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 compl…

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…

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 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. …

What happens when an alternative weekly in Orange County starts a column called ¡Ask a Mexican!, in which journalist Gustavo Arellano responds to reader questions about Mexican-American stereotypes in a satirical, wonderfully witty and informative manner? And he uses Spanish and Spanglish in almost every response? And it becomes so successful that …

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 …

How will Turkey’s military and diplomatic support to Ukraine — while disassociating from the Western campaign to limit Russia’s reach — determine its regional policies going forward? How will Armenia and Karabakh be impacted? How will negotiations regarding opening the Turkey-Armenia border figure into Turkey’s calculus for its role in the region? …

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, w…

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 …

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 une…

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 …

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 U…

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 t…

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 se…

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 i…

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 li…

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 spa…

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 …

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 Ch…

What does it take to become a priest in the Armenian Apostolic Church and what role does language play in the process? In this episode, Dr. K is joined by the Parish Priest of St. John Armenian Apostolic Church, Father Mesrop Ash, to explore the different roles within the Armenian Church and understand the various procedures and processes behind or…

What kind of influence can a dominant language have on a minority language? In this episode, Dr. K sits with linguist Dr. Niamh Kelly from the American University of Beirut to discuss why knowledge of one language, such as Arabic or English, can influence the sound system of Western Armenian. They also deconstruct different language myths regarding…

Who was Anastas Mikoyan? — Dr. Pietro Shakarian, a historian of Russia and the Soviet Union, discusses Anastas Mikoyan, often called the most influential Armenian in the Soviet Union — his life and his impact on Soviet history, from Lenin to Brezhnev, and on the development of Soviet Armenia. For more, visit armenian.usc.edu.…

Whether dancing at Armenian celebrations or watching Armenian dance companies perform on stage, it’s evident that the practice of Armenian dance is rich and diverse. In this episode, Dr. K sits with PhD student and dance practitioner Natalie Kamajian to define different types of Armenian dance and discuss what the discourse behind them says about h…

Economics of genocide — Dr. Ümit Kurt, a historian of the modern Middle East, provides a rare look at economic factors as both cause and consequence of genocide. How and why did neighbors turn on neighbors? Because the financial incentives were great. Kurt, born in Aintab (Gaziantep), writes on the economics of genocide in his hometown. For more, v…

The After War - Before Peace series began in November with Ambassador Steven Mann, of the American diplomatic service. Now, more than a dozen episodes later, it comes to a close with Ambassador Marc Pierini, a veteran of the EU diplomatic service. Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Ambassador Pi…

For decades, Georgia was the transit hub point from west to east. Now, Georgian press see Armenia as taking over that position. Is the regional relationship seen as a zero sum game in Georgia? How does all of this impact Georgia’s vision about its place in the region and the world? What does all this say about regional cohesion and is that even an …

Iran, which shares borders with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, has maintained neutrality in the Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh conflict throughout the years. The question is – now what? Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak about the reactions within Iran during the war, as well as the Iran/Armenia/Georgia vert…

What are the instruments of justice and equity in the aftermath of the Second Karabakh War? What can the international organizations do? What conventions and statutes apply in this particular case? Salpi Ghazarian and Emil Sanamyan speak with Dr. Irina Ghaplanyan, a political scientist, climate negotiator and published author who served as Deputy M…

Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Olesya Vartanyan, senior analyst of the South Caucasus region for the International Crisis Group. Based in Tbilisi, Vartanyan researches and produces reports on regional security issues in Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, with a particular focus on breakaway r…

Was the war in Karabakh Turkey's re-entry into the Caucasus? Are Russia and Turkey on a collision course? How are Azerbaijani investments in Turkey driving the relationship between the two countries? Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament Garo Paylan and ren…

What are the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan saying? What aren’t they saying? And how does this impede forward movement? In fact, how does this harm peace? Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Dr. Vicken Cheterian to answer those questions. The focus of the discussion is on what's missing in the…

Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with longtime Caucasus researcher and area expert Dr. Laurence Broers. They discuss the possible pathways toward a lasting status in Karabakh/Artsakh in the aftermath of the recent 45-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which ended with a trilateral document, br…

Institute director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Dr. Sergey Markedonov, a political scientist specializing in conflicts, nationalism and nation building in the post-Soviet space and a researcher at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Civilnet's editor-in-chief Karen Harutyunyan also joins i…

