Levon Chorbajian is a Professor in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in the Sociology Department.

Levon Chorbajian, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus

College
College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
Sociology
Phone
(978) 934-3789
Office
Dugan Hall - 2nd Floor
Email
Levon_Chorbajian@uml.edu

Expertise

Genocide studies; political sociology

Research Interests

Racism, ethnicity, genocide, Armenia, the South Caucasus, and ideology.

Education

  • Ph D: Sociology, (1974), Brandeis University - Waltham, MA
  • MA: Sociology, (1965), University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI
  • BA: Sociology, (1964), Temple University - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Biosketch

Levon Chorbajian, Ph.D. is a two-time Fulbright Senior lecturer in the Republic of Armenia and the Soviet Union. His research interests center around political sociology and comparative genocide studies, with an emphasis on the Armenian Genocide. Key concepts for Chorbajian are class, power, and inequality. He has written, translated and edited seven books including, The Caucasian Knot, Armenia in Crisis, The Making of Nagorno-Karabakh, Studies in Comparative Genocide and Power:  A Critical Reader. In addition, Chorbajian has facilitated workshops on the importance of unions. He also serves as the United States Director of the Zoryan Institute for Contemporary Armenian Research and Documentation, which is considered the leading private Armenian think tank in North America. He continues to serve on the editorial board of the Armenian Review and he assists as a manuscript reviewer for Humanity and Society. Chorbajian has served on the UMass Lowell Faculty Union and has been the campus labor representative in Commonwealth Health and Welfare Trust, which funds and administers dental benefits for all unionized employees in public higher education of the Commonwealth. Within the Sociology Department, he acts as the Continuing Education liaison and coordinates all continuing education classes for the Department.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Outstanding Teaching Award, Teaching - Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • WhoÍs Who among AmericaÍs Teachers: The Best Teachers in America Selected by the Best Students, Teaching - Educational Communications Inc.
  • Armenian Revolutionary Federation's Freedom Award for Distinguished Service to Human Rights (2011) - St. Vartanatz Armenian Apostolic Church, Chelmsford, Massachusetts
  • Who's Who Among Armenians in North America (1995) - Millennia Publishers
  • Armenian Behavioral Sciences Association Distinguished Service Award (1987) - Armenian Behavioral Sciences Association

