Bachelor Seminar tailored to Ukrainian students, the Annual Sociology Meeting in Finland
As part of the "EvWell" project, a significant component involves providing academic support to students, as Kaisa Kuurne points out that, "we are an institution of higher education with the primary task of offering higher education".
Therefore, a separate seminar was created to assist Ukrainian fourth-year students in writing their Bachelor’s Theses. TAs a Lecturer in charge of developing coursework to Ukrainian exchange students, PI Kaisa Kuurne created a bilingual Bachelor’s Thesis seminar to assist Ukrainian fourth-year students in writing their Theses remotely. The bilingual pedagogy was accomplished with the help of Ukrainian doctoral students Alina Khelashvili and Maria Prystupa.
Additionally, students were given the opportunity to participate at the annual sociological conference in Kuopio, and to submit their own research proposals. Three groups of students presented their work at the conference.
Informal coffee meetings, group activities, excursions
What we, in addition, try to do in the Helsinki project, is to create space for regular student life experiences, and moments of meaning and lightness in the midst of hard times. It’s lovely to see our Ukrainian students smile and enjoy their time together," Kuurne says. "In traumatic life situations, people don’t always need professional support, but kindness, community and care. It is something all of us can give. My hope is that later in life, students would remember our community and kindness when thinking back to their time in Helsinki," Kuurne states.
All Ukrainian students who feel they need professional support, also have a chance to talk to a Ukrainian psychologist.