June 17, 2008
Taner Akçam - scholar, author, ex-political prisoner, and courageous champion of civil liberties - joins the Strassler Center
Akçam was political prisoner in native Turkey; author of 'A Shameful Act'
Clark University has appointed prominent historian Taner Akçam to occupy the Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marion Mugar Professorship in Armenian Genocide Studies. Professor Akçam is widely admired for his bold and authoritative scholarship, using Turkish sources, on the genocide of the Armenians by the Turks in the early 20th century.
Professor Akçam joins Clark's Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, effective July 1. Formerly a visiting professor of history at the University of Minnesota and a visiting scholar at the Armenian Research Center, University of Michigan–Dearborn, Professor Akçam serves on the editorial board of Genocide Studies and Prevention, the official journal of the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
At Clark, Professor Akçam will teach the History of the Armenian Genocide and the History of the Modern Middle East. "Professor Akçam is as renowned for his scholarship as he is for his courageous political actions championing freedom of the press, the right to pursue scholarly investigation, and the protection of civil liberties," said Debórah Dwork, Rose Professor of Holocaust History and Director of the Strassler Center. "We are delighted and very proud that he has joined our faculty."
Professor Taner (pronounced TAH-nair) Akçam (pronounced AHK-chahm) grew up in Turkey, where he was imprisoned for his participation in free press publications. Amnesty International publicized his plight as a prisoner of conscience in 1976. After a dramatic escape, Akçam received political asylum in Germany, where he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Hannover and worked with the Hamburg Institute for Social Research on the historical use of violence and torture in Turkey.
Professor Akçam has authored several scholarly works, as well as numerous articles in Turkish, German, and English. His most recent book, "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility" (Metropolitan Books, 2006), won stellar reviews.
Akçam's life and work have been featured in four critically acclaimed documentary films. "A Wall of Silence" (Humanist Broadcast Foundation, the Netherlands, 1997) premiered on Dutch national television and was shown in theaters across the United States and Canada. "Armenian Genocide: 90 Years Later" (Twin Cities Public Television/University of Minnesota, 2005) garnered a regional Emmy nomination and the Eric Sevareid Award for broadcast journalism. "Armenian Genocide" (Two Cats Productions, 2006) aired nationally on most PBS television stations. "Screamers" (Carla Garapedian, 2006), starring the Grammy-winning band System of a Down, was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the U.S. Congress, and the European and British Parliaments. In 2007, the Armenian Bar Association presented the Hrant Dink Freedom Award to Professor Akçam as "a champion of historical truth about the Armenian Genocide and for his courageous defense of liberty and free speech." He has also been honored by the Harvard University Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations as well as the Massachusetts State Legislature.
"My appointment is a sign of change, with symbolic meaning," Akçam told The Boston Globe (5/29/08). "It is not important, the ethnic origin of the individual in this position; what is important is the approach of the individual to the historic wrongdoing."
In an editorial (6/1/08), the Worcester Telegram & Gazette stated: "Clark's choice of a Turkish-born professor, Taner Akçam, as chairman of Armenian genocide studies is a welcome demonstration of a firm commitment to free inquiry, academic fairness and historical truth."
To read online about other new faculty at Clark, visit http://www.clarku.edu/faculty.cfm.