24th annual Conference on Ukrainian Subjects focuses on Ukraine and Europe (07/17/05)

24th annual Conference on Ukrainian Subjects focuses on Ukraine and Europe

by Leonid Rudnytzky

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Among the most enduring Ukrainian scholarly traditions in the United States is the annual Conference on Ukrainian Subjects organized and sponsored each summer by the Ukrainian Research Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. To date, 24 such weeklong conferences have been held with the participations of scholars from around the globe.

For a quarter of a century the Ukrainian Research Program at the University of Illinois has been headed by Prof. Dmytro Shtohryn, who has served as its spiritus muvens.

All the papers delivered have been preserved in the archives of the program in audio/visual form, and some selected contributions have been published in a separate collection titled, "Ukraine: The Challenges of World War II" (University Press of America, 2003), under the editorship of Prof. Taras Hunczak and Prof. Shtohryn. An index listing all the papers read at these conferences with brief commentaries is scheduled to appear in the near future.

This year's conference was held from June 29 to July 2; its topic was "Ukraine and Europe." The program of the conference was comprised of 10 sessions, which included two keynote addresses: Raisa Ivanchenko, International University of Kyiv, read a paper titled "Ukraine - The Eastern Shield of Europe," and John Fizer, Rutgers University of New Brunswick, spoke on "The Encounter of Ukrainian Philology with Western Methodological Strategies."

Contemporary topics tended to dominate the presentations and discussions, particularly those concerning the momentous Orange Revolution and its aftermath. Oleksander Sych, State University of Oil and Gas in Ivano-Frankivsk, spoke on the role of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization in the Revolution; the journalist Luka Kostelyna spoke on the economics of Ukraine before and after the Revolution; Ludmila Wussyk, from Los Angeles, offered an overview of the opinions expressed in the European press on this event; and Nadezhda Banchik, from San Jose, Calif., spoke on the ethnic minorities and refugees in Ukraine before and after the revolution.

The general topic of the conference, "Ukraine and Europe," was addressed by several scholars. Martha Trofimenko offered a discourse titled "Ukraine and the European Union: Reflections in the Mirror of International Law." Oksana Zavalina, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, offered insight into the level of cooperation between Ukraine and the West in the area of economics; and Leonid Rudnytzky spoke on contemporary "Ukrainian Culture in Germany."

Following the opening remarks by Prof. Shtohryn at the banquet, thoughtful and informative greetings to the participants were delivered by Raisa Bratkiv, president of the Foundation for the Advancement of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Illinois, and Julian Kulas, president of the Heritage Foundation of First Security Federal Savings Bank in Chicago. In addition, the consul general of Ukraine in Chicago, Borys Bazylevskyi, addressed the assembly on the topic of Ukraine after the Orange Revolution.

Two diametrically different points of view were apparent in the papers dealing with Ukrainian-Polish relations: a rather pessimistic view was espoused by Volodymyr Serhijchuk, Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, in his presentation titled "What kind of Advisor to Ukraine will Poland be in the 21st Century?" An optimistic one, titled "Polish-Ukrainian Relations During the Last 15 Years: The Path of Kyiv to European Integration Leads through Warsaw," authored by Rafal Wolski, the consul of the Republic of Poland in Munich, was read in Ukrainian translation by Swiatoslaw Trofimenko, University of Delaware. Both presentations were followed by a spirited discussion.

A session chaired by Volodymyr Chumachenko, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was dedicated to libraries and informational science. It featured papers by Prof. Shtohryn and Olena Pogrebna of the National Parliamentary Library of Ukraine.

One special session was devoted to literature. Papers were presented by Christina Sochocky, independent researcher of Toronto, who offered a comparative study of Illa Kyriak's "Sons of the Soil" and Thomas Bell's "Out of this Furnace." Jean-Pierre Cap of Easton, Pa., spoke on the novel "Public Enemy" by Olena Zvychaina, and Assya Humesky, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, read a paper on traditional poetry titled "Rebirth of the Village - Rebirth of the Ukrainian Spirit." Prof. Hunczak, Rutgers University at Newark, N.J., shared his first-hand account on the independence referendum of December 1, 1991.

Other papers included such topics as "Ukraine and Russia - Two different Civilizations" by Tetyana Lysenko, George Washington University; "Trends and Characteristics of Immigrants and Temporary Visitors from Ukraine to the United Satets: 1995-2005" by Oleh Wolowyna, Informed Decisions Inc.; and "Ukrainian Culture in America" by Myron Kuropas, Northern Illinois University.

The Program Committee, consisting of Profs. Fizer, Hunczak, Rudnytzky, Jaroslav Rozumnyj, and Ms. Sochocky, and chaired by Prof. Humesky, is already planning the 25th Conference on Ukrainian Subjects which, among other topics, will include several sessions on the life and works of Ivan Franko (1856-1916). The committee welcomes ideas and suggestions regarding this jubilee conference from scholars and researchers both in the United Sates and abroad. A call for papers will be issued shortly.

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