What Does Decolonization Mean for Ukrainian Academic Institutions?

With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian studies programs and organizations in Europe and North American found themselves at the center of both public and academic attention. Calls for decolonizing Russian, Eurasian, and East European studies fueled additional interest in Ukrainian politics, history, language, literature, and culture, and raised important questions about the role that Ukrainian academic programs and institutions can play in the process of decolonizing the field.This roundtable brings together leaders and representatives of six Ukrainian programs: the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, the Shevchenko Scientific Society in the US, the Ukrainian studies programs at Columbia University and Cambridge University (UK) and last but not least the Ukrainian Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine, to discuss what exactly “decolonization” means for these institutions and the field of Ukrainian studies as a whole. Participants will address the challenges and opportunities presented by the paradigm of decolonization. Reflecting on how institutions adapt their work and mission to changing geopolitical and societal realities, this roundtable also marks the 50th anniversary of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard, the oldest university-based center supporting the study of Ukraine in the United States.