Broken, Kitchen or Heritage Armenian? Part 1/2

Armenian Institute's librarian Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian talks with Dr. Shushan Karapetian, Deputy Director of University of Southern California's Institute of Armenian Studies to discuss the plethora of experiences that exist within bilingual individuals, seen often amongst global Armenian communities. The varied experiences of heritage and native Armenian speakers prove themselves cyclical, a cycle Shushan strongly believes must be changed for the betterment of language practice and preservation. Shushan Karapetian is Deputy Director of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, where she leads the Institute’s research and scholarship initiatives, deepening the integration with entities both on and off campus and expanding the scope of academic programming. She received a PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from UCLA in 2014, where she taught Armenian Studies courses for ten years. Her dissertation, “‘How Do I Teach My Kids My Broken Armenian?’: A Study of Eastern Armenian Heritage Language Speakers in Los Angeles,” received the Society for Armenian Studies Distinguished Dissertation Award in 2015. In 2018, she was the recipient of the Russ Campbell Young Scholar Award in recognition of outstanding scholarship in heritage language research. She also serves as associate director of the National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA. Shushan researches, teaches, and writes about the Armenian experience, particularly focusing on competing ideologies at the intersection of language and the construction of transnational identity. The Armenian Institute is a London based charity dedicated to making Armenian culture and history a lived experience through innovative programmes, educational resources, workshops, lectures, exhibits and performances. This year we present Zanazan: an umbrella title covering our upcoming media output, from online publications to podcast series. Zanazan Sounds is a project that aims to explore shared histories, learn about contemporary Armenian worlds and create new ones. Zanazan (meaning “variety” in Armenian) is also the title of our latest online publication where photo essays, articles and poetry from around the world can be found. We aim to publish 2-3 episodes a month, taking a different angle each week as we explore our three podcasting strands: Discover, Treasures From The Library and Uncover. You can follow our social media accounts for updates in between episodes. To get involved with AI you can find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you’d like to reach out, or to discuss anything you’ve heard in this series, feel free to email us anytime at [email protected]

Om Podcasten

Armenian Institute presents Zanazan Sounds. A project that aims to explore shared histories, learn about contemporary Armenian worlds and create new ones through three podcast series. We invite you to listen in and learn alongside us as we commence this new journey through sound. DISCOVER: learn and discuss with figures who are shaping our community globally in all fields. TREASURES FROM THE LIBRARY: Join librarian Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian to explore unique Armenian texts that we hold in our collection. UNCOVER: reflect on the evolving Armenian identities, developments and transformations.