Selected Publications

  • Chorbajian, L. (2016). ‘They Brought It on Themselves and It Never Happened’: Denial to 1939 (pp. 167–182). Palgrave Macmillan UK
  • Chorbajian, L. (2015). ’They Brought It on Themselves and It Never Happened’: Denial to 1939 (1st pp. 279). Palgrave MacMillan
  • Chorbajian, L. (2014). Liebow, Elliot (1925–94) (pp. 2920). John Wiley & Sons, Inc
  • Chorbajian, L. (2013). Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials/The Young Turks’ Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire/The Armenian Genocide: Testimonies of the Eyewitness Survivors.. Armenian Review, 54(1/2) 93 - 102.
  • Chorbajian, L. (2012). State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus. Slavic Review, 71(2) 481 - 482.
  • Chorbajian, L. (2007). CONQUEST: SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND AMERICAN INDIAN GENOCIDE. Humanity & Society, 31(2/3) 262.
  • Chorbajian, L. (2007). The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars. Slavic Review, 66(4) 750 - 751.
  • Chorbajian, L. (2006). HORSEHIDE, PIGSKIN, OVAL TRACKS, AND APPLE PIE: ESSAYS ON SPORTS AND AMERICAN CULTURE. Humanity & Society, 30(4) 463.
  • Chorbajian, L. (2005). DANIEL EGAN.
  • Egan, D., Chorbajian, L. (2005). Power: A Critical Reader.
  • Chorbajian, L. (2004). Armenia: Portraits of Survival and Hope. Slavic Review, 63(4) 875 - 876.
  • Plotkin, S., Pollock, N.J., Dempsey, K., Siew-Ean, K., Chorbajian, L., Law, A. (2004). Book reviews. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 25(2) 185.
  • Hill, M., Ray, K., Brown, B.R., Murphy, J.W., Spraggins, J., Gomes, A.G., Gardner, R.O., Reese, E., Decker, D., Plotkin, S., Chorbajian, L. (2002). Book Reviews. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 23(3) 323.
  • Murphy, J.W., Chorbajian, L., Sandhu, A., Sabaratnam, L., Price, D.V., Reese, E., Spraggins, J.D., Sanghera, P. (2001). Book Reviews. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 22(3) 323.
  • Chorbajian, L., Shirinian, G. (1999). Studies in comparative genocide.
  • Chorbajian, L. (1998). MEDIA MATTERS: RACE AND GENDER IN U.S. POLITICS (Book). Ethnic & Racial Studies, 21(4) 790 - 791.
  • Chorbajian, L., Beeferman, L. (1997). Selling Supreme Court Nominees: The Case of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Critical Sociology, 23(3) 3-32.
  • Chorbajian, L. (1996). Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition (Book). International Migration Review, 30(4) 1112.
  • Chorbajian, L. (1994). ENLIGHTENED RACISM: THE COSBY SHOW, AUDIENCES, AND THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN DREAM (Book). Ethnic & Racial Studies, 17(1) 178.
  • Chorbajian, L., Donabedian, P., Mutafian, C. (1994). The Caucasian knot: the history & geopolitics of Nagorno-Karabagh (10:).
  • Chorbajian, L. (1992). Football on Trial: Spectator Violence and Development in the Football World (Book). Contemporary Sociology, 21(1) 111.
  • Mosco, V., Chorbajian, L., Lapchick, R.E. (1986). 1976 and 1980 Olympic boycott media coverage: All the news that fits. Fractured focus: Sport as a reflection of society, 353-368.

