EDMONTON, Alberta – The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) has reached a milestone – it has turned 40.
Founded at the University of Alberta in 1976, CIUS has expanded over the decades to comprise programs in Canada and, after 1991, in Ukraine.
The interdisciplinary institute is made up of several centers and programs supported by endowments created by donors from the community, Government of Alberta grants, and the University of Alberta’s budget. They include the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research, the Ukrainian Language Education Center, the Kule Ukrainian Canadian Studies Center, the Kowalsky Program for the Study of Eastern Ukraine, the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium, the Research Program on Religion and Culture, the Contemporary Ukraine Studies Program and the Danylo Husar Struk Program in Ukrainian Literature.
In the last four decades, CIUS Press has published hundreds of books, research reports and journal issues. Today the institute maintains a highly visible online presence through its Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, electronic journal East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies, Forum for Ukrainian Studies, and digitization project in cooperation with the University of Alberta Libraries. Numerous students and academics in North America, Europe, and Asia have benefited from scholarships and grants awarded by CIUS over the years.
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, from the spring of 2016 CIUS has been organizing roundtables to discuss the status of Ukrainian studies and the role of CIUS in the field. One roundtable took place in Calgary, Alberta (during the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Slavists) and two others in Lviv and Kyiv. There will be a fourth roundtable on October 1 at the 25th Triennial Congress of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress in Regina, Saskatchewan.
A major scholarly encounter is planned for October 14-15. On those dates, CIUS will be holding a two-day conference at the University of Alberta titled “Ukrainian Studies in Canada: Texts and Contexts.” Scholars from Canada and abroad will be participating in five round tables on the following topics: “Foundations of Ukrainian Studies,” “New Challenges for Ukrainian Studies,” “Ukrainian Canadian Studies,” “Teaching Ukrainian Studies,” and “Community Outreach.” The keynote speaker at the conference will be Bishop Borys Gudziak. The featured speaker at the banquet following the conference will be Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko.
To learn more about the conference and other 40th anniversary events, readers may visit https://www.ualberta.ca/arts/research/canadian-institute-of-ukrainian-studies/news-and-events/cius-40th-anniversary.