By Mary Giles
Kateryna Gazaryan
“I feel at home at EURUS,” says Kateryna Gazaryan, who is graduating this spring with a Master of Arts in European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. “I started in EURUS six years ago through the Bachelor of Global and International Studies (BGInS) program’s specialization in Europe and Russia in the World.”
Her interest in international study began much earlier. When she was 12, Gazaryan immigrated to Canada with her family from the Ukraine in the middle of winter. Since then, she has always wanted to travel and experience the outside world.
In high school, she participated in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board’s International Certificate Program. Gazaryan was the recipient of the 2015 award for students in the program who intend to join the BGInS program at Carleton.
Gazaryan joined the first BGInS cohort and was especially excited about international travel. She was able to participate in the inaugural two-week India Study Tour to Mumbai and Bengaluru, organized by the university’s Canada-India Centre for Excellence. She also went on exchange to Rome and was able to travel to Japan in 2019 though the Kakehashi program.
A fourth year EURUS internship course led to a permanent position at the SecDev Group, a risk consulting firm where Gazaryan analyzes various topics related to international security, including cyber and violent extremism. Gazaryan now has a full-time position as a research analyst. She is fluent in Russian and communicates in the language at work most of the time.
“After graduating from BGInS, I wanted to continue fine-tuning my knowledge base on the region,” says Gazaryan. “EURUS is a small program. The community is fantastic — everyone knows each other. We often went for dinner before the pandemic. Jeff Sahadeo is an amazing director and really cares for students. He often found events and conferences for us to attend.”
“One of my favourite courses in the MA was Politics of Central Eurasia. Professor Sahadeo facilitated the discussion, but he really allowed the students to feel comfortable voicing their opinions. The course also had very interesting and dynamic assignments.”
Kateryna Gazaryan in Venice, Italy while on exchange in the Bachelor of Global and International Studies (BGiNS) program at Carleton.
During her MA, Gazaryan was a teaching assistant in BGInS and EURUS courses in global history, introduction to European and Russian studies, current issues in European politics and society, and Europe and Russia in the world.
“Unfortunately, all travel plans related to my MA were cancelled,” she says. “I planned to go to Georgia as a research assistant with Professor Sahadeo. Instead, I worked from home on my Master’s Research Project, which explores the transnational dimensions of far-right extremism in the Ukraine.”
Gazaryan’s dream is to be able to work from anywhere in the world. Thanks to the knowledge she learned at EURUS and in her current position at SecDev, she plans to move to Armenia to work remotely and spend time with family.
Friday, June 18, 2021 in 2021 Graduation, Convocation, FPA Voices, Institute of European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, Students
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