If the official language of the Republic of Armenia is Armenian, but the commonly spoken standard is Eastern Armenian, where does that leave Western Armenian speakers? In this episode, Dr. K is joined by Vahakn Keshishian, co-founder of Aghvor Paner, a Western Armenian language website, to discuss the changing perceptions of Western Armenian and ho…

Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with Karen Harutyunyan, editor-in-chief of Civilnet,​ who joined the conversation from Yerevan, along with Anush Ghavalyan from Stepanakert. The discussion raises questions about the post-war situation on the roads connecting Armenia and Karabakh, or Artsakh, and th…

Discussing the daunting task of defining the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan following the 44-Day War, Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan speak with international law specialist Levon Gevorgyan of the American University of Armenia about the concept of internationally recognized borders. Dr. Gela Mer…

Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian and Focus on Karabakh editor Emil Sanamyan talk about the pressing issue of the fate of Armenian servicemen and civilians currently in captivity in Azerbaijan as a result of the latest war in Karabakh. Experts joining the conversation are professor David Glazier from Loyola Law School and international human right…

Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian and analyst/editor of the Institute’s Focus on Karabakh platform, Emil Sanamyan, formulate a list of important topics and questions to be discussed in the upcoming episodes of the After War - Before Peace series with area experts, analysts, former and current diplomats. The conversation comes amid the tense situat…

Shifting Borders and Sovereigns — Dr. George Bournoutian, a professor of both Armenian and Iranian studies, recently retired from teaching at Iona College in New York. He speaks to Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian about the dozens of volumes he has researched, published and translated into English, on Armenia, Armenians, the Caucasus, Russia and …

In this episode, Dr. K sits with renowned Armenian calligrapher Ruben Malayan, three weeks into the 2020 Artsakh War, to discuss the breadth and impact of his work, as it relates to Armenian culture and society. They also unpack the crucial role of arts and humanities in moments of rupture. For more on Malayan's work, visit armeniancalligraphy.com …

During Genocide: A Resistance Network? — Dr. Khatchig Mouradian, lecturer at Columbia University, has just been named the Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist at the Library of Congress. He speaks to Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian about the initiatives taken by Armenians in Ottoman Syria to resist inevitable destruction and to find ways to reb…

Vulgar vocabulary and cursing in a time of war? Hand-in-hand with an increased interest in learning and teaching Armenian? In this episode, Dr. K is joined by comedian Mary Basmadjian as they discuss her ability to break all kinds of gender and cultural norms, while simultaneously teaching the Armenian language through comedic skits such as "Vartou…

In this episode of Language Therapy, Dr. K is joined by Khachatur Adumyan, one of Armenia’s most sought-after interpreters, who has interpreted for every Armenian prime minister since independence. They talk about the linguistic, cognitive, and ethical demands of the job, the nuances of interpreting from and into Armenian, and the day-to-day realit…

Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian speaks with former US Ambassador Steven Mann about the ceasefire document signed by the heads of government of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on November 10. What does it include? What does it leave out? Why? Ambassador Mann was US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in the 2000s, and based on his familiarity with th…

The Institute presents audio of ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN AT WAR - a series of public conversations with scholars, journalists, and government officials to give context to ongoing escalation in Artsakh/Karabakh. The fifth series in the conversation, entitled “Roads to Peace” features Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian; Fmr. U.S. Ambassador-at-Large fo…

The Institute presents audio of ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN AT WAR - a series of public conversations with scholars, journalists, and government officials to give context to ongoing escalation in Artsakh/Karabakh. The fourth series in the conversation, entitled “Understanding the 'International Community'” features Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian; Ar…

The Institute presents audio of ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN AT WAR - a series of public conversations with scholars, journalists, and government officials to give context to ongoing escalation in Artsakh/Karabakh. The third series in the conversation, entitled “Armenia's Borders: Tavush Everyday” features Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian; Hayk Chobany…

The Institute presents audio of ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN AT WAR - a series of public conversations with scholars, journalists, and government officials to give context to ongoing escalation in Artsakh/Karabakh. The second series in the conversation, entitled “Turkey & Russia — Friend or Foe?” features Institute Director Salpi Ghazarian; Prof. Robert …

The Institute presents audio of ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN AT WAR - a series of public conversations with scholars, journalists, and government officials to give context to ongoing escalation in Artsakh/Karabakh. The first conversation, entitled "Security or Democracy — A False Dichotomy?," features Robert Avetisyan, Permanent Representative of the Nag…