Ukrainian Scholarly Publications Celebrated at University of Alberta

The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies generously supports undergraduate and graduate students who take Ukrainian Studies courses in Canada and abroad, as well as helping then advance their careers. The recognition of the success of Ukrainian scholarly publications in Western academia that partially resulted from such support, took place on April 3, 2013 at the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta. Our colleague, Professor Natalie Kononenko, was glad to respond to this event.

Ukrainians have always valued education. For the Ukrainians who came to Canada during the course of the past 120 years, education has been a tool that enabled success in their new Canadian home. Education has also been crucial to maintaining identity. Education helped Ukrainians in Canada retain their language from generation to generation. It taught them about artistic achievements old and new. Education helped them understand customs and beliefs as well as maintain them. The concentration of Ukrainians in the Prairies and their support of education has enabled the University of Alberta to become a centre of Ukrainian Studies, recognized around the world.

The Ukrainian Culture, Language and Literature program celebrated recent achievements with the launch of two new books and the recognition of an award conferred on a language textbook that had been launched earlier. All three books are student-focused and demonstrate how the Ukrainian program contributes to Alberta’s future, and the future of Ukrainian Studies in general.

Alla Nedashkiska’s Ukrainian Through its Living Culture is a textbook for advanced students published by the University of Alberta Press in 2010. In January 2013, the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages identified this book as the best in foreign language pedagogy. Given by a professional association based in the United States, the award recognizes the fact that the University of Alberta serves its students with the best research in applied linguistics and the teaching of Ukrainian.

The two books which were launched on April 3 were Faces of Displacement: The Writings of Volodymyr Vynnychenko written by Mykola Soroka, and The Paths of Folklore edited by Svitlana Kukharenko and Peter Holloway. Both Soroka and Kukharenko are former students who received their degrees from the University of Alberta. Both held many prestigious fellowships during their graduate career and were awarded post-doctoral fellowships upon the completion of their degrees. Drs. Soroka’s and Kukharenko’s achievements show that the Ukrainian program attracts the best students and gives them a superior education which allows them to succeed.

The celebration began with Lois Harder, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Arts, welcoming the many academics and community members present. She also reminded the audience that, in 2008, Ukrainian disciplines had been identified as an area of research excellence. She then introduced professors Oleh Ilnytzkyj and Natalia Pylypiuk who co-supervised Mykola Soroka’s dissertation. Dr. Ilnytzkyj, in turn, introduced Soroka who spoke about the inspiration behind his book and thanked the many people who helped him along the way. Dr. Pylypiuk, then introduced Kukharenko and Holloway. Kukharenko spoke about the volume she put together in honour of her dissertation supervisor, Dr. Natalie Kononenko. This volume is student focused in two ways: it consists of essays written primarily by Kononenko’s students - along with a few of her colleagues - and it was prepared by a student. Prof. Kononenko offered her thanks for this honour and said how much students have meant to her during her academic career.

PHOTOS

1 - L.-R.: Lois Harder, Mykola Soroka, and Svitlana Kukharenko

2 - L. to R.: Natalie Kononenko, Peter and Doris Kule, and Alla Nedashkivska