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CSUN Lectures to Detail Depiction of
Armenian Genocide and Jewish Holocaust in Film

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Sept. 6, 2006) -- The Jewish studies and Armenian studies programs at Cal State Northridge are jointly hosting a free public lecture: "Cinematic Depictions of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust" to be held Tuesday, Sept. 19.

Lawrence Baron, professor of modern Jewish history at San Diego State University and author of Projecting the Holocaust into the Present: The Changing Focus of Contemporary Holocaust Cinema, will discuss the varying ways in which genocide is portrayed in cinema.

The first lecture, "Serious Humor: Holocaust Comedy Films," begins at 12:30 p.m. and will be held in room 319 of Jerome Richfield Hall, located on the west side of campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. Baron will talk about how humor in Holocaust comedies has been used to satirize Hitler and to sympathize with his victims.

The second lecture, "Depicting the Armenian and Jewish Genocides on Film," will be held in room 203 of Jerome Richfield Hall at 4:20 p.m. Baron will present this portion of his lecture again at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Glendale Public Library, located at 222 East Harvard St. in Glendale.

"This lecture examines how feature films draw on familiar documentary images to convey the uniqueness of the Armenian and Jewish experiences while simultaneously employing similar cinematic strategies to dramatize their stories," Baron said.

Baron will compare and contrast varying cinematic techniques and narrative strategies used to depict genocide, such as: the heroic rebellion, immigrant stories of survivors, insertion of original photographs and film footage, pilgrimages to the actual sites of genocide, courtroom dramas and flashbacks. Baron will incorporate clips from the films Ravished Armenia, Mayrig, The Yearning, Assignment Berlin, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh and Ararat and compare them to corresponding scenes from Mendel, Schindler’s List, Uprising, My Mother’s Courage and Judgment at Nuremberg.

Parking for the campus lectures is $4 and available in parking structure B3, located on the corner of Darby Avenue and Prairie Street.

For more information, contact Jody Myers, chair of CSUN’s Jewish studies program at (818) 677-3007 or e-mail jody.myers@csun.edu or Vahram Shemmassian, head of CSUN’s Armenian studies program, at (818) 677-3456 or e-mail at vahram.shemmassian@yahoo.com.