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WORCESTER, Mass.—On Wed., April 18, the Worcester “Aram” Chapter of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), with the Worcester State University (WSU) Philosophy Department, will sponsor the showing of “Grandma’s Tattoos,” a documentary by Suzanne Khardalian. The movie deals with the difficult topic of Armenian women and girls who, during the 1915 genocide, were taken as sexual slaves by the perpetrators and other groups and often sold repeatedly for some years through a slave-trading network that emerged. The title refers to the fact that owners would tattoo their names on the chests of these women, who after some time often had multiple names tattooed on their skin. A panel discussion will follow the showing of the film, with participants including Dr. Dikran Kaligian (managing editor, the Armenian Review), Khatchig Mouradian (Ph.D. candidate, Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University, and editor of the Armenian Weekly), Sara Brown (Ph.D. student, Strassler Center), Maureen McShane (undergraduate, Honors Program, WSU) and Amanda Hewitt (undergraduate, WSU). The film will be shown in the Ghosh Auditorium (ST 102), Science and Technology Building, at Worcester State University beginning at 7:45 p.m. “The AYF is honored to partner with Worcester State University and other sponsors of this important event. A movie of this significance that supplies education regarding violence against women, particularly as a component of genocide, is so very important. Each of us is touched by the experiences discussed in the movie,” said Kenar Charchaflian, the president of the Worcester AYF Chapter. This program is in conjunction with the spring 2012 PH 251 Mass Violence Against Women sections taught by Prof. Henry Theriault and the WSU Celebration of Scholarship and Creativity, and is co-sponsored by the WSU Office of the President; the Office of the Provost; the Dean’s Office, School of Education, Professions, and Physical Sciences; the Dean’s Office, School of Humanities and Social Sciences; the University Honors Program; the Center for Teaching and Learning; the Center for the Study of Human Rights; the Women’s Studies Program; the Global Studies Program; the Office of International Programs; the Worcester “Aram” Gomideh of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation; the Armenian National Committee of Central Massachusetts; and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research. For more information, e-mail Theriault at htheriault@worcester.edu or Charchaflian at kenarc02@yahoo.com.

Weekly Staff

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