Introduction (Documenting the Armenian Genocide)

Authors

Thomas Kuehne, Clark UniversityFollow
Marc A. Mamigonian, National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
Mary Jane Rein, Clark University

Document Type

Book Chapter

Abstract

This introduction provides a valuable overview of the life and accomplishments of Taner Akçam, a Turkish-American historian and sociologist. An international authority on the Armenian Genocide and a leader in human rights, Akçam is the first scholar of Turkish origin to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and to publish groundbreaking research on this topic. Imprisoned in 1976 for criticizing injustices in Turkey and the government’s treatment of minorities, especially the Kurds, Akçam escaped and fled to Germany. Amnesty International adopted him as a “prisoner of conscience” and the German government granted him asylum. He eventually obtained citizenship in Germany, where he established his reputation as a genocide scholar and an authority on the history of political violence and torture in late Ottoman and early Republican Turkey. In fall 2008, Akçam joined Clark University as the Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Professor in Armenian Genocide Studies. While at Clark, he advanced the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies as the leading academic institute focused on research and education about the Armenian Genocide. In addition to pursuing his own remarkable scholarship, he has been committed to training doctoral students in order to ensure that scholarship about the Armenian Genocide continues as a subject of serious inquiry.

This book is part of the Palgrave Studies In the History of Genocide series.

Publication Title

Documenting the Armenian Genocide

Publication Date

2024

Volume

F2006

First Page

1

Last Page

16

ISSN

2731-569X

ISBN

9783031367526

DOI

10.1007/978-3-031-36753-3_1

Keywords

Armenian genocide, Taner Akçam, genocide, scholarship

Repository Citation

Kuehne, Thomas; Mamigonian, Marc A.; and Jane Rein, Mary, "Introduction (Documenting the Armenian Genocide)" (2024). History. 2.
https://commons.clarku.edu/historyfac/2

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.