Dr. Robert Hewsen, professor of Russian and Byzantine History at Rowan University, in New Jersey, has been appointed as the Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies for the fall 2001 semester at California State University, Fresno.

Hewsen will teach two courses and give three public lectures in the fall semester on a single topic, which will later be published as a monograph. The fall 2001 semester begins on Monday, Aug. 27.

He will teach a three-unit course, “Armenians in the 20th Century,” (Armenian Studies 120T) which will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

The course will cover important Armenian historical issues in the 20th century, including the Armenian Genocide, the formation of the Armenian Republic, the Soviet period, the development and life of the diaspora communities, the Karabagh crisis and the emergence of a new Armenian Republic in 1991.

A second course, “The Conversion of Armenia to Christianity,” (Armenian Studies 120T) on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m, will examine the steps leading up to and immediately following the conversion of Armenia to Christianity in the early fourth century.

Both courses are open to the public for a fee through the Fresno State Division of Extended Education.

Hewsen is the second appointee to the visiting professorship. Last year, Dr. Richard Hovannisian Armenian Educational Foundation professor of Modern Armenian History at UCLA was the first incumbent of the Kazan Visiting Professorship in the fall 2000 semester.

Hewsen brings years of teaching and research experience to the position.

He earned his Ph.D. in Russian history with a minor in Byzantine history from Georgetown University. His doctoral dissertation, “The Geography of Ananias of Shirak: Translation and Commentary,” was written under the direction the late Professor Cyril Toumanoff, the renowned scholar of Caucasian history.

Hewsen has taught for more than 30 years at Rowan University and has also held teaching positions at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, the University of Tübingen, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan.

He has published specifically in the area of Armenian history, with emphasis on the historical geography of Armenia and the Caucasus.

His most recent work, a monumental study of Armenian historical geography, Armenia: A Historical Atlas (334 pp., 278 full-color maps) has just been released by the University of Chicago press.

His earlier books, “The Geography of Ananias Shirak (Ashkharats’ouyts’)” and “Anania Shirakats’i: Ashkharats’ouyts’,” have been major additions to the field of Armenian Studies.

Hewsen is co-founder of the Society for the Study of Caucasia (1985). He has lectured and presented papers both in the United States and abroad. He has traveled throughout the world in his studies and research.

For course enrollment, call the Division of Extended Education at (559) 278-0333. For more information on the courses, call the Armenian Studies Program at (559) 278-2669.