Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute discusses Orange Revolution from different perspectives (07/17/05)

Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute discusses Orange Revolution from different perspectives

by Mykola Polyuha

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Although the Ukrainian Orange Revolution may have faded from the pages of newspapers, discussion and retrospective understanding of the event is just beginning. On July 18, the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute featured a roundtable discussion titled "This Year in Ukraine: Personal Observations and Perspectives." The event significantly deviated from other debates on the topic since the presenters were not professional economists, political analysts, or state officials, but current Harvard Ukrainian Summer School students, many of whom had never made public speeches in English before.

Given that the speakers were from different countries and had different educational backgrounds, the audience received an opportunity to hear about the Orange Revolution from a variety of perspectives. The eight presenters included students and young scholars from Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Canada and the United States.

Bohdan Yankovyy (Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv) talked about his work as a Yushchenko campaign activist. Being a resident of Kyiv, he helped protesters by providing them with shelter, food and warm clothes. Mr. Yankovyy vividly described the atmosphere of revolutionary Kyiv and emphasized the role of church and youth organizations during the crisis.

Another presenter from Ukraine, Olena Zaplotynska (Institute of Ukrainian History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv), said that due to health problems she was unable to participate actively in the protests but gave her friends on the "maidan" (Independence Square) moral support and kept them informed about the reaction of the world community.

Oleksandra Kunovska (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv) articulated the western Ukrainian perspective. She talked about the students of Lviv universities who gathered at the Ivan Franko monument to protest against fraudulent elections. "I've never been so proud to be a student... We created a new nation!" Ms. Kunovska concluded emotionally.

Much attention was drawn to the presentations by Russian and Polish students. Maria Ratanova (European University, St. Petersburg), a Ph.D. student and a journalist for Kommersant, described the attitudes of Russians toward Ukraine before, during and after the revolution. "I am writing a dissertation on Ukrainian avant-garde artists and, even one year ago, I had a hard time trying to find a Ukrainian-Russian Dictionary in St. Petersburg. Nobody was interested in Ukrainian matters. Now, the situation has changed," Ms. Ratanova noted. She also spoke about the massive pro-Yanukovych propaganda on Russian TV channels and about ordinary Russians' reactions to the events.

Ania Golab (University of Warsaw) presented the situation as it was perceived from Poland. Remembering their own struggles from the time of Solidarity, Polish people felt great sympathy toward Ukrainians, which manifested itself in ways ranging from wide media coverage in Poland to encouragement from the arts community. Despite the fact that the elections were held during the Catholic Christmas holidays, more than 3,000 Polish observers came to Ukraine to monitor the voting. Being one of the observers herself, Ania Golab testified: "I saw tiredness in the eyes of many Ukrainians. But they were really determined to stay until victory. In Poland, the revolution was called the 'Orange enthusiasm.' "

Finally, Oksana Jackim (University of Massachusetts), Taras Kurylo (University of Alberta) and Tammy Lynch (Boston University) provided North American perspectives.

During the revolution, Ms. Jackim published several articles in local Massachusetts newspapers, increasing American awareness of the situation. She also volunteered to translate news from Ukraine for U.S. broadcasting agencies.

Mr. Kurylo spoke about the revolution from the point of view of a historian. He warned against the oversimplifications of the Orange Revolution perpetrated by many mainstream newspapers, such as describing the positions of the two presidential contenders simply as "pro-Western" or "pro-Russian." These oversimplifications, he said, distorted the events and prevented proper understanding of them.

Ms. Lynch, who monitored the Ukrainian elections on behalf of the State Department, said that she developed great admiration for Ukrainians. "Anybody who met Ukrainian people at that time would not say that the revolution was organized by somebody from outside. This revolution indeed came out of the heart of Ukrainians," she stated.

The presentations were followed by a vibrant discussion in which those present addressed the current political and economic situation in Ukraine. From the responses of the Ukrainian students, it was obvious that their level of enthusiasm had in no way decreased. Having acknowledged the existence of many problems, the speakers were generally optimistic about the future of Ukraine.

Alexander Dillon, director of the Harvard Ukrainian Summer School, called the roundtable discussion "one of the most important events held at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute this year."

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