Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
University Photographer
Arshak Abelyan
Staff Writer
“Having been a student here in my late teens and early childhood, I’ve spent my life at Fresno State, which has shaped me as a person, a student, and as a professional,” said Dr. Zhanna Bagdasarov Sahatjian.
As an immigrant to the United States in 1995 from Uzbekistan, Dr. Sahatjian came directly to the city of Fresno where she was destined to become an academic. “I knew that I wanted to teach. I always did—I wanted the life of an academic,” stated Dr. Sahatjian.
With those aspirations, Dr. Sahatjian first completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an Armenian Studies Minor and then earned a master’s degree in Experimental Psychology at Fresno State. Dr. Sahatjian then was accepted into Ph.D. program in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Oklahoma, completing her doctorate in 2014. She now teaches various courses and conducts research in the Management Department of the Craig School of Business.
As a student, Dr. Sahatjian took many Armenian Studies courses, covered various campus and community events as both a writer and editor for Hye Sharzhoom, and participated in a number of Armenian Students Organization (ASO) events that allowed her to meet new people and develop her Armenian identity.
“These programs really helped develop my Armenian identity. I didn’t know much, but there were things that my parents and my grandparents would emphasize, such as the Armenian Genocide. At Fresno State, I learned things about my culture that went beyond the Genocide; history, art, language, and more was revealed to me from speaking with and working with the faculty,” said Dr. Sahatjian.
One class that has changed how Dr. Sahatjian has looked at Armenian history was through the Arts of Armenia course (Armenian Studies 20). Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, then Director of the Armenian Studies Program, taught the course. She describes him as “the Armenian art guru. I learned so much about Armenian architecture, artists, and history that I still remember from his class taken over 15 years ago. I still talk about those things to friends that took that class with me. It was a very transformative course for me.” It couldn’t be stressed enough how impactful Dr. Kouymjian was for her. “Dr. Kouymjian was a strong educator and was really dynamic in the way he taught. He would tell us to go read and never stop reading because it was so important. I was a freshman at that time, so everything was new and exciting for me. He opened my eyes to just how much I did not know about my culture.”
While Dr. Sahatjian may be a fairly new faculty member at Fresno State, she has already begun to develop herself as a stronger educator. Whether that is through improving the ways that she teaches or in the methods to relate to the students, she has felt that transformation over the last five years she has been teaching at Fresno State. The skills that she developed as a student involved with the Armenian Students Organization and Hye Sharzhoom have tremendously influenced her career.
“I see former students that are now supporting first time freshmen, or sophomores, and helping them and pushing them in choosing certain courses, providing internships, and creating opportunities,” said Dr. Sahatjian. It is the continuity of her work that has helped fuel success for her former students.
When asked about what she would recommend future students to do when entering Fresno State, she answered by saying, “My biggest advice for future students would be to get involved and do things while you’re here, rather than being a passive onlooker and idly sitting by in a classroom every semester.”
It is clear that Dr. Sahatjian’s involvement under the mentor-ship of several important faculty members at Fresno State has been crucial in opening many gateways and opportunities that would otherwise not have opened.