2000: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: The world of academia: activity on many fronts (01/07/01)

2000: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

The world of academia: activity on many fronts

Early in the year 2000, the press reported that the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) hosted a symposium in New York on December 10, 1999, at which Dr. Vasyl V. Nimchuk, director of the Institute of Ukrainian Language at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv, presented the most recent proposal based on work performed by the State Orthography Commission for the revision of Ukrainian orthography. It is the first major attempt to reverse the process begun by the Soviet government in the 1930s of systematically altering the Ukrainian alphabet, grammar, vocabulary and orthography in order to forcibly bring the Ukrainian language as close to the Russian language as possible.

A variety of other conferences, lectures and symposia took place during the year.

The seventh annual Windows to the East lecture series was held February 3-4 at St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon. The series is organized annually by the Prairie Center for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage. Prof. A. Ugolnik of Franklin Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., an expert in Orthodox religious thought, and Marianna Savaryn, an iconographer, were the speakers for the two evenings, addressing this year's topic, "Eastern Christianity and Post-Modern Society."

Chrystia Freeland, deputy editor of the Toronto Globe and Mail, and Roma Hadzewycz, editor-in-chief of The Ukrainian Weekly, addressed the topic of "Ukrainians in the Western Media: A Maligned Minority?" at the annual Shevchenko Lecture in Edmonton March 6 sponsored by Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies, the Grant MacEwan Community College and the Edmonton chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association. Ms. Freeland spoke of her experience as a freelance journalist during the early 1990s in Ukraine and Ms. Hadzewycz spoke about the "The Ugly Face of Freedom" segment of the CBS program "60 Minutes" and the Ukrainian American community's reaction to the episode.

On March 9, at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Maj. Gen. Nicholas Krawciw (U.S. Army-ret.) addressed the state of U.S.-Ukraine military relations as this year's speaker sponsored by the Palij Memorial Fund. Since 1983 the fund has invited speakers on Ukrainian topics to the University of Kansas. Maj. Gen. Krawciw is the U.S. defense secretary's senior military representative for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA) held its 50th anniversary Scientific Convention on March 25-April 1 in Puerto Rico. A dozen lectures were presented on a variety of medical topics by UMANA members.

The Yale-Ukraine Initiative's sixth conference, "Ukrainian Politics in the 20th Century," was held April 8-9 in New Haven, Conn. Five panels were held during the two-day conference and the keynote address - "It's Later Than You Think: Will the Real Ukraine Please Stand Up?" - was given by Prof. Roman Szporluk. Prof. George Grabowicz gave the dinner address on the topic "Reading and Misreading Ukraine."

For the fifth year in a row, the Harriman Institute at Columbia University hosted the annual convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN). More than 600 participants registered for the convention, held April 13-15. The focus of the ASN is the study of ethnicity and nationalism in post-Communist states, and the topic of the convention was "Identity and the State: Nationalism and Sovereignty in a Changing World." Fourteen panels were organized on the Balkans, 13 on the Russian Federation, 12 each on Ukraine, Central Asia and Central Europe, six on the Southern Caucasus, five on the Baltics, and almost two dozen on thematic and cross-regional themes.

Hiroaki Kuromiya, professor of history at Indiana University, delivered the seventh annual Vasyl and Maria Petryshyn Memorial Lecture in Ukrainian Studies on April 27 at Harvard University. During his presentation, "Rethinking Ukrainian History," Prof. Kuromiya emphasized the need to be cautious about assuming what we know about the history of Soviet Ukraine since much of the history of individuals as well as political history has been fabricated.

The Canadian Association of Slavists, the Canadian Association for Eastern Christian Studies, the Folklore Studies Association and Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences of Canada were among the more than 70 Canadian academic societies that met for a 10-day Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities on May 23-June 1 in Edmonton. Through these four societies several dozen topics relating to Ukraine were included in the panels and more than 40 Ukraine scholars attended the event. On May 29 Dr. David Marples, acting head of the CIUS, gave a lecture on the topic "Towards Democracy or Oriental Despotism? Report Card on the Decade of Independence in the Former Soviet Republics."

Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski addressed a standing-room-only audience at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington on July 19. Dr. Bzezinski spoke on the topic "Post-Divided Europe and American Policy," clarifying some of the misconceptions about the current relations between Europe, the United States and Russia.

This summer the sixth World Congress for Central and East European Studies and the 19th International Congress of Historical Sciences met in geographic and chronological proximity - the former meeting in Tampere, Finland, on July 28-August 3 and the latter in Oslo, Norway - affording scholars the opporturnity to attend both. At the Tampere conference, more than 1,660 scholars were registered, 35 from Ukraine; 19 sessions were held on Ukrainian topics. In Norway, more than 3,000 scholars attended, but the presentations in general were fewer, including those on Eastern Europe and Ukraine.

The Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa held the third in its successful and highly regarded international conference series on October 27-28. The conference, "Towards a New Ukraine III - Geopolitical Imperatives of Ukraine: Regional Contexts," considered the critical regional issues facing Ukraine today, including its bilateral relations with Russia and Poland, its strategic objective of rejoining Europe, as well as its foreign and security policy challenges. Eleven scholars from Canada, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Poland presented papers on these topics. The keynote address was delivered on Friday evening of the conference by Prof. Stephen Shulman, Southern Illinois University. In his address titled, "Nation-Building and Ukrainian Foreign Policy," Prof. Shulman argued that Ukraine's foreign policy orientation towards both East and West is a critical and influential element affecting the country's nation-building process, in particular its autonomy, unity and identity.

A number of significant awards in the world of academia were presented in the year 2000.