Selected Presentations

  • A Post-Soviet Economy: Armenia in the Age of Viper Capitalism - Political Economy of the World System XXXVI Conference, 2012 - Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
  • Labor Movements, Democracy, and Inequality - Political Economy of the World System XXXVI Conference, 2012 - Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
  • Genocide Forum, April 2012 - University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts
  • Are Cooperatives Suitable for Academics?: The Progressive Writers Cooperative and Speakers Bureau, 2011 - Evanston, Illinois
  • Indigent Defense Reform in Massachusetts: A Victory for the Prosecution? - Association for Humanist Sociology Annual Meeting, 2011 - Evanston, Illinois
  • The Budget Crisis and the Attack on Unions, 2011 - Roxbury Community College, Boston, Massachusetts
  • The Protocols in The Armenian Weekly - 120th Anniversary of the Dashnaksitioun Conference, 2010 - University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
  • Economic Development: What Can Armenia Learn from East Asia? - Brusov Institute Conference on 20th and 21st Century Armenian Political Thought, 2010 - Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
  • The Protocols in the U.S. Armenian Diasporan Press - Brusov Institute Conference on 20th and 21st Century Armenian Political Thought, 2010 - Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
  • Armenia's Foreign Policy on Two Fronts: Recent Developments in Nagorno-Karabagh and Turkey-Armenia Relations, 2009 - Belmont, Massachusetts
  • - Armenian Cultural Night, 2009 - Andover Public Library
  • - Armenian/Cambodian Genocide Panel, 2009 - Tewksbury Memorial High School, Tewksbury, Massachusetts
  • Neoliberal Ideology and Economic, Social and Political Uncertainties - Armenians and Progressive Politics, 2nd Annual West Coast Conference: Overcoming Capitalist Crisis, 2009 - Glendale Community College, Glendale, California
  • Globalization and Neoliberalism in Post-Soviet Armenia - International Institute of Sociology XXXIXth World Congress, 2009 - Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
  • Terra Caucasus: A Region in the Making - International Institute of Sociology XXXIXth World Congress, 2009 - Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
  • On the Spot: Recent Experiences of Sociologists Abroad, 2009 - New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Caveat Emptor: Weak Negotiating Strategies and Settlement Pitfalls - Pan-Armenian Conference on the Future of Artsakh and Armenian-Turkish Border Relations, 2009 - Stepanakert, Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh
  • The XXXIXth World Congress of the International Institute of Sociology and Images of Post-Soviet Armenia, 2009 - New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Armenia: A Case of Extreme Self-Neo-Liberalization - Armenian Progressive Politics Conference, 2008 - CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York
  • What Would a Global Armenian Progressive Political Agenda Look Like? - Armenian Progressive Politics Conference, 2008 - CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York
  • Critiques of Consumption - Association for Humanist Sociology, 2008 - Boston, Massachusetts
  • Brandeis in the 60s, 2008 - Boston, Massachusetts
  • Critiques of Globalization, 2008 - Boston, Massachusetts
  • Immigration and Race, 2008 - Boston, Massachusetts
  • - Presidential Election Night Forum, 2008 - University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Teaching Politics and Sports, 2008 - Providence, Rhode Island
  • The State of Armenian Studies in Metropolitan Boston, 2008 - Belmont, Massachusetts
  • - UMass Lowell Honors Program Faculty Film Series, Sir, No Sir, 2008 - University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Racism and the Criminal Justice System - University of Massachusetts Lowell Black History Month Forum, 2008 - University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts
  • La puja hegemonica global de Estados Unidos y sus consequencias en la politica internacional - Los Armenios y la politica en los umbrales du siglio XXI, 2007 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Karabagh Today - New England Interlodge of the Knights of Vartan, 2007 - West Springfield, Massachusetts
  • Globalization and the Politics of Empire - Armenians and the Left Conference, 2006 - CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York
  • Globalization, Neo-Liberalism, and Their Opponents - Armenians and the Left Conference, 2006 - CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York
  • Imperialism: From Ancient Rome to Globalization - Armenians and the Left Conference, 2006 - CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York
  • Plenary Panel: War, Propaganda, and the Media, 2006 - CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York
  • Shushi: Past, Present, Future", 2006 - Armenian Library and Museum of America, Watertown, Massachusetts
  • , April 2006 - Lowell City Hall, Lowell, Massachusetts
