.On April 24, 2025, the Center for Armenian Studies, in partnership with the Armenian Students Cultural Association and the Multidisciplinary Workshop for Armenian Studies, hosted the Third Annual “Shared Memories: The Armenian Experience Through Objects and Stories,” a heartfelt and communal commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.
Held at Weiser Hall in Ann Arbor, the event brought together a vibrant mix of students, faculty, local Armenian families, and first-time guests, creating a warm, intergenerational gathering space on a day of historical reflection. The room was filled with new and familiar faces, all drawn by the chance to honor memory through storytelling, food, and shared heritage.
This year's format remained casual, open-hearted, and deeply personal. Participants brought a wide range of objects, including family photographs, jewelry, books, backgammon tables, paintings, coins, and more, each item carrying a story that connected past and present, homeland and diaspora, trauma and survival. The unscripted, show-and-tell format once again allowed for spontaneous and moving reflections on identity, resilience, and remembrance.
One of the day’s most joyful aspects was the spread of ethnically diverse Armenian foods, all thoughtfully prepared by local businesses. Guests enjoyed lamajune, khachapuri, beoreks, rice pudding, gata, eclairs, and other homemade delicacies, a delicious reminder that food, too, can be a vessel of memory and cultural continuity.
While the day commemorated a tragic history - the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide - it was also a space of connection and healing, shared this year with Holocaust Remembrance Day. Together, we honored the power of lived memory and community presence in sustaining history.
We are grateful to everyone who joined us, shared with us, and helped create a space that was, above all, personal, participatory, and deeply human.
