Leading scholarly institutions of North America confer in New York (06/04/06)

Leading scholarly institutions of North America confer in New York

NEW YORK - The Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) on May 6 hosted the second meeting of the representatives of leading Ukrainian scholarly institutions of North America.

This conference, held at the NTSh headquarters, was a follow-up to the first such meeting held on October 1, 2005. In attendance were: Dr. Larissa Onyshkevych, NTSh president and organizer of the conferences; Dr. Orest Popovych, NTSh vice-president; Dr. Frank Sysyn, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS); Dr. Lubomyr Hayda and Dr. Tymish Holowinsky, Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI); Dr. Albert Kipa, Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S. (UVAN) and the Ukrainian Free University (UFU); Dr. Roman Procyk, Ukrainian Studies Fund; and Dr. George Grabowicz, the Krytyka magazine and publishing house and HURI.

The first subject of discussion was the need to establish a combined electronic catalogue of all the Ukrainian archives in North America, possibly to include also the valuable collection at the UFU in Munich. The uncertain future of that institution, according to Dr. Kipa, renders such inclusion all the more imperative.

Dr. Procyk suggested that the scholarly institutions work to develop Columbia University's Ukrainian Studies Program into a permanent center of Ukrainian studies.

Concern was raised about the decline of Ukrainian studies programs in North America, determined mainly by the difficulties graduates in that field experience in finding jobs. The recommendation was that good candidates for graduate students and junior faculty in Ukrainian studies not only be identified, but that every effort be made to get them steady jobs in their profession. To aid in these endeavors, NTSh is planning to offer a post-graduate fellowship in Ukrainian studies.

Dr. Grabowicz expressed the opinion that the tasks in support of Ukrainian studies are global, as the present Ukrainian government seems to have no plans with respect to scholarship and education. In Ukraine, targeted support is the most effective, according to Dr. Grabowicz. Thus, the Krytyka publishing house has been sponsoring the publications of several prominent Ukrainian scholars, while the CIUS has been supporting scholarly work in three Ukrainian institutes to the tune of about $80,000 annually.

The conferees decided that their common concerns about the global situation with regard to Ukrainian studies and the need for coordinated action on the part of their institutions call for another meeting of this type, and one was scheduled for the fall of 2006.

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