Susanna Kharatyan earned her B.A. in Foreign Affairs and Religious Studies from the University of Virginia in 2025, where her honors thesis, Negotiating Faith in a Godless State, examined the survival of the Armenian Apostolic Church under Soviet rule and the political theology that shaped its endurance. She is now pursuing a Master of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. Her research explores religion, politics, and conflict resolution with a focus on the Soviet and post-Soviet space. She has also conducted research on U.S. policy toward post-Soviet states and has been published by Public Orthodoxy in English and Russian.