The Future of East European Studies

On 24 February, Ukraine became a target of Russia’s military aggression. This war, the largest in Europe since the Second World War, broke out with unimaginable atrocities, suffering, large-scale migration, but also resilience, heroism, witnesses to faith and freedom, and martyrdom.

In the midst of the chaos and heartbreaking human suffering, this panel will focus on the challenges that now face the field of East European studies, with respect to Ukrainian and Russian studies in particular. For many years, scholars in this field have been re-examining its identity and raison d’etre. By what principles should scholars of East European Studies abide if they intend to do justice to the present reality? What place should the study of Ukraine be allotted within East European studies in order to understand that country on its own terms? What lessons should scholars of Russian studies learn and communicate to their students in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine? How can a peaceful future for the region be conceived and attained?

This panel will consider these questions. The speakers will reflect upon the new challenges and opportunities for their own particular areas of expertise—the humanities, history, the social sciences, religious studies, and Ukrainian studies—and consider the principles that could guide a new approach. This event was recorded on May 10, 2022.

Speakers:
Yury P. Avvakumov
Associate Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame

Semion Lyandres
Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

Olenka Pevny
University Lecturer in Early Modern Slavonic Culture and History, University of Cambridge

Iryna Starovoyt
Poet, essayist, and Associate Professor of Cultural Studies, Ukrainian Catholic University

Andrzej W. Tymoswski
Senior Adviser for International Programs, American Council of Learned Societies

Moderated by Clemens Sedmak
Director, Nanovic Institute for European Studies and Professor of Social Ethics University of Notre Dame

For more information visit the event website.