1995: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: Scholarship: keeping up the momentum (12/31/95)

1995: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Scholarship: keeping up the momentum

Rather than continuing to grow explosively as it had in the previous two years, in 1995 Ukrainian scholarship simply maintained momentum. Ukrainian academia in the diaspora persisted with long-term projects and kept channels for exchanges with Ukraine open.

Ukraine

The University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy took the next step in consolidating its position at the head of Ukraine's academic institutions by graduating its first class of six bachelors on June 30. The Weekly reported that in September, 900 students began the 1995-1996 school year at the UKMA, enrolled in the faculties of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, as well as in a department of computer technologies. There is also a new Master's program in social work.

Ukraine's foreign minister, Hennadiy Udovenko, attended the opening sessions of the academic year and praised UKMA President Viacheslav Briukhovetsky for his efforts.

August 26 marked the re-opening of the Ostrih Higher Collegium, a 16th century academic bastion of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, 359 years after it was driven to close by a rival Jesuit College. The former "Volhynian Athens" was established in 1576 by Prince Konstantyn Ostrozky. It will now be headed by Rector Ihor Pasichnyk, and operated under the guidance and supervision of the UKMA.

In March, a visiting scholar from the embattled Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kyiv, Dr. Anatoliy Zahorodny, director of the UAS's Institute for Theoretical Physics, arrived as the first lecturer to come to Canada under the Royal Society of Canada's cooperation agreement. During a two-week tour of academic and research establishments, including Canada's National Research Council in Ottawa, and the universities of Toronto, McGill (Montreal), Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, Dr. Zahorodny presented lectures on his specialty (plasma physics) and offered his views on the administration of education in Ukraine.

Columbia leads in the U.S.

Columbia University's Harriman Institute led off the year by showing off its growing academic and political pull. On January 17, it hosted Ukraine's former President Leonid Kravchuk's first appearance on the U.S. lecture circuit, at which he was introduced by the university's president, Dr. George Rupp.

The lecture, held at the Low Library, was in part a fund-raiser organized by the Ukrainian American Professionals' and Businesspersons' Association of New York and New Jersey. Following Mr. Kravchuk's address, some of the larger donations were publicized, in particular that of Canada's Petro Jacyk.

Later in the year, Institute Director Prof. Mark von Hagen announced that the graduate program in Ukrainian studies at the university has been named the Petro Jacyk Program, in appreciation of the philanthropist's decision to endow it with a grant of $500,000 over five years.

The Institute rested neither on its laurels, nor on its endowment, building on its brief but enviable record of creativity in the courses, conferences and lectures offered.

Among the officials and scholars attracted to speak at the institute were Prof. Jack Matlock, former U.S. ambassador to the (also former) Soviet Union; Dr. Yohannan Petrovsky of Kyiv's International Solomon University and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences; Andriy Rybalka of the Kharkiv-based Ukrainian Center of Human Rights; and Dr. Dominique Arel, a visiting scholar from Montreal's McGill University.

Prof. Yuriy Tarnawsky taught an innovative course on 20th century Ukrainian culture, with guest lectures by Ukrainian avant-garde composer Leonid Hrabovsky, artist and art historian Arcadia Olenska-Petryshyn, videos, and attendance at theater and pop music performances.

Also on the strength of Canadian generosity, specifically the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies' Neporany Research and Lecture Fellowship, Harvard alumnus Dr. Leonid Heretz came to Columbia to conduct a course in Ukrainian history. Dr. Heretz was asked to return for the 1995-1996 academic year.

The Harriman Institute hosted the fifth annual Symposium on Soviet and Post-Soviet Cultural Studies in April, the fourth international workshop on "The Russian-Ukrainian Encounter" in September, with a conference session rounding out the program in November. The latter two will most likely be seen as the beginnings of a historic re-orientation in Russian thinking vis-à-vis Ukraine, as a diplomat from the Russian Federation and Russian historians participated in discussions of the newly independent state's historical traditions and claims on distinctiveness.

Another feather was placed in the Harriman Institute's cap when its associate director, Prof. Alexander Motyl, was awarded the Philadelphia-based American Association for Ukrainian Studies' first ever prize for best book. Prof. Motyl won for "Dilemmas of Independence: Ukraine after Totalitarianism." The AAUS's best article prize went to Dr. Marianna Rubchak of Valparaiso University for "Dancing with the Bones: A Comparative Study of Two Ukrainian Exile Societies."

Harvard

Little news of the efforts of Harvard's Ukrainian Research Institute reached The Weekly's pages, but work at the U.S.'s leading academic institution continued unabated. This year marked the 25th anniversary of its Summer Institute, with courses held from June 26 to August 18. George Grabowicz, Dmytro Cyzevsky Professor of Ukrainian Literature, and Roman Szporluk, Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History, participated.

