Outlook speech: "Prospects for Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies"

"Prospects for Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies"

What is and to what end do we study Ukrainian Studies?

When launching new fields of study, research, new professorships, this quote – “What is and to what end do we study” – is a popular approach to outlining the content and relevance of a particular academic subject. Friedrich Schiller used it in his inaugural lecture to describe his idea of universal history, Max Weber used the same wording to describe the founding principles of an emerging science called sociology. I dare say, however, that this question is far more complex in relation to our topic today, as we are not discussing the principles, tasks and structures of a single – albeit complex – discipline, but of a subject-oriented and necessarily interdisciplinary field of research. A field, whose relevance and scope, I would argue, goes far beyond the obvious topic. So: What is, and to what end do we study Ukrainian studies at Viadrina?

First, what is “Ukrainian Studies”? We may frame our subject of Ukrainian Studies in classical terms of area studies first, since both broadening and deepening our knowledge about Ukraine, Ukraine’s complex history, Ukrainian arts and literature, Ukrainian language are urgently needed in all our European societies. This is particularly true in Germany, where both politics and society ignored Ukraine’s centuries-long struggle for independence and dignity for a long time.

We ignored the words of the Ukrainian poet Lesja Ukrainka, dating back to the turn of the 20th century, when she warned: “Whoever frees himself will remain free, but whoever tries to free someone else takes him into captivity.”

We should learn about her words.

We ignored the highly entangled histories of Ukrainian, Jiddish, Belarusian, Polish, Tatar, Baltic, Moldovan history, to name but a few, that are entangled in terms of culture, of state, and of violence, as we know from Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands.

We should learn about that.

We ignored the wonderful small letter “ї”, an I with two dots, unique in the Ukrainian alphabet, standing both for a wonderful and unique language and for Ukraine’s cultural and physical perseverance – since centuries, until today.

We should learn about the “ї”.

We ignored the depth and beauty of Ukrainian folk poetry and music, which we also heard today and which touched us – we should let ourselves be enchanted by it more often.

Learning about Ukraine, its culture, its history, its impressive dissidents, broadens our horizons and helps us to understand what is at stake for all of us in Europe if Russia is allowed to continue its campaign of destruction against Ukraine. Knowledge and empathy will help us to support Ukraine.

Therefore, famous Ukrainian studies centres as for example the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, and I admit that this is somehow a role model for us at Viadrina, have a clear focus on history, language and literature – classical “Ukrainistik” – and I would not dare to doubt the relevance of this triad – it is at the heart of area studies.

However, I believe that there is much more that we have to explore and to learn not only about Ukraine and of course with Ukraine, but on and beyond Ukraine.

In the social sciences, one crucial question in doing research is: “What is the case a case of?”, and that question addresses both the ambition to analyze a case in depth and in all its details, but also to be able to generalize in order to describe and understand more general phenomena. And I am convinced that asking that question: “What is Ukraine a case of?” will provide us with a plethora of insights into processes, dynamics and causal relationships that are relevant and decisive for contemporary studies on Europe and global issues as well.

We can learn about complex and ambivalent state-building through protest, social movements, civic activism and conflict, in situations with predominantly rigid institutions, or even amidst a full-scale war.

We can learn about vulnerability and resilience of economic structures, supply chains, invention and innovation in market situations under extreme stress, and, again, amidst a full-scale war.

We can learn about the implementation of reforms with the aim of rapid EU accession, taking into account the Polish or Baltic experiences of such an accession process.

And we need to learn and understand more about how to enforce international law and establish justice when a terrible aggressor state, namely Russia, sits in the very body that was created for securing justice and peace, and when this state itself is the greatest threat to peace and justice in the world.

Against the backdrop of these many learning ambitions and necessities, we have a lot of work and many challenges ahead of us. Fortunately, we at Viadrina and the Berlin institutions will not be alone in this, because the KIU project allows us to invite the most wonderful colleagues, the brightest minds, the most committed thinkers for Ukraine and for Europe to work with us.

The project basically works in three thematic directions, which we consider to be fundamental for content-related and at the same time interdisciplinary work: History and culture; state and society, and conflict and crisis. These directions are reflected in our activities, which include research, teaching, and transfer.

In its research dimension, the project provides a fellowship program so that we can host up to nine fellows per semester here in Frankfurt and Berlin, and we are also able to support the same number of Ukrainian colleagues in Ukraine with Sur-Place fellowships. The call for applications has been published just recently on our homepage, so please join us! The research dimension also offers opportunities for implementing scientific events such as conferences, symposia etc. So please take advantage of having your most appreciated colleagues from all over the world around you and push your research forward together! And in next years’ April, about 9 or more PhD students will start working on their dissertations on Ukraine – the call for applications will be published in October, so please stay tuned!

But we also have to spread the word. Therefore, we will start our Ukrainian studies certificate program for MA students in the coming winter term. Students from the KIU universities, but in the future also from other institutions, can take certain courses related to Ukraine, attend a language course and complete an internship and then receive a certificate on Ukrainian Studies. We do also offer a Ukrainian studies summer school for students. And to broaden our teaching even further, we invite a guest professor every semester to offer additional and specific courses on Ukraine.

A very important third dimension is the transfer of knowledge to the wider society. Russian propaganda has been at work for many years, not only in Germany, and we can and must counter this with sound knowledge gained from our research. The transfer of knowledge and active dialogue with politics, civil society, the media, business and culture therefore form a central pillar of the project; here we have an educational mission that goes beyond academia and reaches far into our societies. We look forward to filling this mission with life.

So, what is and to what end do we study Ukrainian Studies, here, at Viadrina, and in our partner institutions, the ZOiS, the Humbold and Freie University, the Wissenschaftskolleg and the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences – and together with our many partner institutions in Ukraine and world-wide?

I believe we have a clear mission, and this mission is also an invitation – to all of you.

Our mission is to promote research and teaching on Ukraine and also to help institutionalize it – and we will certainly work intensively on this with the second DAAD Ukrainian Studies Centre, the Denkraum Ukraine in Regensburg.

To what end? To the end that it doesn't happen to us again that political and social earthquakes occur in our immediate eastern neighborhood and we don't know how to deal with them.

And that is why I would like to invite you all to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the KIU. The KIU is what we make of it – it offers numerous opportunities for cooperation, projects, publications and conferences, and we can all fill this with life. The KIU is an enabling structure. It is not a predetermined project, but invites you and us to realize the Ukraine projects that we dreamed of – or that we perhaps did not even know we were dreaming of.

So, to what end do we pursue Ukraine studies? – I hope that it will not be an end, but a beginning again and again, beyond the four years of DAAD funding, of many projects with wonderful smart colleagues worldwide, to learn and study together for a common European Ukrainian future. You are cordially invited by KIU. Slava Ukraini!