Shevchenko Society presentation focuses on recent scholarly conferences (10/30/05)

Shevchenko Society presentation focuses on recent scholarly conferences

by Dr. Orest Popovych

NEW YORK - An exceptionally bountiful summer of international scholarly conferences on Ukrainian themes called for a coda, and one was arranged by the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) in the form of a roundtable at its headquarters on September 10.

The program featured several speakers who shared with the audience their impressions from three international conferences, which were wholly or partially devoted to Ukrainian topics: The sixth international congress of the International Association of Ukrainian Studies (IAUS), June 28-July 2, in Donetsk, Ukraine; the seventh congress of the International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES), July 25-30, in Berlin, Germany; and the 24th annual Conference on Ukrainian Subjects, June 29-July 2, in Urbana-Champaign, Ill.

First to speak was Dr. Mark von Hagen, director of Columbia University's Ukrainian Studies Program, who as the IAUS president at the time delivered the keynote address at the Donetsk congress. With slight amusement, Dr. von Hagen recalled how his speech had touched some raw nerves, evoking angry comments from the likes of Mykola Tomenko, then a vice-prime minister of Ukraine, as well as from Hanna Skrypnyk, president of Ukraine's National Association of Ukrainists.

What displeased them was Dr. von Hagen's sharp criticism of Ukraine's governmental and academic institutions, who he said "inactively watch the collapse of Ukrainian culture," while "the Ukrainian language is still weak and unstable." He bemoaned the present sorry state of the Ukrainian language and studies in Ukraine, attributing the lack of progress in this area to the persistence of a Soviet-style centralized bureaucracy.

The thrust of Dr. von Hagen's presentation, however, was to thank all those people and organizations, particularly the NTSh and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, who helped organize and run the Donetsk congress. He also thanked the Ukrainists, who had chosen him to serve as the IAUS president for the past three years, a tenure that he called "the peak of my career." Dr. von Hagen reserved his special appreciation for NTSh's continuing financial support of the Ukrainian Program at Columbia University.

Dr. Myroslava Znayenko, a member of the NTSh governing board, president of the American Association of Ukrainian Studies, and a member of the organizing committee of the Donetsk congress, remarked that the level of scholarship demonstrated at the congress was very high, thanks to the titanic efforts of such people as Drs. Von Hagen, Yaroslav Hrytsak and Frank Sysyn, and Diana Howansky, as well as the considerable help from the congress's host, Prof. Volodymyr Shevchenko, rector of Donetsk National University.

Dr. Znayenko expressed her appreciation for the modern organization of the Donetsk congress as well as the international atmosphere created in part by the participation of local university students with foreign-language skills. Unfortunately, said Dr. Znayenko, the government of Ukraine had failed to interact constructively with the congress, displaying a provincial approach to Ukrainian scholarship, which was contrary to the expectations raised by the Orange Revolution.

In her reminiscences about the Donetsk congress, Dr. Larissa Zaleska Onyshkevych, president of NTSh, focused on the question whether there was anything Ukrainian about Donetsk, arguably one of the most Russified cities in Ukraine. In fact she did encounter there three islands of Ukrainian presence: a Plast youth organization group, a very active branch of the NTSh, and a crop of graduate students specializing in Ukrainian language or literature at Donetsk National University.

On the negative side, she cited the insidious subtext of a bilingual play she saw at a local theater, in which the characters who were rude simpletons invariably spoke Ukrainian, whereas the Russian speakers were always well-mannered people of culture.

In Donetsk, Dr. Onyshkevych organized two panels, gave two talks, chaired two roundtables, participated in two others, and staged a presentation of NTSh publications. Furthermore, she initiated the formation of a Resolution Committee, which issued 13 detailed resolutions, mainly in support of Ukrainian language and scholarship in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian aspects of Donetsk were expanded upon in the detailed report by Svitlana Andrushkiw, director of the NTSh library, who visited both the local NTSh chapter and the Donetsk Regional Library. Headed by Prof. Volodymyr Biletskyi, the NTSh chapter has 52 members, and is remarkably active in the area of publishing. It issues periodic publications as well as a chronicle of its chapter and, in cooperation with the local Ukrainian Cultural Center, publishes the magazine Skhid ("The East") six times a year.

