You Might Not Know My Books, But You Know About Kim Kardashian

When UCLA’s Richard G. Hovannisian Was in School, There Weren’t Courses in Armenian History

Richard G. Hovannisian is a UCLA historian, chair of the Armenian Educational Foundation, and a founder and six-time president of the Society for Armenian Studies. Before participating in a panel on the challenges of stopping and preventing genocide, he chatted in the Zócalo green room about all the change he’s witnessed over a half century at UCLA and, in his opinion, whether or not Kim Kardashian is good for Armenian-Americans.

Q:

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?


A:

A teacher. I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I admired teachers.


Q:

What teacher or professor changed your life, if any?


A:

I had a high school teacher in history who really got me engaged with living history, so I got involved the Junior Statesmen of America, and then onto Model United Nations. I was always interested in government, politics, and education. So I did what I set out to do.


Q:

What has changed most about UCLA since you joined the faculty?


A:

It’s gotten huge, and we’ve lost a lot of the beautiful woods and streams that were there when I first came a half century ago. But it’s also become a world-class university. I was fortunate that there was an expansion in area studies centers, which allowed Armenian studies to be introduced for the first time at UCLA. When I did my Ph.D., there were no courses in Armenian history. I’ve taught Armenian history most of my life without taking a course in it.


Q:

What dessert do you find impossible to resist?


A:

All desserts. I have a very sweet tooth. I love coffee ice cream. And some very delicate Armenian pastries that only grandmas can make.


Q:

What’s your favorite under-the-radar L.A. spot?


A:

It used to be the Rose Bowl. Poly Pavilion at UCLA, where the basketball team plays.


Q:

What was the last thing that inspired you?


A:

The canonization of the victims of the Armenian genocide at the church in Armenia. That was a very moving ceremony.


Q:

What word or phrase do you use most often?


A:

Hachogh. I sign off my letters with that word, which is the first half of an Armenian word that means good luck or success.


Q:

What surprises you most about your life right now?


A:

That I’ve lived this long. I did not expect to see the year 2015, the hundredth anniversary of the Armenian genocide. I’ve been fortunate. I live I think on bonus time, and that’s fine with me.


Q:

Is Kim Kardashian good for Armenian-Americans?


A:

You may not approve of her lifestyle, and most Armenians don’t, but when she went to Armenia just before the Armenian Genocide anniversary, she had millions of people watching her. I could write a thousand books, and they would never read them. So I would say yes.


Q:

What year, past or future, would you time travel to if you could?


A:

Maybe 2200. Because I’m curious to know what’s going to happen in the world when I’m not here. I’ve experienced such enormous change in my lifetime, from living in a little farmhouse with no telephone and no running water into a time when I can be on the other side of the world in a few hours and can use a computer to talk to people around the world. These are things I dreamed of as a child.