Shevchenko Scientific Society to celebrate 125th anniversary (09/20/98)

Shevchenko Scientific Society to celebrate 125th anniversary

NEW YORK - In October, the Shevchenko Scientific Society (Naukove Tovarystvo im. Shevchenka, or NTSh), the oldest functioning Ukrainian scholarly association, will be celebrating its 125th anniversary worldwide.

In New York, the event will be marked by two conferences and a banquet. On Friday, October 2, a symposium will be held in honor of the eminent Slavic linguist George Y. Shevelov, professor emeritus, Columbia University, at Columbia University (see story below). On October 3 and 4, a two-day conference will be held at the Shevchenko Scientific Society's building at 63 Fourth Ave. (between 9th and 10th streets).

The majority of presentations at the NTSh conference will be in Ukrainian.

The conference starts on Saturday, October 3, at 10:30 a.m., with a session devoted to the history of the scholarly association. Among the topics presented will be: "NTSh in Ukraine,"(Oleh Romaniv, head of NTSh, Lviv); "NTSh in the U.S.," (Wolodymyr Stojko, Manhattan College); "NTSh and the Natural Sciences," (Sviatoslav Trofimenko, University of Delaware); "Publications of NTSh," (Dmytro Shtohryn, University of Illinois); and "NTSh Publications in English," (Leonid Rudnytzky, La Salle University). The session will be chaired by Martha Bohachevsky Chomiak (National Endowment for the Humanities).

The first afternoon session (1:30-3:50 p.m.) will deal with specific aspects of Ukrainian studies: language (Larissa Onyshkevych, Princeton Research Forum); literature (John Fizer, Rutgers University); historiography (Anna Procyk, Kingsborough College); and political science (Vasyl Markus, Encyclopedia of the Ukrainian Diaspora). The session will be chaired by Taras Hunczak (Rutgers University).

The second session (starting at 6 p.m.) will be devoted to science and technology, offering a prognosis of the changes likely to occur in the 21st century. The topics will cover: computers and electrochemistry (Lubomyr Romankiw, IBM); medicine (Dr. Larissa Bilaniuk, University of Pennsylvania); optical physics (Andrew Chraplyvy, Lucent Technologies); nuclear physics (Lew Chirovsky, AT&T); as well as cybernetics and cyberspace (Vsevolod Onyshkevych, Ronin Corp.) This session will be chaired by Roman Andrushkiw (New Jersey Institute of Technology).

The Sunday program will commence at 1:30 p.m. with an English-language session on Ukrainian language (Michael Flier (Harvard University) and on religion (Thomas Bird, Queens College); it will be chaired by Myroslava Znayenko, (Rutgers University). The second session (in Ukrainian), to be held at 3:30-5 p.m.), will present young Ph.D.'s and scholars and their specific areas of specialization: Lidia Stefaniwska (literature, Harvard University); Daria Nebesh (ethnomusicology, University of Maryland); Oksana Lassowsky (topology, St. John's College); Roman Samoliak (dynamical systems, NJIT); and Bohdan Nebesh (the role of computers in everyday life in the future, U.S. Department of Defense). The session will be chaired by Roman Voronka (NJIT).

An exhibit of NTSh publications as well as books by NTSh members, prepared by Svitlana Andrushkiw (NTSh) and Tania Keis (Barnard College), will be on display at the conference.

A banquet will be held at the Ukrainian National Home at 142 Second Ave., on Sunday, October 4, at 6 p.m. The banquet will honor Prof. Shevelov, who will be introduced by Prof. Assya Humesky (University of Michigan), and the late Dr. Jaroslaw Padoch, with a tribute by Dr. Rudnytzky. The keynote speaker at the banquet will be Ambassador of Ukraine to the U.S. Dr. Yuri Shcherbak.

The entertainment program will include music composed by Jaropolk Lassowsky to texts by Marta Tarnawsky and Bohdan Krawciw (all NTSh members), performed by the Lassowsky Trio - Jaropolk Lassowsky, Oksana Lassowsky and Daria Nebesh; selections by soprano Oleksandra Hrabova; and poetry recitation by Sofia Zielyk and Ksenia Piasetsky.

At a glance: History of the Shevchenko Society

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