The sixth and latest volume of the HURI-sponsored Harvard Library of Early Ukrainian Literature, "The Edificatory Prose of Kievan Rus," rolled off the presses in Cambridge, Mass. Part of the project in commemoration of the Millennium of Christianity, the book consists of translations of 11th century theologian Grigoriy the Philosopher's homilies (done by Drs. William Veder and Anatolij Turilov) and an analysis of Kyivan edificatory texts of the 10th-17th centuries.

HURI also issued the second issue (January-February) of its bulletin, "Perspectives on Contemporary Ukraine," containing former Ukrainian Defense Minister Kostiantyn Morozov's analysis of his country's standing in the world.

U.S.-Ukraine exchanges

1995 yielded a bumper crop of academic exchanges. As part of the U.S. government's assistance program to Ukraine, its Agency for International Development (USAID) provided $1 million in funds to the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).

Philadelphia's LaSalle University and a consortium of educational institutions (including Temple, Drexel, Lincoln, Delaware State and Pennsylvania universities, and Bryn Mawr College) were awarded a sizable two-year grant to conduct a program through its School of Business and School of Arts and Sciences, focusing on immersion for Ukrainian faculty from Lviv and Donetske, as well as training in finance, international marketing and small business development.

Another beneficiary of this support was the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, whose program is co-directed by Carnegie's Dr. Robert Sullivan and Andrew Masiuk of the International Management Institute's Kyiv branch.

In February, Pennsylvania's Kuztown University hosted a delegation of administrators and professors to set up exchanges in mathematics, science, social science and business with the Precarpathian University in Ivano-Frankivske.

May was a particularly busy month. Prof. Patricia Sanders, assisted by Dr. Lydia Tarnavsky, both of New York state's Siena College, traveled to Uzhhorod State University with USAID and Eurasia Foundation support to teach Western management and entrepreneurship, and global strategic planning.

The efforts of Roman Pyrih and Dr. Michael Boretsky resulted in the May 2 signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish a graduate and faculty exchange program between the Colorado School of Mines and the Ivano-Frankivske Technical Oil and Gas University.

In June-July, a group of students from Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education traveled on the first venture into Ukraine of the institution's international program. They were led to various lectures and historic sites by Drs. Iwan Holowinsky, Olha Hrycak and David Mushinske.

In July-August, the University of Connecticut began an environmental partnership with Ukraine by hosting seven scientists from Lviv, taking them to seminars in biotechnology, environmental analysis, water and air pollution, pollution prevention and waste minimization.

Canada's Jacyk Center

This year saw the Petro Jacyk Center for Studies in Ukrainian History at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies go into overdrive. Afforded high visibility thanks to the generosity of his patron, center director Dr. Frank Sysyn had all year to highlight the work in progress.

For his munificent contributions to Ukrainian studies over the years, Mr. Jacyk was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Alberta, the CIUS's host institution, on June 7.

March 16 saw the book-launch in Kyiv of the Ukrainian-language translation of the Alberta-based academic Ivan Lysiak-Rudnytsky's "Historical Essays," under Dr. Sysyn's general editorship. This collection, published by Osnovy Press in conjunction with the Institute of Public Administration in Kyiv, is the first publication in a new series intended to acquaint the reader in Ukraine with the finest historical works produced in the West.

Additional sessions highlighting this project, which is to include a Ukrainian translation of CIUS Director Dr. Zenon Kohut's "Russian Centralism and Ukrainian Autonomy," were held in Edmonton and Toronto.

Dr. Sysyn also benefited from the visits of Dr. Yaroslav Hrytsak, director of Lviv's Institute for Historical Research, and of Dr. Volodymyr Isaievych of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kyiv.

The Jacyk Center's banner project remains the translation of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's History of Ukraine-Rus. Work on Volume 1, in which the eminent scholar traced the history of Ukraine's land and people down to the 10th century, has neared completion, with a 1996 publication date set.

The next to appear in print is to be volume seven, the first of three (7, 8 and the two-part volume 9) dealing with the Ukrainian Kozak period.

Assistance for the financially onerous endeavor was secured from the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities and the Toronto-based Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies (CFUS).

Dr. Sysyn also delivered the second annual Mohyla Lecture at the University of Saskatchewan on November 17. He spoke on the topic: "Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Ukrainian National Historian and the Rebirth of Historical Consciousness in Ukraine."

Encyclopedia of Ukraine

A measure of closure was provided to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine project, with a reception held on April 8 at the Petliura Library in Paris, hosted by the originator of the effort, the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) in Europe.