Dr. Albert Kipa, Saeger Professor of Comparative Literature and head of the department of languages, literatures and culture at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., accepted his membership this summer in the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, at the academy's annual meeting in Kyiv. He was elected as a fellow to the academy last year. Dr. Kipa spoke of the topic "Democratic Reform and Higher Education" at the annual meeting. Earlier this year at the 152nd commencement ceremonies of Muhlenberg College Dr. Kipa was awarded the college's first designation of professor laureate of Muhlenberg College, in acknowledgment of his "exceptional service, scholarship and teaching."

Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of America's leading political scientists and strategists, was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from the Ukrainian Free University (UFU) for championing Ukraine's cause for more than 40 years, as well as for his scholarly endeavors and efforts in behalf of human rights, world peace and prosperity. The presentation by the Munich-based institution took place April 13, during a special ceremony at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington. On March 1, the UFU granted an honorary doctorate degree to Prof. Hans Gerhart Stockinger, member of the Bavarian Parliament.

On April 7, Dr. George Gamota, a physicist, was elected as a foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He was recognized for his pioneering scientific work at the University of Michigan and Bell Laboratories. Dr. Gamota has been very active in finding support for young scientists in Ukraine through exchange programs, grant projects and business incubator programs.

On May 8 Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko presented the Ukrainian government's Shevchenko Prize to George Shevelov, linguist, writer, literary critic and professor-emeritus of Columbia University, at a special ceremony held at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington. Prof. Shevelov received the Shevchenko Prize for his works "Tretia Storozha" and "Poza Knyzhkamy i z Knyzhok." An eminent Slavic linguist and philologist, Dr. Shevelov is most widely known for his most important work, "A Historical Phonology of the Ukrainian Language," published in 1979, in which he demonstrated the historical continuity of the Ukrainian language. In April 1999 Prof. Shevelov was presented with the Ukrainian Presidential Award for Merit (third degree).

Prof. Roman Szporluk, Mykhailo S. Hrushevskyi Professor of Ukrainian History at the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, was honored at a reception on May 13 at the Harvard University Faculty Club where the publication of the festschrift "Cultures and Nations of Central and Eastern Europe: Essays in Honor of Roman Szporluk" was celebrated. Students and colleagues of Prof. Szporluk wrote for this collection, which features 35 contributions on a wide range of topics dealing with Central and Eastern Europe.

December 31, 1999, brought shocking news about the untimely death of Solomea Pavlychko, 41, as a result of an accident in her home. Scholar, translator, editor, and educator, she made enormous contributions to Ukrainian culture, academia and the public sphere. In her honor the department of Slavic languages and literature at the University of Toronto established the Solomea Pavlychko Stipend in Spring 2000. The stipend will be awarded to a scholar or writer from Ukraine to come to the University of Toronto for creative work or research.

In November the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University announced the establishment of the Eugene and Daymel Shklar Fellowship designed to bring distinguished scholars from around the world to Harvard to work on topics in Ukrainian studies. The fellowships will be awarded annually and the first Shklar Fellows will begin their residency in the 2001-2002 academic year. Eugene Shklar, a Ukrainian Canadian, is a 1972 alumnus of Harvard University.

Volume 7 of the English-language translation of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's "History of Ukraine-Rus'" had been introduced to the scholarly community on November 19, 1999, at the convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies in St. Louis. Volume 7, which covers the early Kozak period from the late 15th century to 1625, is part of a planned 10-volume (11 books) translation of Hrushevsky's monumental work. It is the second volume to be completed. Volume 1 was released in 1997. In Canada, Volume 7 was launched on December 1, 1999, in the Great Hall of Hart House, University of Toronto during the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research. This year the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States on April 12 hosted a book launch for Volume 7. On hand to help launch the book in the United States were Librarian of Congress James Billington and Kennan Institute Director Blair A. Ruble.

On April 7, at a meeting of the Ukrainian Art and Literary Club of New York, Dr. Lubomyr Wynar, president of the Ukrainian Historical Association (UHA) and editor-in-chief of the journal Ukrainiskyi Istoryk delivered a lecture titled: "In the Service of Clio: Past, Present, Future" in celebration of the UHA's 35th anniversary.

On behalf of Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko accepted a collection of paintings by Volodymyr Vynnychenko, writer, artist and a leading political figure during Ukraine's brief period of independence after World War I, on May 8 at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington. Dr. Oleksa Bilaniuk, president of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S. (UVAN), formally transferred a collection of Vynnychenko paintings, which the academy in New York has held for safekeeping for almost half a century.

Dr. Bilaniuk said that the paintings are being turned over to Ukraine in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Vynnychenko's widow, who stipulated in her will that his archives be transferred to Ukraine after it becomes a truly independent country. The academy, through the work of its Vynnychenko Committee and its chairman, Hryhoriy Kostiuk, has published a number of books from the Vynnychenko archives, which Dr. Bilaniuk presented to Prime Minister Yuschenko along with the statement of transferal of the art collection.

A new slate of officers was elected at the annual meeting of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) May 20 in New York. Dr. Larissa M.L. Onyshkevych was elected president; Prof. Roman Andrushkiw, first vice-president; Dr. Sviatoslav Trofimenko, second vice-president; Dr. Anna Procyk, third vice-president; Dr. Vasyl Markus, fourth vice-president.

The Ukrainian American Association of University Professors (UAAUP) in October elected a new executive board, which includes: President Assya Humesky (University of Michigan Ann Arbor); Vice-Presidents Lubomyr Wynar (Kent State University), Vsevolod Isajiw (University of Toronto) and Yaroslav Bilinsky (University of Delaware); and Secretary-Treasurer Myron Melnyk (Kent State University).

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