Soukhakian to deliver ‘last lecture’ on shared humanity
If a professor at Utah State University had one chance to present a lecture to the university as if it were their very last, what would it be? That’s the question this year’s student-nominated Honors Outstanding Professor Fazilat Soukhakian is preparing to answer at the upcoming 50th Annual Honors Last Lecture.
“The idea behind the Honors Last Lecture is to celebrate great teaching and mentoring at USU,” said Kristine Miller, executive director of the University Honors Program. “Students typically nominate a faculty member who is an engaged teacher who can help them apply their learning in and beyond the classroom.”
The series, a long-standing tradition at USU, will be held Oct. 15 from 3:30–4:30 p.m. in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall. Hosted by the honors program, this event invites one distinguished professor each year to deliver a lecture as if it were their final chance to speak to the university. This year, that honor goes to Soukhakian, an associate professor of photography in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“The whole process of students selecting the outstanding honors professor of the year for the lecture is very powerful to somebody who is a professor,” Soukhakian said. “I feel this is the ultimate award that we can receive from students, the kind of acknowledgment that we are making the impact that we were hoping for.”
Soukhakian’s lecture, titled “Not So Different After All: A Visual Story of Shared Humanity,” will explore how her experiences as an Iranian American photographer and visual storyteller have shaped the way she sees the world.
“I grew up in a country that is very conservative and has a lot of political limitations, especially for women,” Soukhakian said. “I always knew that I wanted to challenge that limitation.”
As one of the few young female photojournalists in Iran during the start of her career, Soukhakian was able to capture events with a unique perspective male photojournalists at the time didn’t consider.
“Being a photojournalist, you are in the middle of all the important events, you are active in society, and that informed my practice deeply,” Soukhakian said. “You see the difference between people’s wanting and what the regime in power is demanding.”
Soukhakian, whose work often centers around social and political issues as a means of social change, said preparing the lecture gave her time to reflect on her unique perspective of having lived in two different countries.
“We all come from very different backgrounds, very different political views, very different landscapes, very different environments and cultures,” Soukhakian said. “But it is so interesting that at the core of our humanity, we are all literally the same and want the same.”
Soukhakian’s last lecture will take students and staff on a visual journey through the evolution of her photography and the common ties between the stories she encountered throughout her career.
“All the stories I’m going to tell are the stories that changed me and changed my perspective as a person, as an artist and as a photographer,” Soukhakian said. “Through all these photographs, I talk about how actually similar we all feel and how similar we all are despite our differences.”
For Soukhakian, art and photography are not only tools for storytelling but also bridges that connect people across borders and beliefs. She said visual expression can transcend language and culture, revealing the shared emotions that unite people everywhere.
“I have to think about how to frame my work in a way that is more understandable and inspirational to a wider crowd,” Soukhakian said. “But luckily, I think art is a very universal language and everyone can connect with art and understand art in their own ways.”
Soukhakian said she hopes her lecture will invite students to see the world and each other through a lens of understanding from their own unique perspectives.
“I’m hoping that this 40-minute lecture becomes a source of inspiration for students to challenge the limits for themselves — to tell their own unique story,” Soukhakian said.
Soukhakian said she encourages students to attend the lecture and sit next to someone they may not know in order to practice the idea of seeing one another for internal similarities rather than external differences.
“What I want to communicate to our students is that they are special,” Soukhakian said. “This is the world, it is hard, it is complicated, but we can make it by connecting together and making our story matter.”
The event is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception in the lobby.
“The event is a great opportunity for students to mingle with other students and with faculty and staff who come from all different areas of the university and the community,” Miller said. “The Honors Last Lecture is a chance to hear from a professor who you may never have the opportunity to take a class from and to learn about their background, work and advice they would like to give for students.”