Dr. Pietro A. Shakarian

Pietro A. Shakarian is a historian of Russia, the Soviet Union, Armenia, and the Caucasus. His research is currently focused on the political and social history of the USSR (especially Soviet Armenia) during the era of the Khrushchev Thaw. He earned his Ph.D. in History at the Ohio State University, his MA in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, his MLIS at Kent State University, and his BA in History at John Carroll University in Cleveland. Dr. Shakarian was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Historical Research at the National Research University–Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Education:

• Ph.D., History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2021
• MA, Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2015
• MLIS, Library and Information Science, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 2013
• BA, History, John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH, 2012

Courses taught at AUA
Ugrad:

• Armenian History I
• Armenian History II
• History of the Modern World
• Soviet Armenia

Grad:

• Russian Politics... in Revolution

Courses taught at HSE St. Petersburg
Ugrad:

• The Caucasus: A History between East and West
• Global Political Ideologies of the 20th Century
• Academic Writing in English

Areas of research and specialization: Russian history and politics, Soviet history, history of Armenia and the Caucasus

Selected Publications

Monographs

• Anastas Mikoyan: An Armenian Reformer in Khrushchev's Kremlin. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2025.

Academic articles

• “Towards a More Perfect Union? Anastas Mikoyan and Nationality Policy Reform in the Soviet Union, 1954–1964.” Europe-Asia Studies, 77 (February 2025): 862–883.
• “Yerevan 1954: Anastas Mikoyan and Nationality Reform in the Thaw, 1954–1964.” Peripheral Histories. November 16, 2021. https://www.peripheralhistories.co.uk/post/yerevan-1954-anastas-mikoyan-and-nationality-reform-in-the-thaw-1954-1964
• “Haze over Ararat: The Role of Environmentalism in the Rise of National and Civic Movements in Soviet and Post-Soviet Armenia, 1975–Present.” Armenian Forum On-Line (Gomidas Institute). May 19, 2013. https://gomidas.org/submissions/show/15

Academic reviews

• “Book Review: Revisioning Stalin and Stalinism: Complexities, Contradictions, and Controversies, edited by James Ryan and Susan Grant.” H-Net Reviews. December 29, 2021. https://networks.h-net.org/node/10000/reviews/9438395/shakarian-ryan-and-grant-revisioning-stalin-and-stalinism
• “Book Review: Nested Nationalism: Making and Unmaking Nations in the Soviet Caucasus, by Krista A. Goff.” The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 49, no. 1 (October 2021): 104-108.

Books edited, republished

• Von Haxthausen, August. Transcaucasia and the Tribes of the Caucasus. Translated by John Edward Taylor, foreword by Dominic Lieven, introduction by Pietro A. Shakarian. London: Gomidas Institute, 2016.
• Parrot, Friedrich. Journey to Ararat. Translated by William Desborough Cooley, introduction by Pietro A. Shakarian. London: Gomidas Institute, 2016.
• Yeghenian, Aghavnie Y. The Red Flag at Ararat. Introduction by Pietro A. Shakarian. London: Sterndale Classics (Gomidas Institute), 2013.