Third International Congress of Ukrainian Historians
in
By Prof. Svitlana Havryliuk
On May 17-19 the
International Congress of Ukrainian Historians was held in the historic city of
This
congress was hosted and organized by the
Held
every three years in
At
the official opening of the third congress, participants were greeted by
Volodomyr Bondar, Head of the Volyn Regional Administration, Bohdan Shyba,
Mayor of Lutsk, Rector Ihor Kotsan, Professor Lubomyr Wynar, Academic Iarolsav
Isajevych, and Vice-Rector Sviatlana Havryliuk.
During
the plenary session the participants examined questions relating to the future
development of Ukrainian historical scholarship. In this respect, Lubomyr Wynar
(USA) presented an overview of the activity of the UHA within the context of
world historiography and outlined the issues to be addressed by Ukrainian
historical research. Academic Isajevych (
Other
speakers during this session included: Prof. Volodomyr Kosyk (France) on the
terminological issues within Ukrainian history; Prof. Stanislav Kulchychkyj
(Ukraine) on the process of state-building in Ukraine and how totalitarianism
has affected this process; Prof. Oleksandr Udod (Ukraine) on the “re-writing of
history;” Prof. Volodomyr Serhichuk (Ukraine) on contemporary historical
scholarship’s role in developing a Ukrainian national consciousness; Dr. Irena
Matjash (Ukraine) on the future direction of historical archival research and
scholarship; and Prof. Stefan Kozak (Poland) on Hrushevsky’s legacy.
Following
the general plenary session, participants broke up into 13 sessions, which
covered all the periods of Ukrainian history. Topics discussed included:
historical theory and methodology; historical sources; historical disciplines;
opposition movements in Ukraine during the Second World War; Ukrainian ethnic
lands beyond Ukraine’s current borders; the Ukrainian diaspora; Christian
churches and their role; current international realities and how these affect
Ukraine; Ukraine’s position in world affairs and European geo-politics; and
problems in retaining a national culture within globalization.
A
special section analyzed various interpretations of Ukrainian history in the
research and writings of foreign scholars as well as the lack of recognition of
Ukrainian historians by their non-Ukrainian colleagues; the latter being, for
the most part, ignorant of the work of the former.
The
congress program included the presentation of newly published books by the UHA,
including the third volume of Lystuvaniya Mykhaila Hrushevshkoho (from
the series of Epistolary Sources of Hrushevsky Studies); Bohdan Wynar’s Economic
Colonialism in Ukraine and Other Works; V. Piskun’s Political Choices of
Ukrainian Emigrees in the 1920s (Historical Monograph Series), and others.
During
the closing plenary session questions regarding the future of Ukrainian
historical studies and education were addressed. Participants were alarmed by
the trend of reducing the hours that university students must complete in
Ukrainian history. The discussion also focused on the importance of defending
and promoting the Ukrainian language as an integral part in the further
development of scholarly and scientific knowledge, the need to increase the
financial support for scholarly activity within Ukrainian universities, the
importance of supporting young scholars, and other topics.
Participants
concluded that there had been progress in the past few years, including the
development of new directions in research and an increase in the publishing of
documentary and source materials. They resolved to deepen the cooperation
between the historians from
Proceedings
from the third congress will be published in four volumes.
The
Fourth International Congress of Ukrainian Historians will be held in 2009.
Prof.
Svitlana Havryliuk is Vice-Rector of the