Ms. Nayiri Baboudjian Bouchakjian is an Instructor of English at the Lebanese American University (LAU), with over two decades of experience teaching English language and literature, public speaking, and creative writing. Beyond her role an educator, she is also a writer and storyteller whose works have appeared in Pangyrus, Sabeel, Hyebred Magazine, Life Writing and Rusted Radishes. 

Her essay “The Ships are Coming” earned third place in an international competition co-hosted by the Oxford Network for Armenian Genocide Research (University of Oxford) and the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA). In 2022, her short story “The Elevator Woman” was published in the anthology The Shape of Home.  Her most recent essay “Teaching in the Times of Genocide” explores the realities of war and how teachers and students endure and resist in the face of atrocities and genocides.  

As a caregiver herself, Ms. Baboudjian Bouchakjian is an advocate for caregivers’ well-being and mental health. Her essay “The Man in the Mirror: Reflections on Dementia Caregiving in Lebanon” reflects her deep engagement with issues of aging, illness, and empathy. She is currently working on a memoir that interweaves stories of growing up in a land shaped by multiple traumas, caring for her parents, and navigating themes of identity, homeland, language, mental health, and body image.

Academic Degrees

• BA in English Literature (graduated with honors in 1999) (American University of Beirut)
• MA (2003) in English Literature (American University of Beirut)

Professional Interests

Ms. Baboudjian Bouchakjian has trained numerous students for national and international public speaking competitions. Five of her students have won the Lebanese National Public Speaking Competition. In 2010, her student, Moataz El Israwi, won the International Public Speaking Competition organized by the English Speaking Union (ESU). She has organized, conducted, and facilitated various workshops about Public Speaking, Creative Writing, and E-mail/CV/Cover letter writing, professional writing, and teacher training.

She has organized and facilitated workshops on public speaking, creative writing, professional communication (email, CV, and cover letter writing), and teacher training with an emphasis on essay writing and classroom management. She is an active member of LAU’s Creative Writing and Public Speaking Competition committees and currently chairs the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award Committee. She also advises the Armenian Club and has facilitated LAU’s Creative Writing Summer Camp (2024 & 2025).

Research Interests

Her research interests include contemporary English and Canadian literature, with a particular focus on representations of food, eating, and the body as spaces of identity, resistance, and cultural expression. She also explores the role of the caregiver and the lived realities of dementia and Alzheimer’s—particularly within the Lebanese context. Central to her work is an interest in the narrative power of writing and storytelling as a means of healing trauma—especially among second- and third-generation Genocide survivors.

Honors and Awards

• Third place, International Essay Contest (IALA and TORCH, University of Oxford)
• Participant, IALA Mentorship Program (Summer 2021)

Professional Memberships

• English Speaking Union (ESU)
• International Armenian Literature Alliance (IALA)