CIUS scholars help Ukraine return to Europe (05/30/04)

CIUS scholars help Ukraine return to Europe

TORONTO - At the beginning of 2004, the well-known publisher of reference literature, Charles Scribner's Sons, released "Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World." The richly illustrated, six-volume work features 12 articles specifically dealing with the history of Ukraine. Most of them were authored by scholars working at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies: Drs. Zenon E. Kohut, Frank E. Sysyn and Serhii Plokhii.

Throughout its history, CIUS has demonstrated that it is the leading academic institution involved in the dissemination of knowledge about Ukraine, its history, politics, economy and culture in the English-speaking world. The six-volume Encyclopedia of Ukraine, prepared by CIUS and the Shevchenko Scientific Society, has made a fundamental contribution in informing the world about Ukraine's past and present, and is now available in part on the web.

Recently, Dr. Kohut, Bohdan Nebesio and Myroslav Yurkevich, have prepared for publication a one-volume Historical Dictionary of Ukraine, which will be published by Scarecrow Press in its Historical Dictionaries series. The dictionary will present in most concise form not only the historical experience of the Ukrainian nation, but will also familiarize the English-reading public with current developments in Ukraine.

The CIUS contribution to "Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World" is especially important as it introduces a crucial age in Ukrainian history in which new political structures (the Hetmanate), social orders (the Kozaks), and cultural and religious trends (Orthodox revival, the Union of Brest) emerged within a broader all-European context. European history, therefore, would be incomplete without the history of Ukraine.

This was the vision advanced by Prof. Nancy Shields Kollmann of Stanford University, who served as associate editor of the encyclopedia. She not only invited students of Ukrainian history to contribute to this major reference work, but also decided to use Ukrainian place names in the Encyclopedia articles.

Encyclopedia entries cover most important topics of Ukrainian early modern history. There is a general overview of Ukrainian history from the 14th to the 18th centuries, authored by Dr. Plokhii. Dr. Sysyn wrote articles on the Kossacks, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the Uniates, and the Union of Brest (1596). Dr. Kohut wrote entries on the Hetmanate and Ivan Mazepa. Prof. David Frick of Harvard University wrote entries on Ukrainian literature and language, Meletii Smotrytsky, Petro Mohyla, Kyiv and Lviv.

Ukraine and its history is anchored in the European experience, and the new encyclopedia makes this point much stronger than any other reference work published in the West.

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