AUA Announces Faculty Promotions
7 min readYEREVAN, Armenia — The American University of Armenia (AUA) recently announced faculty promotions approved by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) during the Spring 2023 semester. Dr. Shushan Avagyan, coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Translation (CTr) program and director of AUA Press was promoted to the rank of associate professor. Viken Berberian, Christian Garbis, Rubina Gasparyan, and Talin Grigoryan were promoted to the rank of senior lecturer.
Dr. Shushan Avagyan joined AUA in 2012 and was instrumental in starting the CTr program in the same year. Under her leadership, the program has accomplished considerable progress since its founding, including producing numerous published translations and providing interpretation at different public events, partnering with other established translation programs, such as the Master of Fine Arts in Literary Translation at the University of Iowa, as well as collaborating with influential foundations such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Heinrich Böll Foundation. “It has been pure joy to see our students thrive in an ever changing and complex landscape of translation and interpreting studies,” she remarks.
Before joining AUA, Dr. Avagyan was a teaching fellow at Illinois State University, where she taught comparative literature courses and organized translation workshops. At AUA, Dr. Avagyan teaches several courses, including Introduction to Translation Studies, History and Theories of Translation, Practicum in Translation, and Literary Translation. She was bestowed the AUA Faculty Research Award in 2015 — an award that aims to promote research among AUA faculty.
Dr. Avagyan’s research articles and translations have appeared in numerous publications, including Los Angeles Review of Books, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Contemporary Women’s Writing, Music & Literature, and Dissidences: Hispanic Journal of Theory and Criticism. Her most recent essay, “Translations from Armenian: Reimag(in)ing the Inassimilable” was included in the groundbreaking volume Violent Phenomena: 21 Essays on Translation, edited by Kavita Bhanot and Jeremy Tiang (Tilted Axis, 2022). She is the translator of Energy of Delusion: A Book on Plot, Bowstring: On the Dissimilarity of the Similar, A Hunt for Optimism, The Hamburg Score, and On the Theory of Prose by Viktor Shklovsky (Dalkey Archive), Art and Production by Boris Arvatov (Pluto) and I Want To Live: Poems of Shushanik Kurghinian (AIWA). Her experimental novel Girq-anvernagir (2006) was recently translated into English by Deanna Cachoian-Schanz and is available through Awst Press (U.S.) and forthcoming through Tilted Axis Press (UK).
Reflecting on her teaching experience, Dr. Avagyan notes, “Ever since I started teaching at the university level, first as a teaching fellow at Illinois State University, later as lecturer and then assistant professor at AUA, I have thought of the classroom experience as a setting in which we — teacher and students — witness discovery, transformation, and growth.” She then elaborates on the founding of the program, “When I began teaching at AUA in 2012, launching the CTr program, I found out that students of translation in Armenia have very little practice while studying at their respective institutions, be it Yerevan State University, Bryusov State University, Slavonic University or any another higher education institution. Being a translator myself and actively engaged in shaping the field of translation in Armenia through workshops and team projects, I have always advocated for the effective integration of theory and practice.”
Dr. Avagyan received her Ph.D. in English studies from Illinois State University in 2012 with a specialization in translation studies and a graduate certificate in women’s studies.
Viken Berberian is a writer and essayist. He joined the University in 2016 and teaches Persuasive Writing, Creative Nonfiction, Data Journalism, Expository Writing, and The Graphic Novel as part of AUA’s Bachelor of Arts in English and Communications (BAEC) program. Berberian’s journalism, essays, and fiction have been published in the New York Review of Books, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Granta, Le Monde Diplomatique, The Nation, and the New York Times. He is the author of the novels The Cyclist (Simon & Schuster, 2002/English, Modan/Hebrew, Houtkiet/Dutch, Diable Vauvert/French, Minimum Fax/Italian), Das Kapital (Simon & Schuster, 2007/English, Gallmeister/French), and the graphic novel, The Structure Is Rotten, Comrade (Actes Sud, 2017/French, Fantagraphics Books, 2019/English, Edition Moderne, 2020/German), with illustrator Yann Kebbi.
Before joining AUA, Berberian held research positions at bfinance in Paris, Helios Partners Fund Management in New York, and Aon Risk Solutions in Montreal. He holds an M.Sc. in international political economy from the London School of Economics, an M.Sc. in journalism from Columbia University, and a B.A. in comparative politics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently writing a libretto inspired by The Structure Is Rotten, Comrade, a collection of short stories, and a novel about an encounter between architects.
Christian Garbis joined AUA in 2015. He teaches Expository Writing, Persuasive Writing, Scriptwriting, Creative Writing-Fiction, and Writing For Industry, among other courses, in the BAEC program. He was awarded the AUA Faculty Teaching Excellence Prize in 2021.
Born and raised in Boston and currently residing in Yerevan, Garbis is an active member of the AUA community and has been recognized by the student body for his professionalism in teaching and also by the community for his public service. He has contributed to the curricular design of the BAEC program by serving on working committees charged with evaluating existing needs for setting the direction of the program. He also designed and taught new courses such as Creative Writing-Fiction, Writing For Industry, and Scriptwriting.
