Sonya Armaghanyan
Arts Technical Specialist of Project and Stage Management
Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: Master in Cultural Production, University of Salzburg; Master of Advanced Studies in Humanitarian Action, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva and University of Geneva
Research Areas: Arts and Health, Art-Based Approaches in Humanitarian Settings, Arts and Peacebuilding
Sonya Armaghanyan is a Cultural Producer and Theater Practitioner with over 12 years of cross-sectoral experience at the intersection of arts, social cohesion, and mental health and psychosocial support. She is passionate about working creatively with diverse communities, creating spaces for expression, nurturing imagination, and amplifying people’s stories. Sonya has produced and facilitated over 200 theater and storytelling workshops and has led creative projects in Armenia, Nepal, Switzerland, Greece, Kenya, Somalia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Ukraine, and the United States.
Prior to joining NYU Abu Dhabi, Armaghanyan has worked with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), supporting conflict-affected and displaced communities through implementation of community-based projects, including using arts-based approaches for psychosocial support and transition.
Armaghanyan is the recipient of the Swiss Humanitarian Award (2018) for her research, Theatre as a Psychosocial Approach in Humanitarian Settings. She is a Global Fellow at the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University, where she continues to engage in cross-cultural collaborations at the intersection of art, care, social impact, and policy. She is also an Arts in Peacebuilding Fellow with Beyond Borders Scotland (2024) and was nominated for the Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award (2023) in New York.
Armaghanyan has guest-lectured and facilitated theater workshops at Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies and Webster University.