Returning to the conversation, AI's librarian Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian continues the discussion with Dr. Shushan Karapetian, Deputy Director of University of Southern California's Institute of Armenian Studies, to confront the realities of preserving heritage and native languages amongst bi-lingual schools across Los Angeles. The pair reflect on these newfound methods, and idealise environments that create space and encouragement for more than one language.

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 and print 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 twice 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 olivia@armenianinstitute.org.uk

Broken, Kitchen or Heritage Armenian? Part 1/2