind of my activities. Bilgi University was ready to house such a documentation and research center, but the Turkish state secret service sent a kind of threatening dossier, a letter with information against me, to the directors of the university, the trustees and the university professors. They got scared and I had to leave Turkey again. So this is now for me the realization of a long-held dream.”