Ivan Franko Lecture marks 15th anniversary

by Irena Bell

OTTAWA - This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Ivan Franko Memorial Lecture series, an annual public lecture by noted scholars in Ukrainian studies from Canada and abroad. Co-sponsored by the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa and the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association (UCPBA) of Ottawa, the series has helped raise the profile of Ukrainian studies and raise awareness of Ukrainian matters in Canada's capital.

The Ivan Franko Memorial Lecture, named after one of Ukraine's greatest creative minds, was instituted by the UCPBA and Carleton University in 1986 upon the initiative of Prof. Bohdan Bociurkiw and graduate student Ivan Jaworsky. Then, in 1996, the UCPBA and the newly inaugurated Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa joined forces to continue the lecture series.

The Ivan Franko series' first speaker was Roman Szporluk in 1986, whose topic was "The Past as Ideology: Reflections on Ukraine between Russia and Poland." In the following years, the speakers were John-Paul Himka on "The Ukrainian Village in the Era of Ivan Franko"; Vasyl Markus on "Religion and Nation-Building in Modern Ukraine"; Orest Subtelny on "Reflections on Ukrainian History and Historians"; Taras Hunczak on "The Popular Movement (Rukh) in Contemporary Soviet Ukrainian Politics"; Frank Sysyn on "The Revival of Historical Consciousness in Ukraine"; Peter J. Potichnyj on "Party Politics in Independent Ukraine"; George Grabowicz on "The Politics of Literature and Culture in Contemporary Ukraine"; Ambassador Viktor Batiuk on "Ukraine's Foreign Policy"; John Jaworsky on "The Military, State and Society in Ukraine"; Frances Swyripa on "Ukrainian Canadian Women: The Community and the Homeland"; Bohdan Nahaylo on "The Ukrainian Resurgence Revisited"; Radoslav Zuk on "Ukrainian Architecture in the Context of European Culture"; and Marta Dyczok on "The Media in Contemporary Ukraine."

The 2001 lecture was delivered by Natalie Kononenko, professor at the University of Virginia, on "Celebrating Marriage, Birth and Death: Contemporary Rituals in Ukraine."

This year marks the 145th anniversary of the birth and the 85th anniversary of the death of Ivan Franko, the great Ukrainian scholar, poet, writer and political activist, who made outstanding contributions to many areas of Ukrainian literature, scholarship and culture.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 6, 2001, No. 18, Vol. LXIX

| Home Page |