Very significantly, it also publishes Ukrainian-language textbooks, which are supplied to Ukrainian schools not only in the Donetsk area, but also to Ukrainian communities in the Kuban and Voronizh regions of Russia. The Donetsk Regional Library, said Ms. Andrushkiw, contains large holdings of literature from the Ukrainian diaspora. An exhibit of NTSh publications was displayed at the library at the time of her visit.

In addition to the four speakers, the following NTSh members participated in the Donetsk congress: Drs. Renata Holod, Marta Chomiak-Bohachevsky and Oleksandra Hrytsak, as well as Yevhen Stakhiv.

Next, a picture show set to music introduced the story of the ICCEES congress in Berlin. The still photographs depicting scenes from Berlin and the Congress were accompanied by the sounds of classical music chosen by NTSh's Andriy Legkyy, a composer.

Dr. Onyshkevych, who had earlier reported on the Berlin congress in great detail (see The Ukrainian Weekly, August 28), now limited her comments to a few memorable vignettes. The tone for the congress, whose theme was "Europe - Our Common Home," was set by Aleksander Kwasniewski, the president of Poland, whose keynote address was devoted almost exclusively to Ukraine, projecting his warm feelings toward Poland's eastern neighbor. Such feelings turned out to be contagious, as witnessed by a remark from one Polish scholar to Ukrainians: "You are our closest friends."

The Berlin congress attracted 1,600 participants from 48 countries, including 36 from Ukraine and 20 from North America. There was a total of 360 sessions - 14 of which were exclusively on Ukrainian subjects. NTSh sponsored two of the sessions.

In addition to Dr. Onyshkevych, the following NTSh members participated in the Berlin congress: Drs. von Hagen, Myroslava Mudrak, Olenka Pevny and Maria Rewakowicz. Dr. Onyshkevych commented that staying in Berlin involved considerable expenditures, which in the future could be alleviated if Ukrainians were to acquire their own home there.

Reports on the Berlin congress wound down with remarks by Dr. Rewakowicz, who attended the sessions on Ukrainian literature. She also noted the extraordinary emphasis at the congress on Ukrainian subjects, pointing out that in addition to the 14 sessions devoted solely to Ukrainian themes, there were a great many involving Ukraine in a comparative context. However, Dr. Rewakowicz expressed disappointment with the virtual absence of Ukrainian diplomats from the congress.

Rather than reporting specifically on this year's 24th annual Conference on Ukrainian Subjects in Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Leonid Rudnytzky chose to trace the history of this "oldest, unique, strictly Ukrainian" conference, which has been sponsored by the Ukrainian Research Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for nearly a quarter of a century under the leadership of Prof. Dmytro Shtohryn.

Dr. Rudnytzky stressed the inexpensive stay at these conferences, which have been attracting an international cast of participants, particularly from Ukraine. According to Dr. Rudnytzky, the advantages of the Urbana-Champaign conferences include access to a great library and a prevailing relaxed atmosphere. Over the years the latter has generated a number of amusing episodes, some of which Dr. Rudnytzky recounted for the audience.

In addition to Drs. Rudnytzky and Shtohryn, this year's conference was attended by the following NTSh members: Drs. Jean-Pierre Cap, John Fizer, Assya Humesky, Taras Hunczak, Luka Kostelyna, Julian Kulas, Myron Kuropas, and Swiatoslaw Trofimenko, and Prof. Martha B. Trofimenko.

The NTSh roundtable on scholarly conferences was expertly chaired by Prof. Vasyl Makhno, who enriched the program with his informed commentary.

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