Vahik Ovanessian, Ph.D.

Studied sociology, but my love is psychology. Hence, my work tends to be social- psychological. I think true knowledge about society and social interactions can be gained only if it can be explored and described within the context of everyday life. Why ignore what is abundantly around us and engage in abstract discussions? For years, in my university years, I sat thru social science courses and did not understand. Now, I feel it was because we were not discussing the realities of life. As some people have noted, things are not what they appear to be; this further makes "seeing" the reality a bit difficult. The symbolic nature of what surround us present an appearance that are not quite what they seem to be. My book tries to decipher the symbolic world and get to the reality that is there to see. I think all social sciences should be humanistic. That is, in order to truly understand society and ourselves, things need to be perceived and analyzed with the ultimacy of human freedom and dignity in mind. My second book is going to describe how the learned absence of such a perspective prevents us from understanding society and ourselves.