Conference at Ostroh Academy focuses on diaspora (06/04/06)

Conference at Ostroh Academy focuses on diaspora

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

OSTROH, Ukraine - More than 80 scholars from nine countries converged on the National University of Ostroh Academy on May 22-23 to participate in its second international diaspora conference, "Ukrainian Diaspora: Problems of Research."

In just four years, the university's Institute of Ukrainian Diaspora Studies has established itself as the nation's leading diaspora research institution, largely thanks to the efforts of Dr. Lubomyr Wynar, university Rector Ihor Pasichnyk and contributions from the diaspora communities in the U.S. and Canada.

The conference sought "to distinguish those particular trends which require research in Ukraine and those trends of cooperation among Ukrainians globally that require emphasis," said Alla Atamanenko, the director of the Institute of Ukrainian Diaspora Studies, in describing the conference's goal.

Researchers shared their findings, discussed ideas for better international cooperation and exchanges, and passed resolutions to establish goals for the next conference.

Dr. Oleh Wolowyna, president of the data analysis firm Informed Decisions Inc. in Chapel Hill, N.C., was among three American academics attending the conference, along with Dr. Lubomyr Wynar of Kent, Ohio, and Dr. Maria Fisher-Slyzh, who now resides in Toronto.

Dr. Wolowyna presented his statistical research of the Ukrainian diaspora.

Of 897,000 Americans claiming to have Ukrainian ancestry in the 2000 Census, about 114,000 are those of the Fourth Wave of immigration, or those arriving after 1989, according to Dr. Wolowyna.

Only 12.7 percent of the 897,000 Americans claiming Ukrainian ancestry reported Ukrainian as the language of their household, indicating that the vast majority had assimilated into American society or speak the Russian language.

The majority of the immigrants from Ukraine between 1989 and 1995 were Jews, most of whom cite Russian as their native language, Dr. Wolowyna reported.

In 1996 the percentage of ethnic Ukrainians among emigrants from Ukraine reached 50 percent and the figure is closer to 80 percent now.

Between 2000 and 2004, 90,000 more Fourth Wave Ukrainian immigrants arrived, according to new statistics, thus increasing their population to about 200,000, Dr. Wolowyna said.

As a result, 13.5 percent of nearly 1 million Americans with Ukrainian ancestry, as of 2004, speak Russian in their household.

"The percent speaking Russian at home is larger than those speaking Ukrainian," Dr. Wolowyna said. "The Fourth Wave affected the whole community."

However, many of the Russian-speaking immigrants are Jews who will integrate into the American Jewish community instead of the Ukrainian community in the U.S., he said.

The Ukrainian speakers, meanwhile, have revived the Ukrainian diaspora communities, Dr. Wolwyna continued.

In the 5-17 age group, Ukrainian speakers increased by 300 percent. "We have a huge potential with a large number of young Ukrainian speakers who, if we approach them adequately, may make a large contribution to the organizations in the U.S.," Dr. Wolowyna said.

Roman Yereniuk, a theology professor at St. Andrew's College in Winnipeg, discussed the Ukrainian Canadian experience with multiculturalism and bilingual education in the Canadian public school system.

During a roundtable discussion, Dr. Yereniuk suggested more student exchange programs between Ukrainian and Western universities, transferring Ukrainian books and entire libraries to Ukraine, and an improved means for Canadians and Ukrainians to inform each other of books and periodicals being printed.

Among the resolutions drawing unanimous support from the conference was a firm rejection of the legislation recently passed in numerous oblast and city councils granting the Russian language official regional status for use in government and educational institutions.

"How shameful it is for me to have to speak in this auditorium, 15 years after independence, of how we need to pass a resolution in defense of our native language," Rector Pasichnyk said.

"But it's a fact, and we need to do this. But not just do this, but we need to act in our places and when you arrive at yours, I ask that you involve the mass media," he underscored.

During the conference, the university awarded honorary doctoral degrees to three American academics who led Ukrainian studies efforts: Dr. Lubomyr Wynar, professor at Kent State University; Dr. Myron Kuropas, adjunct professor at Northern Illinois University; and Dr. Leonid Rudnytzky, former rector of the Ukrainian Free University in Munich.

Dr. Wynar presented a special diploma to the director of Friends of the Ukrainian Historical Association (UHA), Dr. Fisher-Slyzh for her extensive financial support for the UHA and the National University of Ostroh Academy.

"Mykhailo Hrushevsky said Ostroh Academy is the first torch of new education, new scholarship and new spiritual life," Dr. Fisher-Slyzh said. " I am thankful ... that Ostroh Academy will remain a torch for new and contemporary education thanks to these types of professors and these types of honorary doctors."

The Institute for Ukrainian Diaspora Studies holds its academic conference every two years, Ms. Atamanenko said.

It was founded in 2002 with the help of Dr. Wynar, who contributed his vast Ukrainian studies library, as well as the cultural and financial resources of the Ukrainian Historical Association.

Besides Dr. Wynar and Oleksiy Konowal of the Ivan Bahrianyi Foundation, "very many" Ukrainians in the U.S. and Canada donated publications to the institute, whose library now numbers more than 7,000 books, Ms. Atamanenko said.

Two other diaspora institutes have opened in Ukraine, one at Lviv Polytechnic University and the other at Hohol State Pedagogical University in Nizhyn.

The institute in Ostroh has a particular emphasis on research, Ms. Atamanenko said. Among her goals is to organize an annual or biannual seminar at the institute to discuss problems related to teaching Ukrainian diaspora studies.

Courses are currently being offered at universities in Lutsk and Odesa, she said, and more are needed because too few Ukrainians recognize the Ukrainian diaspora as an integral part of the Ukrainian nation.

The Soviet Communists created a negative image of diaspora Ukrainians as evil nationalists or traitors who abandoned the fatherland during the second world war.

"These erroneous notions must be eradicated, and this is starting to happen," Ms. Atamanenko said.

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