Record number of students from Ukraine attend Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute (09/28/97)

Record number of students from Ukraine attend Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute

by James Clem

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A total of 21 students from Ukraine - twice the highest number of previous years - attended the 27th annual Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute in Cambridge. Even more impressive was the geographical diversity of the Ukrainian group: students came not only from previously represented cities such as Kyiv and Lviv, but also from Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytsky, Odesa and Sevastopol.

Undergraduates, graduate students and professionals from as far away as Taiwan, Germany and Austria joined their counterparts from the U.S. and Canada for the program of language and Ukrainian studies courses.

A record number of scholarships was awarded through the generous sponsorship of the International Renaissance Foundation, the Kotur Scholarship Fund (administered by the Ukrainian Fraternal Association), the Ukrainian American Professionals and Businesspersons Association of New York and New Jersey, the Self-Reliance credit unions of New York and Passaic, the Ukrainian American Center Foundation of Michigan, the Coordinating Committee to Aid Ukraine, and private benefactors.

HUSI Director Vera Andrushkiw led a veteran teaching team from the U.S., Canada and Ukraine. Ms. Andrushkiw herself taught a new course, "Advanced Ukrainian for Business," along with Yuri Shevchuk's "Intermediate Ukrainian" and Natalya Shostak's "Beginning Ukrainian" courses.

This year, the Ukrainian studies component of the summer curriculum offered three disciplinary perspectives on Ukraine in the 20th century. Joining this non-language part of the program was Bohdan Krawchenko, vice-rector of the Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine, who taught a course on Ukrainian politics. Solomea Pavlychko, of the Institute of Literature, National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine, taught a course on "20th Century Ukrainian Literature," and Roman Szporluk, Hrushevsky Professor of History at Harvard and director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, taught a course on "20th Century Ukrainian History."

As always, the academic program was balanced by a schedule of lectures, video and arts presentations, workshops and trips around the Boston area. Lectures on Ukrainian historical and political topics were given by Drs. Myron Kuropas and Marta Dyczok on Ukrainian immigration, Dr. Olena Bekh on Ukrainian language and diplomacy, and Dr. Mariusz Sielski on Russian-Ukrainian relations.

The arts were represented by Julian Kytasty, who performed traditional and original compositions on the bandura; Dr. Olenka Pevny, who presented a slide show on the Ukrainian section of the acclaimed "Glory of Byzantium" exhibition at The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Virko Baley, who discussed contemporary Ukrainian music and his own role as a composer.

A literary evening was organized with the participation of Askold Melnyczuk and Volodymyr Dibrova, who read from their latest works.

Finally, Ms. Andrushkiw moderated a roundtable on the media and Ukraine, with the participation of journalists from Ukraine, Canada and the United States.

The theater workshop, conducted by Virlana Tkach of the Yara Arts Group, offered a unique way to study Ukrainian language: the HUSI students presented a wonderful finished product, the performance of "Hothouse," for their peers and the Boston community.

Summer school students also took advantage of all that Harvard and the Boston area has to offer. Students went on field trips to the Museum of Fine Arts, the Boston Arnold Arboretum, the Cambridge Courthouse, Harvard museums and local beaches. A highlight was the traditional Boston Pops performance and fireworks display on the Fourth of July.

Another highlight was the visit of Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Yuri Shcherbak. Ambassador Shcherbak gave a short presentation on the goals of Ukrainian foreign policy, and then fielded questions from the audience of HUSI students and faculty. He then went to lunch with a group of 15 students at a special reception room at the Annenberg dining hall on campus.

The summer program came to a close with the typically irreverent student skits (those HUSI faculty and staff in the audience who were satirized were good sports). Finally, the presentation of the Senkowski student prizes was complemented by new awards generously created by Nadja Aminoff, herself a summer school student this past summer. Ms. Aminoff, inspired by the dedication of her fellow students, created 12 prizes for students from Ukraine. All of the awards and final diplomas were handed out at a farewell ceremony at the Ukrainian Research Institute on August 15.

As always, there was a bittersweet ending to the summer program, as the students said good-bye to new friends and left with their own special memories of their summer at Harvard.

For information on next year's summer program, contact Patricia Coatsworth via phone, (617) 496-5651, or e-mail, [email protected].

Dr. James Clem is executive director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.

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