This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Margaret Ajemian Ahnert chronicles her mother’s experience in The Knock at the Door
Margaret Ajemian Ahnert, author of The Knock at the Door: A Journey Through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide, will speak at noon on Monday, March 3, in Oechsle Hall Room 224.
The lecture is being sponsored by the English and religious studies departments, as well as the Jewish studies and Russian & East European studies programs. Lunch will be provided.
The Knock at the Door is a retelling of the traumatic battle by Ahnert’s mother to survive as a young girl coming of age during a period of brutality in Armenia. It is the first work by Ahnert. The Knock at the Door is the winner of the USA Book News Award for best book of 2007 in the world history category.
“We thought the Armenian genocide a timely and controversial issue, one with which many of our students are not very familiar,” says Suzanne Westfall, professor and head of English. “In addition, her approach through the memoir of a mother/daughter relationship was unique.”
Westfall also mentioned that the book addresses concerns about how we interact with our elderly parents.
Ahnert received an M.F.A. from Goucher College and a B.A. from Goddard College. She is also a graduate of the Barnes Foundation. She has pursued a variety of careers including producing television documentaries, running a Pennsylvania hotel and resort, lecturing as a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and teaching art appreciation through the “Art Goes to School” program in elementary schools.