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September 13, 2000
Press contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189
Public contact: (202) 707-3302

Joint Conference on Armenia to Be Held September 27-28

Academics from throughout the United States will meet in Washington September 27-28 to discuss recent scholarship on "The American Response to the Armenian Genocide" at a conference co-sponsored by the Library of Congress and the Armenian National Institute, in cooperation with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The conference will begin on September 27 at 7 p.m. at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with a presentation by Sir Martin Gilbert, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, titled "Genocide in the 20th Century." The conference continues the next day at the Library of Congress, in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, Madison Building, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with four panels of scholars discussing "U.S. Government Response," "Media, Information, and Awareness," "Public Response" and "The Outcomes." A small exhibition of related documents from the Library's collections will be displayed.

The conference will examine the recent scholarship that looks at the response of many sectors, both public and private, in the United States to this major humanitarian crisis during the first World War and will call attention to the rich legacy of Armenian materials in the collections of the Library of Congress.

SCHEDULE
"The American Response to the Armenian Genocide"
September 27-28, 2000

September 27, 7 p.m.: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Opening program: Dr. Martin Gilbert, "Genocide in the 20th Century"

September 28: Mumford Room, Madison Building, Library of Congress

9 a.m.- 9:10 a.m.: Welcoming remarks
Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress
Robert A. Kaloosdian, chairman, ANI Board of Governors

9:10 a.m.-9:40 a.m: Introduction
Dr. Jay Winter, professor, Cambridge University
"Under Cover of War: The Armenian Genocide"

9:45 a.m.-11 a.m.: Panel I: U.S. Government Response
Moderator: Dr. Leo Ribuffo, George Washington University

1. President Woodrow Wilson: Dr. John Milton Cooper, University of Wisconsin
2. The Role of Congress: Dr. Donald Ritchie, Associate Senate Historian
3. U.S. Diplomats: Dr. Lloyd Ambrosius, University of Nebraska
4. U.S. Archives: Dr. Rouben Adalian, Armenian National Institute

Q&A (10 minutes)

11:10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Panel II: Media, Information, and Awareness
Moderator: Dr. Thomas Keenan, Director, Human Rights Project, Bard College

1. Information Sources: Dr. Sybil Milton, Vice President, Independent Commission of Experts: Switzerland-World War II
2. U.S. Print: Dr. Thomas Leonard, University of California, Berkeley
3. The Impact of the Media Coverage on the Public: Dr. Christopher Simpson, American University

Q&A (10 minutes)

12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: Lunch

1:45 p.m. - 3 p.m.: Panel III: Public Response
Moderator: Jerry Fowler, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Committee on Conscience

1. Missionaries' Involvement: Dr. Suzanne Moranian, Wellesley College
2. First-Person Missionary Account: Mary Louise Graffam: Dr. Susan Billington-Harper, Pew Charitable Trust
3. Intellectual and Cultural Response: Dr. Peter Balakian, Colgate University
4. American Red Cross: Dr. Brien Williams, The American Red Cross

Q&A (10 minutes)

3:10 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. Panel IV: The Outcomes
Moderator: Dr. Gary Bass, Princeton University

1. Investigative Commissions: Dr. Richard Hovannisian, UCLA
2. Trials: Dr. Vahakn Dadrian, State University of New York (retired)

Q&A (10 minutes)

4:40 p.m.- 5:15 p.m.: Closing Remarks
Dr. John Roth, Claremont McKenna College

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PR 00-130
9/13/00
ISSN 0731-3527