His news articles, commentaries, and essays have appeared in Hetq Online, The Armenian Weekly, Explore Parts Unknown, and Roads and Kingdoms. He has also authored a novel, a screenplay, and numerous short stories, and has made several short experimental films. In 2013, he participated in TEDxYerevan, giving an inspirational talk on “Never letting life go.”
“My mission as an educator at AUA is all about empowering the youth of Armenia and fostering their creative potential. It’s an honor for me to be a valued faculty member at AUA, and I’m grateful every day for the opportunity to be a part of the University community. I’ve spent the best years of my life at AUA — it’s been the experience of a lifetime. I just love what I do. And, over the years, my students have felt the impact of my instruction and mentorship. I’ve had students who’ve taken four, five, or even seven courses with me. That’s incredibly moving. Recently I learned that when new students seek the advice of their peer mentors — who also happen to be my students — they’re told that they must take a course with me because ‘Garbis will change your life.’ This is so humbling. It makes everything I’ve done and continue to do at AUA so rewarding and beautiful,” Garbis reflects.
Garbis holds a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Lesley University, Massachusetts.
Rubina Gasparyan joined AUA in 1992. Currently, she teaches at AUA’s Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (MATEFL) and General Education programs. She is also the head of the Experimental English Classes (EEC) Afterschool English Program established by the MATEFL and the Center for Research in Applied Linguistics (CRAL) in 2005 and currently collaborating with the AUA Open Education (OE).
Gasparyan’s major interests include language assessment and teacher training. She has participated in a number of local and international research and assessment projects and presented her work at conferences. Her most recent conference participation was at TESOL Arabia 2023 (27th international conference and exhibition) and Cambridge Assessment Summit of Education. In 2022, in collaboration with the AUA OE, she organized the “Level Up with AUA” workshop for teachers in Gyumri on behalf of the AUA Center for Research in Applied Linguistics. She has authored and co-authored reports, manuals, and articles in language assessment. She teaches the courses Classroom Assessment and Introduction to Language in the MATEFL and CTEFL programs, as well as Freshman Seminar.
Gasparyan believes that as a teacher dedicated to the profession, one has to embrace lifelong learning as a means of building up one’s knowledge and expertise. Reflecting on her experience at AUA, she notes, “I have learned a lot from my amazing colleagues and my resourceful and creative students throughout these years. I have learned how to be encouraged and how to encourage others to pursue their dreams; I have learned how to strive for achievements and how to stay modest and respectful; I have learned that behind each accomplishment there is a team of supporters, and I have learned to be a supporter for my students in their aspirations. I have also learned that every accomplishment is a new beginning, and as such, this promotion brings with it new opportunities and responsibilities.”
Gasparyan received her bachelor’s degree from the Yerevan State Linguistic University after Brusov. Later, she completed graduate studies earning her MATEFL at the Monterey (now Middlebury) University of International Studies (U.S.), as well as from AUA in 2001.
Talin Grigorian first taught in the AUA Department of English Programs in 2001-2006. After a few years’ absence from Armenia, she came back in 2014 and has been teaching since in the MATEFL and BAEC programs. She was also involved in establishing AUA’s EEC Afterschool English Program.
Speaking of her job, Grigorian elaborates, “Finding new venues for our students to conduct their practicum and internship, meeting with administrators of educational and governmental institutions and partnering with public schools in Yerevan for capacity building and recruitment, as well as finding ‘TEFL project’ placements for our students are a major part of the responsibilities of my challenging but also very rewarding job.” Working in this capacity during the last three years, she has collaborated with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia; Ministry of Economy; and Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to create courses specifically designed to meet the needs of their staff. She also continues to teach Freshman Seminar I and II at AUA.
Grigorian is most proud of the recent collaboration between the TEFL program and Children of Armenia Fund. She has also co-taught two CTEFL courses to 17 in-service teachers enrolled in the AUA Certificate Program, in which context she has observed teachers in Vanadzor and 11 villages in the Lori region during Summer and Fall 2022. That collaboration has led to the current research with colleagues that explores the potential educational benefits of having an EFL teacher development program in the rural schools of Armenia.
Grigorian published a peer reviewed article and a book chapter titled “International Perspectives on the TESOL Practicum” printed by Springer Publishing. She has also served as consultant to a UNICEF grant project on behalf of AUA CRAL. She is a member of numerous standing and ad hoc committees at AUA. Since 2014, she has also been a member of Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center, an organization with a mission that, she believes, is closely aligned with her personal values.
In 2021, Grigorian published a short story in EVN Report, which she values as a most challenging experience; she is proud that both the English and Armenian versions of the story are currently used in CTr’s translation course.
She has participated in numerous workshops and worked with various non-profit organizations where language teaching courses were adapted to specifically meet the needs of the communities they served and continues to volunteer, whenever possible, to assist the Women’s Support Center in Yerevan.
Grigorian holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and English literature from the University of Toronto and an M.A. in linguistics (ESL) from California State University, Fresno.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.