Recipient of the 2013/2014 Cal Poly Humboldt Excellence in Teaching Award- Lecturer Faculty.

Maral's areas of specialization include comparative genocide & mass atrocity studies, race and ethnic relations, and altruism and compassion. She pays particular attention to narratives of resistance, upstander behavior, and recognition of genocide and genocide denial. Her scholarship focuses heavily on exposing the perspectives and voices of marginalized groups in society. In addition to teaching at Humboldt, Maral frequently guest lectures on the Armenian Genocide. She has been awarded Fellowships from several prominent institutions, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Holocaust Educational Foundation of Northwestern University. Maral has presented her research on genocide denial at national and international conferences and her scholarship on the Armenian Genocide and resistance is recognized in multiple sources including, Samuel P. Oliner's “The Nature of Good and Evil: Understanding the Acts of Moral and Immoral Behavior”. She is on the Board of Directors for the Altruistic Behavior Institute and co-facilitates “Conversations on Altruism” with Dr. Ronnie Swartz.

Maral encourages students to develop critical awareness, to engage in community action, and works tirelessly with them to develop the necessary tools to do so. She teaches foundational introductory courses in Ethnic Studies, Women’s Studies, and Sociology, as well as upper division courses on resistance movements and comparative genocide studies. Maral has created two popular courses for the CRGS Department: Multi-Ethnic Resistance in the U.S. and Narrating Genocide.