JFDP Alumni Success Stories
Hillary Clinton initiates U.S.-Armenian-Turkish tourist project
On behalf of his institution, Armenian State University of Economics (ASUE), Gyumri Branch, JFDP 2010 alumnus 
Artak Manukyan participated in the development and design of a grant project initiated and led by the University of Florida and funded by the U.S. Department of State. The project entitled “A Multilateral University Consortium to Strengthen Tourism Education, Research, and Industry Outreach” proposes collaboration between academic institutions and the private sector to train, educate, and bring together resources relating to sustainable regional tourism development. The initiative aims to encourage mutual understanding and educational improvement through cooperation in higher education. The impetuous for the grant is to strengthen relations between Turkey and Armenia. The partnership is implemented along with the ASUE Gyumri Branch and Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey. The project started in September 2010 and is expected to be completed by December 2012. Artak Manukyan will be responsible for implementation of this project as a Team Leader from the Armenian side.
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Alumni of Junior Faculty Development Program united around a central issue in the sphere of higher education in Armenia
In the framework of project entitled “Designing and Managing Courses” funded by the US Department of State and administered by the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, Armenian alumni of Junior Faculty Development Program published a manual entitled “Designing and Managing Courses” that examines the issues of designing and managing student-centered courses and created accompanying new web page for educators.
In the framework of the project, a roundtable took place on December 15th at Erebuni Plaza business center, where more than 70 educators, researchers — public and private sector, as well as NGO representatives gathered to discuss and share ideas and experiences. During a round table in the following topics, which proved to be challenging to discuss and gave further food for thought, were examined by five working groups.
- Effective teaching methods: Challenges and opportunities
- Student evaluation, assessment and feedback: Challenges and opportunities
- Student motivation: Armenian reality and possible solutions
- The gap among the labor market, institutions of higher education and research
- The misbalance of theoretical knowledge skills and competencies
During the event the, “Designing and Managing Courses” manual and the new web page (www.teaching.am) were unveiled. Both the web page and the manual exclusively emphasize the role of an educator as a change agent, as a manager and leader, whose role should not be limited to the lone transfer of information.
The web page is unique in its nature, as it is the first platform aiming at bridging the gap among the major education stakeholders: lecturers, researchers, private and public sector representatives, as well as NGO representatives. The initiators hope that the resource center with its AllArmenian Social network will become a platform for communication and collaboration for the groups mentioned above, as well as become a source of new ideas and initiatives in the field.
The slogan adopted by the project is the quotation of William Arthur Ward, who said: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher INSPIRES”.
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JFDP 2003 alumnus Dr. Gagik Demirjian participated in the “University Partnerships for Workforce Development” program with a group of ten university administrators from Armenia. He spent three weeks in October 2010 in Boston area of Massachusetts, USA. During the program the group of Armenian educators visited some of the best-known US universities – Harvard University, University of Massachusetts, Boston University, Bentley University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lesley University, Northeastern University, and Middlesex Community College. Dr. Demirjian also paid visits to the Cambridge Mayor’s Office to meet with Cambridge Mayor David Maher and visited professional educational associations such as the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), and Arlington Armenian Cultural Foundation. He contributed to a panel discussion at NAASR with representatives of the Armenian Diaspora and other community members. The program participants also gave interviews to Voice of America and Radio WGBH, Boston (“The World” program).
Dr. Demirjian’s two major articles dedicated to educational issues were published in 2010. The article “Science Education in Schools and Information and Communication Technologies” was published in the Pedagogy scientific-methodical and analytical journal, and the article on “Digital Revolution and Educational Reforms” written with a coauthor was printed as part of Proceedings of Republican Conference Education, Reforms and Problems that took place in Vanadzor.
Having been awarded a competitive travel grant by the Swiss National Science Foundation funding scheme, Dr. Gagik Demirjian participated in the RED-Conference (Rethinking Education in the Knowledge Society) organized by NewMinE Lab of the University of Lugano, Switzerland and held in Monte Verita, Ascona, Switzerland March 7-10, 2011. RED-Conference provided an interdisciplinary discussion venue where researchers in the area of digital technologies in education introduced their research and shared experiences. Dr. Demirjyan presented his research “Information Support of Education: Rethinking Armenian Experience” at a plenary session.
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JFDP 2007 alumna Taguhi Sahakyan’s research book Publishing in International Journals: Armenian Scholars’ Difficulties was published last September in Germany by LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing. The book is now available on the Amazon web site.
Based on the results of her study Ms. Sahakyan developed an Article Writing Course for young Armenian researchers. She is planning to present her research at the BALEAP conference (British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes) in Portsmouth, UK.
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JFDP 2007 alumna Tamara Zalinyan became a winner of the Study of the U.S. Institute on Religious Pluralism in the U.S. program administered by the U.S. Embassy in Armenia. She will be hosted by the University of California Santa Barbara from June through end of July 2011.
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Last December JFDP 2008 alumna Lusine Karamyan was awarded the Policy Fellowship Initiative Grant from OSI Assistance Foundation. Within the bounds of this fellowship project, she is implementing a profound research dedicated to social minority discrimination of social minority issues in Armenia. As a result, Lusine Karamyan will make a presentation and will publish research results with recommendations for civil society activists, organizations and governmental institutions.
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Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, JFDP Alumnus 2008, carried out research in Tubingen University, Germany through the DAAD Post-doctoral Fellowship program from November 2010 through January 2011. He spent three months studying the Christological controversies of 4-5th centuries which is an essential topic for Armenians and Armenian Apostolic Church.
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JFDP 2010 alumna Arevik Ohanyan’s article “Westernization in the Post-Soviet World: Risks and Benefits of the Bologna Process” was published in spring issue of the International Higher Education Journal of Boston College Center for International Higher Education. As a JFDP fellow Arevik Ohanyan spent five moths at the Boston College studying Education Administration.