A lecture on “Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France: A Zenith of Diasporan Literature,” by author and translator Christopher Atamian will be the first presentation in the Armenian Studies Program’s 2017 Fall Lecture Series at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8.

The discussion, supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation, will be in the University Business Center’s Alice Peters Auditorium (Room 191) on the Fresno State campus.

“Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France” was published as Volume 6 in the Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno in 2016. Atamian’s translation of Krikor Beledian’s “Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France: 1922-1972” brings this work to the English-reading public for the first time.

Atamian will trace the history of a group of Armenian writers who lived in Paris after the genocide.

Copies of the translated “Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France” will be available for sale at the lecture, which is free and open to the public.

Free parking is available in lots P6 and P5 near the University Business Center. Permits are not required for parking on Fridays after 4 p.m.

The next event in the series will be “Armenians and Greeks: A People’s History of the Ottoman Empire,” with the participation of eight prominent scholars on Sept. 22 and 23.

On Sept. 29, the Armenian Studies Program and CineCulture film series will sponsor a special screening of “The Promise” at 5 p.m. in the Peters Education Center Auditorium (5010 N. Woodrow Ave. in the Student Recreation Center).

Filmmaker and “The Promise” associate producer Carla Garapedian will be present and answer questions after the screening. She is the director of “Screamers,” a documentary film which focused on the problem of genocide in the world.

“The Promise” opened in theaters in April and tells the story of the Armenian Genocide through a love story involving Michael (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant medical student who meets Ana (Charlotte Le Bon). A romantic rivalry emerges between Michael and Ana’s boyfriend, Chris (Christian Bale), a famous American photojournalist dedicated to exposing political truth.

As the Ottoman Empire entered World War I and the Armenian Genocide began, their conflicting passions were deferred while they joined forces to try to protect the Armenians and survive themselves. “The Promise” was directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Terry George.

Admission is free, but seating is limited. The screening is open to the public, and free parking is available at any of the adjacent Fresno State parking lots (near the corner of Shaw and Woodrow avenues).

On Oct. 9, Dr. Boris Adjemian will discuss “The AGBU Nubar Library in Paris: Safeguarding Western Armenian Heritage through Documentation, Research and Publication.” Adjemian is the director of the AGBU Nubar Library. This discussion will be held at 7:30 p.m.

Adrienne Alexanian will give a talk titled “Forced into Genocide: Memoirs of an Armenian Soldier in the Ottoman Empire” at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 14.

All events in the series will be held at Fresno State in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium (Room 191) unless otherwise noted.

For more information about the lecture or other events, contact the Armenian Studies Program at 559.278.2669, or visit the Armenian Studies Program website.

(Barlow Der Mugrdechian, coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, contributed to this report.)