NTSh President Dr. Arkady Zhukovsky praised the vision of the late Prof. Volodymyr Kubijovyc who pioneered work on the encyclopedia, and noted that a celebration of the encyclopedia's publication has yet to be held in the U.S.

Prof. Danylo Struk, editor-in-chief of the EU, appraised those in attendance of work in progress, that update volumes to the five-volume set are planned every three to five years (subject to the availability of funding) and gratefully acknowledged the support of the CIUS and CFUS, who had devoted substantial (one-third and higher) of their operating budgets for the completion of the work.

The Nova program

In October, The Weekly carried news of another grant by the CFUS to the Nova Ukrainian language development program, run by the CIUS's Ukrainian Language Education Center. A $25,000 contribution put the CFUS on the way to its target of committing a total of $240,000 to Nova by the end of 1997.

CFUS President Morris Diakowsky said his agency's support stems from a realization that "the future of Ukrainian studies in Canada depends upon a steady contingent of students studying Ukrainian from grade 1 onwards."

Other Canadian doings

In April the CIUS hosted a national conference on Ukrainian studies in Canada, which addressed the challenges faced because of an atmosphere of government cutbacks after a period of program growth, the outlook for various disciplines, student enrollment and a host of other issues.

Speakers such as Dr. Frances Swyripa, director of CIUS's Ukrainian Canadian Studies Program, former CIUS director Dr. Manoly Lupul, Dr. Natalia Aponiuk, Dr. David Marples and Dr. Paul Magocsi identified bringing Ukrainian subjects into the mainstream, building closer relations with the Ukrainian community to identify potential students, and reaching out to non-Ukrainians as the priorities for those in Ukrainian studies.

In May in Beijing, over 40 scholars from Canada, China and Ukraine took part in the second international conference on China and Ukraine. Participants included Prof. Peter Potichnyj of McMaster University, CIUS Director Dr. Kohut, Prof. Jiang Chan-Bin, head of the Higher Party School's International Strategy Center and of the Ukrainian Research Circle. Dr. Kohut later met with Dong Xiao Yang, chief of the Chinese Academy of Science's Ukrainian Studies Section.

In November, the University of Ottawa was scheduled to establish a chair in Ukrainian studies. A sizable endowment from the estate of Dr. Constantine Bida, coupled with donations from Antin and Nadia Iwachniuk, have made the move possible. Former Governor General of Canada Ramon Hnatyshyn is to serve as the chair's official patron.

Ukrainian-Jewish academic relations

In April, the Helen Sherban Lapica Education Fund announced $15,000 in scholarships awarded to a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic monastery, three universities, and for a rabbinical student at the Shchekavytska synagogue headed by Ukraine's chief rabbi, Yaakov Bleich.

Dr. Yohannan Petrovsky, the International Solomon University's head of Judaic studies, traveled to New York and Toronto this year, and spoke of improved relations between the two peoples, particularly at the academic level, at a lecture delivered at Toronto's Multicultural History Society in November.

Evidence of success in this area was particularly noticeable at the Jewish-Mennonite-Ukrainian conference held in Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba in August. An element of controversy arose when Kingston-based activist and researcher Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk strenuously objected to the inclusion in a panel discussion of Sol Littman, a Jewish Canadian activist, whom Mr. Luciuk accused of Ukrainophobia, and refused to attend.

Despite this kerfuffle, the conference went ahead much to the satisfaction of most participants, one of whom asserted at the Ukrainian Canadian Congress's triennial convention in Winnipeg in October that meaningful and necessary steps along the path to full Ukrainian-Jewish dialogue were taken.

Other notes

Dr. Stella Hryniuk, professor of history at the University of Manitoba, offered her insights to a board of presidents meeting of the Canadian Ethnocultural Council in Montreal in May. She spoke on the question of multiculturalism as a constituent element of Canadian identity. At the UCC's convention in Winnipeg, Dr. Hryniuk assisted in the deliberations on the Ukrainian presence in the Canadian mainstream.

Dr. Marko Bojcun, who jumped ship as the Petro Jacyk Lecturer in Ukrainian studies at London University's School of Slavonic and East European Studies after successfully establishing a masters' course in contemporary Ukraine there, has landed on his feet at the University of North London.

Four of the UNL's faculties, including humanities and teacher education (where Dr. Bojcun holds a position), the business school, the faculty of environmental and social sciences, and the science faculty are working closely with Ukraine.

The move was made easier since Dr. Bojcun was appointed two years ago to administer the East European Pathway (EEP) exchange program with Kyiv University, sponsored by the European Union, and told The Weekly he expects to establish a system whereby students from Ukraine can spend a semester studying or researching in the U.K.

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