USU Honors Presents 50th Annual Honors Last Lecture With Photographer Fazilat Soukhakian

LOGAN, Utah — The Utah State University Honors Program presents the 50th Annual Honors Last Lecture featuring Associate Professor Fazilat Soukhakian, the 2025 Honors Outstanding Professor. Soukhakian will deliver a lecture titled “Not So Different After All: A Visual Story of Shared Humanity” from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall on USU’s Logan campus.

The talk will primarily be a visual storytelling experience focused on the theme of shared humanity. While the photographs are a key part of the presentation, the hope is that the talk will resonate beyond the images themselves, prompting audience members to reflect on their own experiences and connections.

Fazilat Soukhakian is an Iranian American artist, photographer and scholar. She began her career as one of Iran’s few female photojournalists. Her experiences in Iran, marked by social and political upheaval, greatly influenced her perspective and artistic direction. She moved to the United States in 2011 and earned her Master of Fine Arts degree and then Ph.D. in architectural history from the University of Cincinnati.

Soukhakian is a visual storyteller who reflects on the social and political issues of her surroundings as a means of social change and justice. Her work revolves around depicting the stories of bravery and strength of those marginalized by society, highlighting the act of overcoming struggles and inspiring others.

Soukhakian’s work has garnered significant recognition and has been featured nationally and internationally in numerous exhibitions. Notable venues include the Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, FotoNostrum in Barcelona, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) in Salt Lake City, and the Photographic Center Northwest (PCNW) in Seattle. Her photographic contributions and commitment to pushing artistic boundaries have also been recognized by awards such as the Utah Division of Arts & Museums Fellowship, FotoNostrum Book Publication Award, Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Critical Mass Top 50, and Michael Reichmann Project Award.

Each year, honors students nominate tenured faculty whose teaching and mentoring have made marked impacts on their lives to deliver this high-profile lecture to the USU community. A committee of Honors students interviews nominees and selects one exceptional professor to imagine and deliver what might be a “last lecture” at USU, if they had only one more to give.

“This event engages the entire community — students, faculty, alumni, friends and other stakeholders — in celebrating the teachers and mentors who have transformed the experience of our students here at USU,” says Kristine Miller, professor of English and executive director of the Utah State University Honors Program.

The lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed immediately by a reception in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall lobby. The livestream for a statewide audience and the recording of the event after its completion can be accessed from the University Honors Program website.