Scholarly events
On May 29 Dr. Kateryna Goncharova delivered a lecture on “Ukrainian Cultural Heritage as a Force for Social Change,” at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington. Her talk was co-sponsored by the Washington chapter of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Dr. Goncharova heads the Scientific Research Section of the Ukrainian State Research and Project Institute for Historic Preservation. She has worked in research, management and scientific support in the development of projects for the preservation of several UNESCO World Heritage sites. Dr. Goncharova studied the U.S. experience in historic preservation based on public-private partnership, community engagement and neighborhood revitalization. Her goal is to modify these approaches and implement them in Ukraine.
Sponsored by the Shevchenko Scientific Society’s D.C. chapter and the Embassy of Ukraine, the June 12 tribute to Prof. Larissa M.L. Zaleska Onyshkevych was held at the Embassy in Georgetown. During the tribute Dr. Bohdana Urbanovych, president of the Washington chapter of the Shevchenko Society, congratulated Prof. Onyshkevych on her 80th birthday and read excerpts from the many greetings received from the U.S. and abroad. Next, a short film was shown depicting high points in Prof. Onyshkevych’s academic and civic life, and poet and Shevchenko Society administrator Vasyl Makhno outlined her scholarly achievements. Not to be outdone by the other presenters, Prof. Onyshkevych herself delivered an eye-opening lecture about the contemporary Ukrainian poet and playwright from Poland Tadei Karabovych (Tadeusz Karabowicz).
A conference inspired by the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II stimulated discussions by academics and policy analysts at a gathering held at the University of Alberta on October 23-24. “Contested Ground: The Legacy of the Second World War for Eastern Europe,” was a successful joint undertaking of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and the Center for U.S.-Ukrainian Relations. It brought together an impressive array of experts from 12 countries. Presenters took as their starting point the impact of the second world war on Eastern Europe.
A gala banquet at the conclusion featured a keynote address by James Sherr of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), who received a standing ovation for his incisive, albeit sobering, analysis of the civilizational problems that continue to motivate the Russian actions that are fomenting both regional and global instability.