Unpacking Armenian Studies

Language Therapy with Dr. K which was hosted on this channel for the past 3 years now has its own separate chanel. Search and subscribe to the new channel wherever you get your podcasts to receive the upcoming episodes of the beloved podcast series! 

What is Armenian mother guilt in the diaspora? How can a pandemic impact language dynamics in the home? Why is it that our professional expertise, competence, and training often disappear when it comes to things Armenian, our families, and our own children? Join Dr. K and Dr. Lori Mesrobian, USC professor of Spanish, as they discuss the extra complications of transmitting Armenian during the pandemic, the intense grief, disappointment, and shame associated with fears of loss, and the need for local and global language resources.

Are you up for a game of Belote? How did a French trick-taking card game gain such ubiquitous popularity both in Armenia and the diaspora? What is the special Armenian twist (hint: the bazar element) with its own language dynamics and social hierarchy? Though full of French, Turkish, and Russian words, why is it perceived as such an Armenian domain by players? Join Dr. K with research assistant and USC student Sarkis Tricha as they explore the roots and origins of Belote, the various game-specific terms used by speakers of Eastern and Western Armenian, the social dynamics and implications of the game, and the importance of using language as a means to play!

How do immigrants navigate integrating into host societies while still maintaining an orientation toward the homeland? What is the role of language in that process? What if they live in a society with a colonial/imperial legacy? Dr. K is joined by UCLA PhD candidate Anatolii Tokmantcev as they discuss the formation of Armenian communities in Russia, how Armenians are conceptualized in the Russian imagination, the factors that contribute to the quick loss of the Armenian language, and so much more. Join them for a fascinating discussion on the salience of language in particular sociolinguistic contexts.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu.

How do colonial and diasporic histories impact language dynamics? How do these forces manifest themselves in the case of curious hybrids or third-culture kids, the characterization author Nadia Owusu uses to encapsulate her Ghanian and Armenian-American heritage, through the lens of a child growing up in various international communities? Join Dr. K and Nadia Owusu as they discuss Aftershocks, Owusu’s powerful memoir, and use it as a springboard for topics such as colonialism, inherited languages, code-switching, accents, ownership, writing, and performing belonging.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu.

What do Europe’s reactions to this war seem to be saying about what Europe will or won’t tolerate when it comes to aggression and war? Has Europe’s vision of a united Europe changed irrevocably? Will small countries like Armenia, Moldova and Georgia now be faced with even starker choices between Russia and the West? How will Europe’s relationships with the countries of the Caucasus change and can those changes benefit societies in the Caucasus? Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian speaks with Dr. Vicken Cheterian, writer, journalist, scholar and author of War and Peace in the Caucasus, and a lecturer at Webster University Geneva.

This is Episode 11 of the limited series called Ukraine, Armenia & War.

For more, visit Armenian.usc.edu.

USC Professor Robert English studies the USSR, Russia and Eastern Europe. Here, he discusses the perceptions and policies of the other former Soviet republics in light of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, with Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian. Russia’s intentions and possible encroachment (military, political and economic) on the other 13 republics, what might follow a cessation of hostilities, limited room to maneuver bilaterally with Russia, and the deepening of enmities exacerbated by this war, as well as similarities in use of violence against close populations – all of these impact Armenia, Georgia and their stability, security and sovereignty.

This is Episode 9 of the limited series called Ukraine, Armenia & War.

Professor Ervand Abrahamian of City University of New York expresses his concerns about possible ramifications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Iran. In a conversation with Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian, they talk about Iran’s relations with all of the regional actors – Georgia, Armenia, the Caucasus, Turkey - in light of the war and its possible outcomes. Is this a return to the Tsarist Russian vision for the neighborhood?

This is Episode 8 of the limited series called Ukraine, Armenia & War.

Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian speaks with Varoujan Avedikian, an attorney and former General Counsel to Armenia’s Central Bank, on the economic and monetary challenges and opportunities immediately resulting from the Ukraine war. Energy and food security, imports and exports, banking and insurance services, are all impacted in expected and unexpected ways.

