Event Videos — Melissa Bilal
Pavagan E (Enough!) Zabel Yesayanʼs (1878–1943?) Political Thought on Peace, Justice, and Peopleʼs Right to Self-Defense ~ Monday, April 21, 2025
This lecture focused on Armenian feminist writer and activist Zabel Yesayan’s “Pavagan E (Enough!)” published in 1922 in Vienna’s Arek (Sun) monthly.
Intertwined Legacies: Gomidas Vartabed (1869-1935) & Koharik Gazarossian (1907-1967)
Melissa Bilal is the Associate Director of the UCLA Armenian Music Program and Lecturer in the Department of Ethnomusicology. Previously a Distinguished Research Fellow at CNES, before UCLA, she was an Assistant Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University of Armenia, where she continues serving as a core team member developing the Gender Studies minor program.
PAGING THROUGH PHOTOS AND SONGS: H. Mark and K. Ghazarosian’s Friendship in Post-Genocide Istanbul
Dr. Lerna Ekmekcioglu and Dr. Melissa Bilal, through photographs, letters, and pages of sheet music, follow the story of a friendship between two Armenian women in Istanbul that endured the hardships of WWI, the Armenian Genocide, and early republican Turkey’s repressive minority politics.
Feminism, Theology, and Liberation in Mari Beylerian's Writings
In this lecture, Dr. Melissa Bilal talks about Mari Beylerian’s legacy as a staunch feminist writer, an activist committed to social justice, and a devoted pedagogue who disappeared amidst the horrors of the genocide.