Dr. Robert Hewsen, Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies at California State University, Fresno for the fall semester, will speak on “The Conversion of King Trdat: Reading Between the Lines” on Thursday, Nov. 1.

The lecture will be the second of three he will present on “The Conversion of Armenia to Christianity,” which is part of the Second Annual Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Lectures in Armenian Studies.

Hewsen will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Alice Peters Auditorium of the University Business Center. The lecture is free and open to the public. Parking restrictions will be relaxed in Lots A and J.

There is no question that the conversion of King Trdat the Great by St. Gregory the Illuminator was the greatest turning point in Armenian history, but who was King Trdat? When did he convert and why did he do so at the time that he did? There exists only one account of the conversion, written by a certain Agathangeghos, which raises more questions than it answers. Modern scholarship has done much to elucidate the text of Agathangeghos and by reading between the lines, researchers are able to come to a more sophisticated understanding of what actually took place.

Hewsen has taught Russian and Byzantine history at Rowan University near Philadelphia for 33 years, and Armenian history as a visiting professor at The University of Michigan (1979), The University of Pennsylvania (1980-1983), The University of Tübingen, Germany (1984, 1987), The University of Chicago (1991, 1999), and Columbia University (1994, 1999).

He has visited Armenia six times since 1961 and the Turkish provinces of Armenia in 1998 and 1999. In 2000, he visited Karabagh. Besides numerous articles, his publications include an English translation of a major medieval Armenian geographical text (Wiesbaden, 1992) and Historical Atlas of Armenia (Chicago, 2001). He is currently working on a book on the Armenia national movement in the 18th century and another on the conversion of the Armenians.

Hewsen’s third lecture in the series, “The Conversion of the Armenian People,” will be presented on Thursday, Dec. 6.

For more information, contact the Armenian Studies Program office at 278-2669.