Armenia’s ambassador to Poland, Samvel Mkrtchian, is on the frontline with incoming refugees, and with an international community intent on finding a solution to the ongoing destruction of a country and a nation. He speaks with Institute Director and his former colleague at Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, Salpi Ghazarian, at length about international politics, power relations, and Armenia’s limited room to maneuver.

This is Episode 6 of the limited series called Ukraine, Armenia & War.

Armenia’s embassy in Ukraine was among the last to leave the capital and move to Lviv, near the western border. Ambassador Vladimir Karapetyan speaks with Institute Director and his former colleague at Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, Salpi Ghazarian, about the complexity of Armenia’s foreign relations and interactions with the diplomatic community in Ukraine; about what the embassy and staff are doing in the midst of war, including protecting church sculptures, and offering aid to refugees; and about the old and large (near 500,000) Armenian community of Ukraine, and their place within Ukrainian society.

This is Episode 5 of the limited series called Ukraine, Armenia & War.

For more, visit Armenian.usc.edu.

Dr. Dominique Arel of the University of Ottawa is a scholar of the Ukrainian Diaspora, which is active and effective in Canadian, and global pol. In a conversation with Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian, he presents an overview of the four waves of Ukrainian migration to Canada, and how each reinforced the identity and organizational capacity of those who had arrived earlier. The conversation focuses on responses to the war and the ability to mobilize the community’s as well as the host country’s – Canada’s – political resources. It ends with the question that has no answer – how do two neighbors go back to any sort of normality after such massive, unprovoked violence?

This is Episode 4 of the limited series called Ukraine, Armenia, and War.

For more, visit Armenian.usc.edu.

Armenia and Georgia, both caught in the very narrow space between the policies and actions of Russia and those of the West, are responding in very different ways to the Ukraine war. Olesya Vartanyan, based in Tbilisi, Georgia, is International Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for the South Caucasus region and the guest for Episode 3 of this limited series called Ukraine, Armenia & War. The conversation, with Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian, is about a fractured region.

For more, visit Armenian.usc.edu.

How do Armenians in Armenia and Karabakh / Artsakh view similarities and differences in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia. What are the information flows? What do the first wave of immigrants from Russia and Ukraine want? How has Karabakh’s security been impacted? CivilNet’s Editor-in-Chief Karen Harutyunyan is the guest in Episode 1 of a limited series called Ukraine, Armenia & War, on the Russian invasion of Ukraine as seen from Armenia and the Caucasus.

For more, visit Armenian.usc.edu.

Professor Ronald Suny, a leading scholar of Soviet, post-Soviet and Russian history, the Caucasus, nationalism and ethnic conflict, speaks about sovereignty and “organized hypocrisy” – for Ukraine, Armenia, Karabakh, Iraq, Kosovo or the Donbas region. Is there inviolability of borders? What is the value of ‘recognition’?

This is Episode 2 of the limited series Ukraine, Armenia & War on the Russian invasion of Ukraine as seen from Armenia and the Caucasus.

For more, visit Armenian.usc.edu.

How can the cultural influences and language dynamics of an immigrant household make its way to heavy metal and some of the most transformational music of its time? Going from an Armenian private school to sold out arenas around the world, Shavo Odadjian of System of a Down talks to Dr. K about how growing up speaking both standards of Armenian sparked a mindset of adaptability and perseverance throughout his life and career.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu.

How can a psychologist use language as a tool for healing, and as a method of traveling to times and locations often buried and distant in the past? If both therapist and patient are bilingual, how are language dynamics negotiated and experienced during therapy? In this episode, Dr. K sits down with clinical psychologist Mariam Vanounts to discuss the role of language(s) and non-verbal communication in various forms of therapy.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu.

While Cheerios are commonly known as a popular breakfast food, the term has taken on a life of its own in the Armenian American context, referring to a specific way a person speaks or behaves. In this episode, Dr. K talks to a number of young Armenian Americans and immigrants from Armenia to uncover this phenomenon and determine who exactly is a Cheerios and how that label is used.

For more, visit armenian.usc.edu.