News

St. Leon Church (Fair Lawn, NJ) is hosting an online discussion on Thursday, Mar. 2, at 7 p.m. EST. Join defense analyst Eduard Abrahamyan and moderator Zaven Kalayjian for Small-State Strategies for Reforming Armenia’s Military: How Armenia Can Punch Above Its Weight—part five in the What’s Next? series of roundtable discussions on the post-war Armenian reality. The discussion will be broadcast over the Zoom platform and YouTube, with a Q&A session to follow. Registration is required. Click the following link for information and to register in advance. For questions contact Ara Araz at (917) 837-1297 or ara@edrcorp.net. To view the Youtube broadcast, click here.

Topics to be covered include: How other small states have successfully constructed defense systems to mitigate asymmetric threats; combining compulsory service with active reserves and citizen-based territorial defense models; heightened role of education and training in small-state security architecture; oversight and responsibility of parliament for effective functioning of the security sector; role of independent media and security analysis; strengthening whistleblowing provisions to ensure accountability and efficacy.

A new online series of readings by Armenian authors, “Literary Lights,” will launch on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. EST, on the Zoom video platform. The first presentation will be made by with Taleen Voskuni, author of the novel, Sorry, Bro. “Literary Lights” is presented as a partnership of the Eastern Diocese’ Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA), and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). To read along with the series, and become familiar with the schedule, click here. To view a two-part flyer, click here and here. Registration required; click here to register.

The Deacons’ Fellowship of the Eastern Diocese will hold a six-week, online “Armenian Alphabet Course” on Monday evenings at 8 p.m. EST, beginning Jan. 16, 2023 (and thereafter meeting on Jan. 23 & 30; and Feb. 6, 13 & 20). The course taught over the Zoom platform is aimed at altar servers, choir members, and others who have a desire to learn the Armenian alphabet, to begin reading the Armenian texts in Divine Liturgy and music books. No prior knowledge of Armenian is required. Class size is limited, so early registration is recommended. Click the following links to view a flyer and register in advance.

Dr. Jesse Arlen, director of the Eastern Diocese’s Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center, will deliver a six-part online lecture series, titled “An Introduction to Medieval Armenian Poetry (Part 2)” on Thursday evenings–Feb. 2, Feb. 9, Feb. 16, Feb. 23, Mar. 3, and Mar. 9–from 7 to 8 p.m. EST, over the Zoom video platform. The lectures are being offered through St. Nersess Seminary’s Public Lecture Series. To watch Part 1 of the series on YouTube, click here. Click the following link to learn more and register for the series.

The Friends of Holy Martyrs Armenian Day School will hold a Gala Dinner Dance on the evening of Saturday, Jun. 10, at North Hills Country Club (200 L.I.E. North Service Rd., Manhasset, NY). Cocktails at 7:30 p.m., Dinner at 9 p.m. Entertainment by Kevork Artinian Band. Click the following link to view a flyer with information on tickets, reservations, contacts.