A Ukrainian perspective is essential to understanding Russia’s war in Ukraine. Both in international media and academic discussions, the current war is sometimes presented without giving proper agency to Ukrainians and ignoring their perspectives and visions for the future.
An interdisciplinary series of lectures on Ukraine and from Ukraine in Spring 2022 aims to engage with Ukrainian scholars as well as scholars working in or on Ukraine. The lectures are also open for wider audiences.
The lecture series is organised by the HEPP research group and its Now-Time Us-Space Kone Foundation project, Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Aleksanteri Institute, from the University of Helsinki as well as the Degree Programme of Politics from Tampere University. For more information, please contact aleksanteri@helsinki.fi.
Scheduled times: Tuesday 16–17.30 and Thursday 12–13.30
Lecture recordings will be available in Unitube for two weeks. You can find the videos for example searching by "Ukrainian voices".
For the opening event we invite insightful Ukrainian scholars to reflect on the war in Ukraine from the point of view of their respective academic field and expertise.
Time: Thursday 24 March 12.00-13.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +2)
Recording of this opening panel will be available at the UniTube until 13 April 2022.
Ukraine at war
Speaker: Dr. Maksym Yakovlyev, National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy; Head, NaUKMA Department of International Relations, Director, NaUKMA School for Policy Analysis, Associate Professor
Chair: Katri Pynnöniemi, assistant professor, University of Helsinki
Time: Tuesday, 29 March 2022 16.00–17.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +2)
Recording of this lecture will be available at the UniTube until 13 April 2022.
Revolutions in Ukraine from the perspective of sociology
Speaker: Arseniy Svynarenko, project researcher, Tampere University
Chair: Anni Kangas, university lecturer, Tampere University
Time: Thursday, 31 March 2022 12.00–13.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)
Recording of this lecture will be available at the UniTube until 19 April 2022.
War Against a "Non-Existent" Language
Speaker: Natalya Kobchenko, Associate Professor, National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Ukraine
Chair: Sanna Turoma, Professor, Tampere University, Finland
Time: Tuesday, 5 April 2022 16.00–17.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)
Recording of this lecture will be available at the UniTube until 22 April 2022.
Women's Participation in Protests and War in Ukraine
Speaker: Tamara Martsenyuk, National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy
Chair: Jonna Alava, University of Helsinki & National Defence University, Finland
Time: Friday, 8 April 2022, 12.00–13.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)
Please note, this lecture will exceptionally take place on Friday.
Recording of this lecture will be available at the UniTube until 25 April 2022.
Who are Ukrainians? Ethnic Identity and National Belonging in Independent Ukraine
Speaker: Volodymyr Kulyk, Head Research Fellow at the Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Chair: Emilia Palonen, University of Helsinki
Time: Tuesday, 19 April 2022 16.00–17.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)
Recording of this lecture will be available at the UniTube until 5 May 2022.
Weaponizing the Past: The Role of Memory Politics in the Russian War on Ukraine
Speakers:
Dr. Alina Mozolevska, Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University
Dr. Bartłomiej Gajos, Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding
Chair: Sabine Volk, University of Helsinki
Time: Thursday, 21 April 2022, 12.00–13.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)
Recording of this lecture will be available at the UniTube until 5 May 2022.
Kharkiv Before/Beyond Bombing
Speakers:
Dr. Olga Filippova, Associate Professor of Sociology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University & Senior Researcher, Karelian Institute, University of Eastern Finland
Dr. Yuri Radchenko, Co-founder and Director of the Center for Interethnic Relations in Eastern Europe
Ievgeniia Gubkina, Architect and architectural historian, co-founder of NGO Urban Forms Center and curator of Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Architecture.
Chair: Elsa Court
Time: Tuesday, 26 April 2022 16.00–17.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)
Recording of this lecture will be available at the UniTube until 11 May 2022.
Time: Tuesday 3 May 2022, 17:00–18.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)
Event on academic freedom at Think Corner featuring scholars from the region, Global science community – risks and responsibilities - Suomen Tiedeakatemiat (academies.fi) organised by the Human Rights Committee of the Finnish Council of Academies (reachable on site and online).
Science and research experience in Ukraine under the war
Lectures and discussion with two researchers working on different fields: contemporary social sciences and pollen research, in wartime Ukraine
Speakers:
Dr. Viktor Stepanenko, leading research fellow at the Inst. of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Prof. Viktoria Rodinkova, Head of the Laboratory on the Investigation of Allergenic Environmental Factors, Department of Pharmacy, National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnytsia, Ukraine
Chair: Emilia Palonen, University of Helsinki
Time: Thursday, 5 May 2022, 12.00–13.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)
Transformation of the physical space in Ukraine: Reflections on realities on the ground
Speakers:
Olena Yermakova, Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University in Kraków: A trip through hell: personal and professional reflections on fleeing Ukraine at war
Michael Cole, Johan Skytte Institute for Political Studies, University of Tartu: Why did you think I'd be weak? Cultural resistance to Russia and the calm before the storm in Ukraine
Chair: Ionut Chiruta, University of Helsinki
Time: Tuesday, 10 May 2022 16.00–17.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)
Ukraine and the changing nature of war: geopolitics, challenges, narratives
Speaker: Dr. Yuliya Yurchenko, Senior Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Greenwich
Chair: Anni Kangas, university lecturer, Tampere University
Time: Wednesday 18 May 2022 16.00–17.30 Helsinki time (EET / UTC +3)