Linguistic Legacies: Language, Identity, and Social History
Release Date: 08/01/2024
From Komitas to Capital Cities: Sebu Simonian Between Languages
Language Therapy with Dr. K
What does it mean to live and create between languages? How can code-switching become a form of artistry? In this episode of Language Therapy with Dr. K, Armenian American singer, songwriter, and one-half of the chart-topping duo Capital Cities, Sebu Simonian, takes listeners behind the scenes of his creative process and reveals the central role of language. From growing up a heritage speaker of Western Armenian to performing in Eastern Armenian, from writing global pop hits in English to reimagining Komitas in bilingual form, Sebu moves fluidly not only between languages but also across...
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From Komitas to Capital Cities: Sebu Simonian Between Languages
Language Therapy with Dr. K
What does it mean to live and create between languages? How can code-switching become a form of artistry? In this episode of Language Therapy with Dr. K, Armenian American singer, songwriter, and one-half of the chart-topping duo Capital Cities, Sebu Simonian, takes listeners behind the scenes of his creative process and reveals the central role of language. From growing up a heritage speaker of Western Armenian to performing in Eastern Armenian, from writing global pop hits in English to reimagining Komitas in bilingual form, Sebu moves fluidly not only between languages but also across...
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Echoes, Dialects, Selves: Performing Belonging with Arman Nshanian
Language Therapy with Dr. K
What happens when language is more than a tool—when it becomes a performance, a personality, a portal to the past? In this richly layered conversation, artist and filmmaker Arman Nshanian joins Dr. K to trace the story of his life through the languages and dialects he's spoken, sung, embodied, and directed—from Egyptian-Armenian roots to Vienna opera halls, Yerevan film sets, and now to the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles with his latest project, Echoes of Our Ancestors. Together, they explore multilingualism, method acting, dialectal code-switching, diasporic identity, and the cost—and...
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Echoes, Dialects, Selves: Performing Belonging with Arman Nshanian
Language Therapy with Dr. K
What happens when language is more than a tool—when it becomes a performance, a personality, a portal to the past? In this richly layered conversation, artist and filmmaker Arman Nshanian joins Dr. K to trace the story of his life through the languages and dialects he's spoken, sung, embodied, and directed—from Egyptian-Armenian roots to Vienna opera halls, Yerevan film sets, and now to the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles with his latest project, Echoes of Our Ancestors. Together, they explore multilingualism, method acting, dialectal code-switching, diasporic identity, and the cost—and...
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The Architecture of Belonging: Education and the Armenian Linguistic Landscape
Language Therapy with Dr. K
What happens when the language you speak has been disconnected from its homeland for over a century? How does dialect shape identity, belonging, and memory? In this episode, Dr. K sits down with David Ghoogasian—educator and head of AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School—who grew up speaking the now-rare Armenian dialect of Artvin, passed down to him by his grandparents. Together, they explore the emotional and cultural power of dialect, the experience of linguistic shame, and the formative role of literacy in diasporic life. Drawing on his background in neuroscience and education, David...
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The Language of Luck: Cultivating Serendipity with Christian Busch
Language Therapy with Dr. K
How do we talk about luck? Can a shift in language alter our experience of chance and unpredictability? What happens when we stop waiting for fortune to strike and begin cultivating the conditions for serendipity? In this episode, Dr. K is joined by Dr. Christian Busch—author of The Serendipity Mindset and professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business—for a wide-ranging conversation on the intersection of language, luck, and meaning-making. Together, they explore how the stories we tell about fortune shape our ability to perceive and act on unexpected opportunities. From folk...
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The Language of Luck: Cultivating Serendipity with Christian Busch
Language Therapy with Dr. K
How do we talk about luck? Can a shift in language alter our experience of chance and unpredictability? What happens when we stop waiting for fortune to strike and begin cultivating the conditions for serendipity? In this episode, Dr. K is joined by Dr. Christian Busch—author of The Serendipity Mindset and professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business—for a wide-ranging conversation on the intersection of language, luck, and meaning-making. Together, they explore how the stories we tell about fortune shape our ability to perceive and act on unexpected opportunities. From folk...
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Mapping Language and Identity: Dr. Hratch Tchilingirian and the Armenian Diaspora Survey
Language Therapy with Dr. K
What does it mean to live a multilingual life shaped by displacement, theology, and research? How can language serve both as a utilitarian tool and a site of philosophical reflection? And what can large-scale data reveal about Armenian identity across continents? Join Dr. K and Dr. Hratch Tchilingirian—sociologist, scholar of religion, and director of the Armenian Diaspora Survey—as they trace his personal and intellectual journey across Beirut, Jerusalem, New York, and Oxford, using language as the thread. In this expansive conversation, they discuss the boundaries imposed and...
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Mapping Language and Identity: Dr. Hratch Tchilingirian and the Armenian Diaspora Survey
Language Therapy with Dr. K
What does it mean to live a multilingual life shaped by displacement, theology, and research? How can language serve both as a utilitarian tool and a site of philosophical reflection? And what can large-scale data reveal about Armenian identity across continents? Join Dr. K and Dr. Hratch Tchilingirian—sociologist, scholar of religion, and director of the Armenian Diaspora Survey—as they trace his personal and intellectual journey across Beirut, Jerusalem, New York, and Oxford, using language as the thread. In this expansive conversation, they discuss the boundaries imposed and...
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Rearranging Armenian: Authenticity, Listening, and Learning
Language Therapy with Dr. K
How does active listening shape a conversation? And what happens when we bring colloquial language into public discourse? In this episode, Dr. K sits down with Narek Amirkhanyan, host of Rearrange, Armenia’s most popular podcast, to explore the power of authenticity in language and media. They dive into the origins of Rearrange, its impact on the Armenian media landscape, and what it means to have smart, unfiltered conversations in everyday Armenian. Together, they unpack the cultural, personal, and political weight of speaking colloquially in public media—examining how language can be an...
info_outlineHow do scholars decipher the ways people have used and thought about language in the past? How have those attitudes and practices been distorted and rewritten in modern national narratives? How do language ideologies from several centuries ago shape modern day practices? Join Dr. K and historical sociolinguist Dr. Jennifer Manoukian as they examine the language practices, attitudes, and ideologies of Ottoman Armenians and their descendants in the post-genocide Armenian diaspora. In tracing the evolution of the Armenian language through a social history, learn about some of the most prevalent myths that undergird present day attitudes and practices.