  • "Issues in Comparative Genocide, 2005 - Patrick, J. Mogan Cultural Center, Lowell, Massachusetts
  • The Armenian Genocide, 2005 - Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center, Lowell, Massachusetts
  • The Armenian Genocide: Its Meaning Today, 2005 - Texas Statehouse, Austin, Texas
  • The Importance of International Tribunals, Then and Now, 2005 - Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center, Lowell, Massachusetts
  • The Importance of the Armenian Genocide Then and Now, 2005 - University of Texas, Austin, Texas
  • The Importance of Vartan in Contemporary Armenia, 2005 - Knights of Vartan Arakadz Lodge, North Andover, Massachusetts
  • Only Justice Heals, April 2005 - Texas State Capital Building, Austin, Texas
  • Harutuyn Marutyan presents his paper Iconography of the Karabagh Movement and Armenian National Identity, 2004 - Belmont, Massachusetts
  • Taner Akam speaks on his new book: From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide, 2004 - Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
  • Nations and Nationalism, 2003 - Atlanta, Georgia
  • State Terror and 9/11, 2002 - Windsor, Ontario
  • Terrorism in the World: A Panel Discussion and Audience Response, 2002 - Windsor, Ontario
  • "Remembering April 24th, 2000 - West Middle School, Andover, Massachusetts
  • Colchis: Greek Settlement on the Eastern Black Sea Littoral", 2000 - University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts
  • When Boundaries Are Born: Disintegration & Displacement in the Former Soviet Union - Exodus and Exile: Refugees, Migration, and Global Security Conference, 1998 - Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
  • The Fate of Armenians and Pontic Greeks, 1998 - St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Lexington, Massachusetts
  • Combating Racism, Constructing Identities, 1997 - Toronto, Ontario
  • Massachusetts Public Higher Education: Deepening Crisis or Business as Usual?, 1997 - North Adams State College, North Adams, Massachusetts
  • - Armenian Martyr's Day, 1996 - Armenian Library and Museum of America, Watertown, Massachusetts
  • Mountainous Karabagh: The Shaping of a Settlement", 1996 - Lowell Armenian Relief Society Center, Lowell, Massachusetts
  • - Armenian Martyr's Day, 1995 - Trinity Lutheran Church, Worcester, Massachusetts
  • Meaning of the Vietnam War, 1995 - Marshall Middle School Panel, Billerica, Massachusetts
  • Selling Supreme Court Nominees: The Case of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 1995 - Washington, D.C.
  • The Turkish-Armenian Genocide of the Armenian People: Implications for Current Fascisms", 1995
  • Post-Socialist Transformations and Ethnicity and State DisintegratioÓ Sessions - Multiculturalism and Transnationalism Conference, 1994 - University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts
  • Teaching about Genocide, 1994 - Los Angeles, California
  • , 1993 - National Holocaust Museum, Washington, D.C.
  • Memorializing the Armenian Genocide, April 1992 - House of Representatives Chamber, Massachusetts State House, Boston
  • Minorities in the Soviet Union, 1991 - Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts
  • The Breakup of the Soviet Union: The View from the Republics, 1991 - Emerson College, Boston Massachusetts
  • Ethnic Women: Immigration and Identity, 1990 - Washington, D.C.
  • Karabagh and the U.S. Media: A Study in Mythmaking, 1990 - Bled, Yugoslavia
  • Karabagh and the U.S. Media: A Study in Mythmaking - Media and Crisis Conference, 1990 - Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec
  • Recent Books on Poverty, 1990 - Bay Path College, Longmeadow, Massachusetts
  • , 1989 - Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenian S.S.R.
  • Department of Sociology and School of Justice Studies, 1989 - Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
  • Karabagh and the U.S. Media: A Study in Mythmaking, 1989 - University of Connecticut at Stamford, Stamford, Connecticut
  • Karabagh and the U.S. Media: A Study in Mythmaking, 1989 - San Francisco, California
  • Race, Gender, and Ethnic Discrimination, 1989 - University of Connecticut at Stamford, Stamford, Connecticut
  • Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to the Study of Social Movements, 1989 - Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenian S.S.R.
  • A Sociologist Looks at Armenia: Class and Everyday Life - Zoryan Institute Open University Forum, 1989 - Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
  • Soviet Armenian TV: A Study of State Controlled, Non-Commercial Television, 1988 - Ottawa, Ontario
  • Soviet Armenian TV: A Study of State Controlled, Non-Commercial Television, 1988 - Center for Soviet and Eastern European Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Soviet Armenian TV: A Study of State Controlled, Non-Commercial Television, 1988 - Massachusetts Sociological Association, Westfield State College, Westfield, Massachusetts
  • The Soviet Union: U.S. Imagery, Soviet Reality, 1988 - University of Connecticut at Stamford, Stamford, Connecticut
