Lecture series kicks off program to expand Ukrainian studies at Stanford (03/09/03)

Lecture series kicks off program to expand Ukrainian studies at Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. - A series of seven distinguished lectures titled "Ukraine: Emerging Nation" kicks off a program-building effort in Ukrainian Studies at Stanford University this spring. Sponsored by the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, the series features political scientists, historians and public figures speaking on various aspects of Ukraine's current development.

As part of the series, Prof. Michael McFaul (February 10) of Stanford University is joined by Prof. Olexiy Haran (February 24) of the University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and Adrian Karatnycky (June 2) of Freedom House in addressing Ukraine's domestic and international political situation. Prof. Laada Bilaniuk (April 21) of the University of Washington, an anthropologist, will address the politics of language, while historian Dr. Frank Sysyn (March 10) director of the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta sketches the background to modern Ukrainian nationalism in examining the ideology of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Ukraine's ambassador to Canada Yuri Shcherbak (April 7) addresses international issues, and George Chopivsky (May 19), CEO of Ukrainian Development Corp. and an entrepreneur active in Ukraine, will speak on the current business climate.

The series inaugurates Stanford's drive to expand teaching and research in Ukrainian studies. The university has significant resources already in Ukrainian studies. The Hoover Institution Archive has valuable archives and is expanding its collection through cooperative agreements with archives in Ukraine. Stanford's Green Library has an excellent collection of monographs and current journals in Ukrainian history, literature and current events.

The university has been teaching undergraduates and training graduate students in East European and Russian studies since the 1920s, and has a significant commitment to international studies. Prof. Nancy Kollmann of the history department twice served as the Chair of the Visiting Committee to the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (1998, 2002); Prof. Amir Weiner's recent book, "Making Sense of War: The Second World War and the Fate of the Bolshevik Revolution" is based on the historials archival research in Kyiv, Vinnytsia and other Ukrainian collections; and political science Prof. McFaul is engaged in a research project on comparative post-Soviet political transitions, including Ukraine, funded by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The goals of the program-building effort are to establish endowed teaching positions in Ukrainian studies, to fund fellowships for Ph.D. students in disciplines including history, political science and anthropology, and to enhance the teaching of Ukrainian subjects through visiting professors. The teaching of the Ukrainian language is also targeted.

The center director Prof. Kollmann, said, "Students are really interested in issues such as economic, social and political change in Eastern Europe, and Ukraine offers an excellent focus of study. We would like to integrate further the study of Ukraine into our curriculum, so that students interested in modern cultural trends, modern international politics and other such issues will automatically consider Ukraine one of the important players in this dynamic, expanding part of the world."

For additional information, access http://www.stanford.edu/dept/CREES/UkrainianStudies.html, or phone CREEES (650) 723-3562.

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All lectures will take place at Hartley Conference Center, except for the April 7 lecture, which will be held at the SIEPR Conference Room A, Landau Economics Building (corner of Galves and Serra streets). Lectures begin at 4:15 p.m.

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