Lviv-based Ukrainian Summer School to expand program in 2004
by Roman Ivashkiv and Matthew Matuszak
LVIV - The second Ukrainian Summer School at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv will be held from June 17 to August 3, this year with an expanded program. Within the language program, more emphasis will be placed on immersion in the language. Culture courses are represented by the two political science courses.
The program is jointly offered by UCU and St. Thomas More College of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
"Our focus is Ukrainian-language immersion, our courses cost less, and we're in Lviv, the largest Ukrainian-speaking city in the world. This distinguishes UCU's Ukrainian Summer School from comparable programs," said Prof. Jeffrey Wills, vice-rector of UCU and Lviv coordinator of the program.
"In addition to being the most progressive private university in Ukraine, UCU has already established a good tradition of holding English and German summer schools," said Dr. Natalia Shostak, assistant professor in the department of religious studies and anthropology at St. Thomas More College and director of the Lviv Ukrainian Summer School.
"Therefore, when a couple of years ago we at the University of Saskatchewan began to think of a prospective partner to establish our own summer session in Ukraine, we turned to UCU. Both universities welcomed the idea of organizing a Ukrainian summer school in order to attract the attention of foreign students to Ukraine and have them come over to study the language and culture. So this is how it all started in Ukraine," she explained.
Dr. Shostak said that negotiations between St. Thomas More College, the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), and UCU led to a five-year agreement that was signed in October 2002 by the U of S and UCU regarding academic collaboration on the summer session in Lviv. The following summer, the first Lviv Ukrainian Summer School was officially launched. Eighteen students attended five courses in Eastern Christianity, Ukrainian language, culture and history.
As in the previous year, the 2004 classes of the intensive Ukrainian-language program, will be offered on the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels, and meet for four to five hours per day. This year's addition will be Ukrainian-language activities in the evening, featuring guest speakers. Language instructorship at the Ukrainian Summer School will include various interactive styles of learning, field trips, conversations with Ukrainian people, and participation in reallife situations.
To ensure further development of the language program, UCU and St. Thomas More College sent Dr. Olena Huzar, Ukrainian Language Program coordinator for UCU, to visit the University of Saskatchewan to become better acquainted with North American standards and methodologies of second language education.
Partnership between the two universities means that all the classes, either in Ukrainian language or political science, are available to the students for credit, since all classes are part of the University of Saskatchewan academic calendar.
The U of S/UCU summer school is not only about studying in the classroom. "Last summer, in my course '20th Century Ukraine,' " noted Dr. Shostak, "I did not want the students to learn about Ukraine only from books. They can do that at home. I wanted them to experience what Ukraine means in reality, and what Ukrainian people have to say. While studying the Soviet collective farms system, for example, my students actually went to the village of Nebyliv and interviewed peasants who were the former collective farmers. Only then did I realize that there could be no better way for these kids to learn what the Soviet regime was all about."
Dr. Shostak said she believes that the program was particularly successful in 2003 because the organizers managed to attract students who are not necessarily of Ukrainian origin. "We've been advertising the Ukrainian Summer School not only as a Ukrainian studies program, but in a broader context, as a program that opens access to the whole of Eastern Europe," emphasized Dr. Shostak. She said she realizes that ethnic Ukrainians who live in Canada or the United States can travel to Ukraine on their own, since many of them have relatives or connections there. "Our goal, however, was to cover a wider audience and I have to give due credit to UCU for the great promotion of our program internationally," she said.
Thus, last summer, 18 students from various countries of the world, including Canada, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States, came to Lviv for the summer school.
"I thought the best way to learn about Ukraine would be to come here," said Donald Jesney, a student in the International Studies Program at the University of Saskatchewan who knew very little about Ukraine. "Also, I like to travel a lot and this program fit my schedule." Mr. Jesney also was able to explore many things by himself, talk to people in the stores or even in the street. "I've found my little niche in Lviv, and I think it's really cool," he said.
"When I first came to Ukraine, I realized that I need Ukrainian," said Maya Woloshyn, an American of Ukrainian descent. She had been to Ukraine before and taught English to Ukrainian orphans. "Surprisingly, when I was growing up, I didn't used to speak a lot of Ukrainian, and I even hated it as my second language, because it was a nuisance to always have to speak it at home. Now I realize that the Ukrainian language means a lot about my identity."
The program is advertised by both universities and the program costs are the same, whether one registers with UCU or through the U of S. The official deadlines differ, however. North American students interested in taking the summer sessions for credit through the University of Saskatchewan should submit their applications to the U of S by February 28. Please contact Dr. Shostak for further information. Students who do not need to earn university credits for courses taken during the summer session may apply directly to UCU. The deadline for applying through UCU is May 15.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 15, 2004, No. 7, Vol. LXXII
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