Theme: Shedding a Light

As the world goes through different changes every day, people tend to find a new normal for themselves. But sometimes life gets in the middle of some truths or some topics making them less important and less spoken about. There are few people in the world who are brave enough to speak up about their deeper and hidden truths. Truths that are not normally admitted by society, truths that can be criticized or punished thus, Keeping them buried deep inside. With the theme “Shedding a Light”, we aim to reveal the unspoken truths and unspoken ideas that have shaped some of our peers, our lecturers, and our community members. The event sheds a light on those who want to share their unheard stories and unspoken truths.

American University of Armenia
40 Marshal Baghramyan Avenue
Yerevan, Erevan, 0019
Armenia

Armen Kherlopian

Pioneering Scientist and Executive at Scale

Dr. Armen Kherlopian serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH). The institute supports NASA in researching and developing innovative approaches to reduce risks to humans on long-duration exploration missions, including NASA's Journey to Mars. At TRISH Dr. Kherlopian focuses on how to adapt innovations in data processing and Artificial Intelligence to improve mission outcomes. Dr. Kherlopian is an accomplished Biophysicist, having made scholarly contributions in the areas of electrophysiology and human-computer interfaces. As a scientist, he has a strong interest in fostering research to support the development of science-based economies. His current research focus is on Machine Perception and the impact of AI in society. Dr. Kherlopian also has tremendous industry experience that includes Global Fortune 100 Companies, startups, and government organizations such as the FDA.

Mimi Zarookian

Educator and Professor

Mimi Zarookian is a career educator of 35+ years holding a BA & MA in English Literature from California State University Northridge, a Clear Life Teaching Credential from the State of California, and a Bilingual Certificate of Competency from the University of La Verne. She has worked with school districts in the greater Los Angeles area in instructional and administrative capacities. She moved to Armenia in 2014 and joined AUA’s faculty teaching in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the MA TEFL Program. Mimi proudly serves on the Armenian Educational Foundation Scholarship Committee and is responsible for their annual publication. She is also a board member of Orran NGO. Mimi’s passion for education has made each day of her career a joyful journey.

Nazeli Ter-Petrosyan

Computer Science Student

Nazeli Ter-Petrosyan is a student at the American University of Armenia, pursuing her BSc in Computer Science, and being passionate about AI. She is a part of "What to Wear'' startup, where she's developing an AI stylist that determines the user's clothing style, body shape, and preferences and creates the best looks for them based on the occasion. Currently, “What to Wear'' is a member of the NVIDIA Inception program and a graduate of the EPIC Incubation program. She was also an AI researcher at SmartGateVC's AI Incubation program, researching real-time motion prediction for an autonomous driving vehicle. Nazeli is a young member of the New York Academy of Sciences and, in October 2021, she was recognized as one of the best 50 students in the world by Chegg and the Varkey Foundation. As the finalist of the prize, Nazeli collaborated with Chegg creating videos to advocate for education and women in tech.

Saro Hayrabedian

Musician

Saro Hayrabedian is pursuing a Master's degree in Computer Science at AUA. Prior to that, he studied Software Engineering and graduated from NPUA. Saro was born in Aleppo, Syria but due to the war, he moved to Yerevan, Armenia in 2012, where he plans to live the rest of his life. He's been a musician since childhood. He began playing the piano at the age of 6, the guitar at 17, and singing since he can remember. He's fluent in 4 languages (English, Arabic, Armenian, and Turkish) and currently works in the field of translating in all of these languages. In 2016, he formed the "Lost Village" duo with a childhood friend, which he expanded into a band with 4 musicians in 2018. He's the band's lead vocalist and guitarist. They primarily play pop, rock, and country songs, but recently also begun performing original songs written by Saro and his friend. His musical tastes have evolved over the years to encompass nearly every genre, including country, rock, pop, R&B, blues, metal, and others.

Sona Gevorgyan

Aspiring Writer and Journalist

Sona Gevorgyan is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in English Language and Communications at AUA. Sona is an aspiring writer and journalist. She works as an English language trainer at English with Laura, working with leading IT companies in Armenia. Before moving to Armenia with her family, she was born and raised in Kuwait. Sona is Co-editor-in-chief of The Highlander, AUA's student magazine. She is passionate about sharing people's stories and giving a voice to important issues. Sona has participated in and won awards in a number of national and international writing and public speaking competitions. She has been hosting and organizing educational programs at the American Corner Yerevan at the Isahakyan Library. She has also been a content ambassador for Wattpad, an online writing platform with over 90 million users. Sona is planning to pursue her Master's degree in Creative Writing and is now working on publishing her book about the impact of war on veterans.

Theofanis Varvoglis

Professor of Marketing

Fanis Varvoglis has a PhD in Marketing from Virginia Tech and specializes in Marketing Strategy and Entrepreneurial Decision Making. He is also an internationally certified mediator specializing in corporate disputes. He has been a professor of Marketing at San Diego State University, California, USA, adjunct professor at the University of Macedonia and the University of the Aegean in Greece, and Chair of the Business School at the American College of Thessaloniki. Since 2017 he is professor of Marketing at the AUA. He teaches Trust in the general education context and supervises the annual student conference on Trust. Essays and articles of his have been published in American, European, and Greek publications, and he has appeared on American and Greek television on issues relating to Marketing. He has implemented and coordinated studies and research in the private sector both domestically and abroad on education, strategy for corporations, startups, and not-for-profit organizations.

Zohrab Gevorgyan

Historian and Education Specialist

Zohrab Gevorgyan is a historian, educator, and expert in teaching history. He has over 15 years of teaching experience. He has taught at Ayb School, Mekhitarist Educational Complex, Yerevan State University of Economics, Yerevan State University and AUA. He worked as a senior researcher at the Institute of History of NAS RA for many years. Dr. Gevorgyan holds a PhD degree in History and has authored more than 20 scientific articles and monographs. His main areas of research are related to the medieval history of Armenia, Europe, the Middle East, particularly the medieval Mediterranean trade, economy, cities, everyday life, women's history. In addition, he has conducted educational research. In 2020 he co-authored a book on history teaching strategies that aims to develop a new approach to teaching history. It includes projects, practical assignments, textual and visual resources, special attention is paid to project-based learning. The book is successfully used in schools in Armenia.