EDITORIAL: Ukrainian studies at Columbia (11/02/03)

EDITORIAL

Ukrainian studies at Columbia

It was over a year ago when we first learned that a permanent program of Ukrainian studies was being established at Columbia University, thus strengthening the school's already highly recognized Eastern European and Slavic studies departments. Housed mainly within the framework of the school's renowned Harriman Institute and the School of International and Public Affairs, the Ukrainian program will develop with a broad inter-disciplinary curriculum focused primarily on research and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The plan was envisioned to evolve in stages. Ultimately it calls for the participation of scholars from various fields and disciplines, a system of scholarships and stipends for undergraduate and graduate students, further growth in the university's Ukrainian library collection and new bibliographic work, and the organization of conferences and seminars on Ukraine.

We were happy to report recently that the first major goal in the project was realized when officials at the Ukrainian Studies Fund raised the money necessary to endow a course on 20th century Ukrainian history, which is planned for Columbia's 2004 spring semester.

The thanks for successfully completing the first phase of the project should, in large part, go to the Self Reliance (New York) Federal Credit Union for its donation of $250,000, as well as to the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Heritage Foundation of First Security Federal Savings Bank of Chicago, Ivan Stebelsky and an anonymous donor for their generous financial contributions.

The Ukrainian Studies Fund - which also endowed three chairs in Ukrainian studies at Harvard University - has worked arm in arm on the project with officials from Columbia University, who, for their part, have welcomed the program with open arms.

The plan to further expand the school's Ukrainian Studies Program into other academic departments and to increase valuable Ukraine-related library materials is an intelligent and wise decision and a move that would establish a much-needed Ukrainian studies powerhouse in New York City.

Such a program would also serve the diplomatic, political and international affairs communities that are highly active in New York City. It would act as a media center for journalists writing about Ukraine, for example; as a center of accurate information and research on Ukrainian issues, it would help fight defamation.

While driving the project forward, officials at the school and the USF have encountered a bumpy road. The necessary funding for the entire project, estimated to be $5 million, is only 20 percent complete and the program is intending to grow at a time when many other schools in North America are downsizing or eliminating their Eastern European and Slavic departments.

The USF and Columbia University, for their part, have shown a willingness and desire to establish a permanent program of Ukrainian studies at the Ivy League school, but realizing the entire project will depend largely on the demand for it. As an academic institution and as a business, the university must draw students who are interested in a Ukrainian studies program, participants to the program's public conferences and seminars, and the funding to realize such a project.

| Home Page |