FACES AND PLACES: Delusions and denials (07/11/04)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Delusions and denials

Meeting and debating with academics from Ukraine about the state of higher education over there has recently deteriorated from a meaningful dialogue into a game of one-upmanship.

The forum, the arena as it were, in which the game is played is the annual summer Conference on Ukrainian Subjects at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. This year's conference, organized as always by the legendary Prof. Dmytro Shtohryn, was the 23rd such event. The theme was a barn burner: "Contemporary Ukraine and Its Diaspora as Seen by Scholars in Ukraine and Abroad."

During the halcyon days of the late Gorbachev and early Kravchuk eras in Ukraine, academics there appeared anxious to rid themselves of the stifling and debilitating Soviet past in which research in the humanities was narrowly constructed around a constrained and limited Marxist/Leninist model. As early as 1990, for example, Prof. Volodymyr Serhilchuk of the Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, invited me to deliver lectures on the history of Ukrainians in America. When I elaborated on the goals and aspirations of our anti-Soviet community, no one blinked.

In the early '90s, a number of fresh and exciting charter schools emerged in Ukraine: academies, lycees, gymnasiums. The Mohyla and Ostroh academies were re-established with high standards, machine-scored anonymous entrance exams and a new liberal arts curriculum. There was even hope that Ukraine's schools of higher education would eventually offer degrees similar to those in the West. That didn't happen.

Today, little has changed, especially within the old-line Soviet era universities. Many of these schools still have entrance requirements that include bribes. Libraries are still woefully inadequate for those who wish to pursue serious research in the humanities. Higher academic degrees such as the candidates degree and the doctorate are granted in Kyiv, not, as in the U.S., by the university itself.

To receive a master's degree at most American universities, one needs to hold a bachelor's degree, complete an additional year of classroom study (30 hours), successfully pass a comprehensive exam, and write and defend a thesis which demonstrates that one can perform quality research. To receive a doctorate, one usually has to hold a master's degree, complete an additional two years of graduate study (60 hours), pass a comprehensive exam, receive a high pass in a foreign language (or low pass in two languages), and write and defend a dissertation that contributes new knowledge to one's field of study. Professors intimately familiar with the field of research serve on master's and doctoral committees.

As I understand it, the system in Ukraine is quite different. Once one completes a bachelor's degree, further classroom study is rarely required. The candidate's degree denotes the ability to do serious research. The doctorate is awarded only after one has worked in one's field for many years, has successfully written and defended a dissertation, and has produced many scholarly publications. Receiving a doctorate legally before one is at least 40 years of age is a rare occurrence.

Ukraine's Ministry of Education does not recognize American degrees such as the master's and the doctorate. I have been told, for example, that the Lviv Theological Academy, a Catholic institution, has not been accredited by the ministry because the Rev. Borys Gudziak, the rector, only has a Ph.D. in Slavic and Byzantine cultural and ecclesiastical history from Harvard University, an American institution.

Earning a candidate's degree in Ukraine is a convoluted and byzantine process involving some 24 steps. Step 10 is the publication of three journal articles approved by the Higher Attestation Committee (VAK). Step 12 is the approval of a thesis by one's university department. Step 14 is the appointment of a Council of Approval by the VAK. Step 16 is the appointment of "opponents" and the designation of the defense date. Step 17 requires the mailing of numerous copies of the thesis summary to institutions designated by the VAK. Following a successful defense (Step 20), the thesis, minutes of the defense and all related documents are presented by the VAK to an expert panel for final review (Step 22). The degree is finally conferred by the VAK in the final step. Academics there argue that the candidate's degree is equivalent to our Ph.D.

Such a system of check and multi-check was understandable during Soviet times when everyone feared stepping across dogmatic Marxist/Leninist boundaries. Today, it is an anachronism.

Earning a doctorate in Ukraine takes longer but follows a similar circuitous route. I chaired a master's thesis committee at NIU for a professor from Ukraine who wrote on the topic "Moral Values Education in American and Ukrainian Schools, 1970-1998." It was a solid piece of work. The professor returned to Ukraine, expanded the thesis by adding a number of foreign and Soviet sources, and, after four additional years of toil and trouble, completed the dissertation, published it and received his doctorate. When I asked him if any of the academics who judged his work were familiar with education in the United States, his sheepish reply was "no."

I presented my views on all of this at the University of Illinois last year and this year. Last year, it was the rectors from Ukraine who objected, vociferously arguing that Ukraine's system is superior and that bribes are common in the United States as well. This year, it was the younger generation from Ukraine who defended the system, denying that bribes are part of the system.

Some academics in Ukraine recently tried to Westernize the system as was recently done in the Baltic countries, but ran into a brick wall. A few months ago Ukraine's minister of education declared that higher education in Ukraine is the best in the world, that the West has nothing to teach Ukraine, and that their institutions of higher learning are not training their graduates to teach at Harvard but at Ukrainian institutions. Right.

Questions arise. If Ukraine doesn't recognize American university degrees, why should U.S. foundations fund study grants for Ukrainian students here? And why would Ukrainians who earn an American degree want to return to Ukraine?

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is: [email protected].

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