Shushanik Hakobyan joined the economics department as a visiting assistant professor in the fall of 2011, shortly after finishing her Ph.D. at the University of Virginia. Her dissertation examined the efficacy of the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a trade preference program that provides tariff exemptions to developing countries on their exports to the US. In addition to trade preference programs, she is also interested in the impact of trade liberalization on labor market outcomes.
 
Prior to joining Middlebury College, Shushanik taught at the University of Virginia, earning a teaching award for excellence in undergraduate instruction. She also served as a teaching assistant at both University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University. Her teaching interests include international economics, public economics, development and trade policy.
 
Originally from Yerevan, Armenia, Shushanik earned her B.A. in Economics at the Yerevan State University of Economics and an M.A. in Russian and Eurasian Studies at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).