  • The Soviet Union: U.S. Imagery, Soviet Reality, 1988 - Middlesex Community College, Bedford, Massachusetts
  • The Social Sciences in the Soviet Armenia, 1987 - New York, New York
  • Armenians in the United States: A History and Analysis, 1986 - Institute of Foreign Languages, Yerevan State University, Yerevan Armenian S.S.R.
  • The Concept of Diaspora - Colloquium II of the Zoryan Institute, 1986 - Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
  • Labor Management Relations in the National Football League, 1986 - Las Vegas, Nevada
  • The Educational System of the United States, 1986 - Faculty of Philosophy, History and Sociology, Yerevan, Armenian S.S.R
  • The U.S. Advertising Industry, 1986 - Advertising Division of the Ministry of Trade, Yerevan, Armenian S.S.R.
  • - The Zoryan Institute Revisionism Conference, 1986 - Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
  • Theoretical Perspectives on Information Technologies and an Analysis of Advertising and Global Markets, 1986 - Institute of Foreign Languages, Yerevan State University, Yerevan Armenian S.S.R.
  • , 1985 - Armenian Sisters' Academy, Lexington, Massachusetts
  • Changing Perceptions of the Armenian Genocide, 1985 - School of International Affairs, Columbia University, New York, New York
  • - First Annual Symposium of the Zoryan Institute, 1984 - Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
  • Nicaragua, 1984 - Lydon Memorial Library, University of Lowell
  • Nicaragua Nuts & Bolts, 1984 - Billerica Public Library, Billerica, Massachusetts
  • Political Genesis of the Chemical Warfare Debate, 1984 - Boston, Massachusetts
  • The Sociology of Vahan Tekeyan, 1984 - Tekeyan Cultural Association, Watertown, Massachusetts
  • Denial of Armenia Genocide: A Study of U.S./Turkish Complicity, 1983 - Baltimore, Maryland
  • Dependency and Development, 1983 - Baltimore, Maryland
  • Resistance to Information Technology in the Third World - Fifth International Conference on Culture & Communication, 1983 - Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Historiography of the Armenian Question: An Analysis of Armenian, American, and Turkish National Histories, 1983 - San Francisco, California
  • Morality and the Nuclear Arms Race and The Armenian Underground Movement - Lenten series, 1983 - Vartanatz Armenian Apostolic Church, Chelmsford, Massachusetts
  • Marxism and the National Question, 1983 - Detroit, Michigan
  • Sport and Economics, 1983 - St. Louis, Missouri
  • The Meaning of April 24th, 1983 - University of Lowell. Lowell, Massachusetts
  • The Armenian Question: Past, Present & Future - URPE Summer Conference, 1983 - Chevy Chase, Maryland
  • Media Coverage of Recent Olympic Boycotts and the Myth of the Fourth Estate, 1982 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Racial Imagery in Popular Literature, 1982 - University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Stateless Nations - Session of the American Political Science Association, 1982 - Denver, Colorado
  • Sport and Social Problems: A Case of Trouble, Trouble Makers, or Nice Boys and Girls Gone Bad?, 1982 - Toronto, Ontario
  • Sport and the Anti-Apartheid Struggle, 1982 - Detroit, Michigan
  • The Anti-Apartheid Struggle on the Athletic Front, 1982 - Des Moines, Iowa
  • The Armenian Case: The Disappearance and the Reappearance of Reality, 1982 - Denver, Colorado
  • The Lebanon Crisis, 1982 - Institute for Popular Economics, Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts
  • Toward a Critical Sociology of Sport, 1982 - San Francisco, California
  • Politics and the 1984 Olympics - URPE Summer Conference, 1982 - Becket, Massachusetts
  • , 1981 - St. Vartanatz Armenian Apostolic Church, Chelmsford, Massachusetts
  • Allies of the Eighties: New Dimensions in the Armenian Struggle, 1981 - University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
  • Armenian Terrorism, 1981 - Knights of Columbus Hall, North Andover, Massachusetts
  • Armenian Terrorism: A Solution to the Armenian Question? - Tufts University, Medford, 1981 - Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
  • The Psychological Impact of the Genocide, 1977 - Methuen High School, Methuen, Massachusetts
  • The Social Bases of African Art, 1975 - Museum of Comparative Zoology of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

  • University of Massachusetts Healy Grant (), Grant - University of Massachusetts
    Chorbajian, L.
  • Fulbright Senior Lecturer (1996), - The American University of Armenia and Yerevan State University
    Chorbajian, L.
  • National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar Grant on Comparative Slavery (1991), - Harvard University
    Chorbajian, L.
  • Fulbright Senior Lecturer (1986), - Yerevan State University
    Chorbajian, L.
  • University of Lowell Research Foundation Summer Grant (1980), Grant - University of Lowell Research Foundation
    Chorbajian, L.
  • National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship (1968), Fellowship - Brandeis University
    Chorbajian, L.
  • National Science Foundation Fellowship (1964), Fellowship - University of Michigan
    Chorbajian, L.