Yerevan State University has decided to dissolve its Department of Foreign Literature, one of the university’s oldest academic units, according to department head Anush Sedrakyan.
Sedrakyan, a political scientist who ran in the recent elections on the list of the “Wings of Unity” Party and has been a vocal critic of Nikol Pashinyan and his government, said the decision is part of a broader state policy directed from the center.
“This is centralized authoritarianism,” Sedrakyan said, adding that when it becomes difficult to target an individual through professional, corruption-related, or personal allegations, authorities instead move against the institution associated with that person.
According to Sedrakyan, the university administration informed the acting dean of YSU’s Faculty of European Languages and Communication that the department would be dissolved.
The decision comes despite the fact that YSU currently operates a master’s degree program in Foreign Literature and has students actively enrolled in the program.
The development comes amid years of increasing government involvement in Armenia’s higher education system. Under Pashinyan’s government, university governance structures have been reshaped, government representatives have been placed on university governing bodies, and disputes over university leadership, academic independence, and alleged political influence have repeatedly generated controversy.
