Starting this year Shirak State University named after Mikael Nalbandian will open a Master’s degree program in Military Psychology, where the participants of the April war, and family members of fallen soldiers will study. Applicants are from different regions of Armenia. There are also graduates of Vazgen Sargsyan Military Institute among them. There is a preliminary agreement that the legendary Major-General Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan, Commandos, the Hero of Artsakh, will also teach them.
This was informed by Karine Sahakyan, Head of the Department of Psychology, Social Work and Sociology of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Shirak State University, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor, and Ethno-Psychologist. Our interlocutor believes that the legendary general is the phenomenon that attracts everyone to come and study at Shirak State University.
According to the head of the department, having such a department is a requirement of the time. “During the April events, we were convinced that psychologists are needed to understand the description of the phenomenon of the motherland and the events of April in general, the change of mental state of soldiers, and the change of consciousness. And we thought that the university needed this profession. As well in response to the Minister of Defence of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan’s “Nation-Army” ideology, Master’s degree in Military Psychology was opened in the university. Later, we would like to have Master’s degree in collaboration with the Shirak State University and the Ministry of Defence Education Department. Whom have we interested and whom we desire to see in our university? Participants of the April war, wounded soldiers, as well as their family members, as both need to come out of stress, and educational outcomes of military psychology are aimed at that. We received a response from their family members, for example, the mother of a martyred soldier expressed a wish to study here. We already have more than 30 applications. There are peacekeepers who are amputated needing to acquire a profession and get out of stress, because being a soldier is a mental state, it is a profession. In such mental state, they would like to acquire education and get out of stress. In other words, to control their own stress”, said our interlocutor.
It is interesting that even though the Master’s program requires payment, but many people, including our compatriots living abroad expressed their desire to become a sponsor of our heroes and their family members. “For example, the university has found sponsors from the United States, Vahan Tumasyan’s “Shirak Centre” NGO has made a great support in finding sponsors, there are various sponsors. This is one of the rare cases when sponsors agreed to with pleasure, showed great interest. Let me repeat, that we will give them education, profession, and psycho-correction, that is, they will psychologically come out of the war stress”, said Karine Sahakyan. April War participants and their relatives will be admitted to the university via an interview which is scheduled for August.
Nune AREVSHATYAN
