What you'll learn:
- The roots of the Ukrainian language and its relation to other Slavic languages
- The primary values of Ukrainians and their impact on society
- The influence of the Byzantine tradition and the Catholic world on Ukraine’s religious practices
- The role of Ukrainian women in the country’s past and present
- The impact of different civilizations, nations, and ethnic groups on Ukrainian cultural space
- The roots of the myths about Ukrainians as a “nation of villagers” and interconnection between the urban and rural lifestyle in Ukrainian culture
- Ukrainian food culture and its exposure to traumatic historical events
- The cultural renaissance of the 1920s-1930s and the most prominent avant-garde artists
- The influence of Russian war on Ukrainian culture
- Some of the most famous figures of Ukrainian culture on the world stage
What comes to your mind when you think about Ukrainian culture? Traditional clothes? Maybe, a few artists or writers? But these are only a shadow of what Ukrainian culture truly represents.
In this short course, ten scholars from different fields present ten topics, covering the essential aspects of Ukrainian culture. Each devoted to a particular angle, these videos reveal how past events, including external political and cultural domination by imperial powers, have shaped Ukrainian society.
Understanding contemporary events requires awareness of the cultural and social foundations of modern Ukrainian society. The Ukrainian nation has been developing for centuries. External powers often challenged it, and its growth was defined by geography, cultural exchanges, and global events.
In addition to the video lectures, the course offers important primary and secondary sources. They are texts, videos, and online resources that touch upon a range of issues in Ukrainian culture. Each of them will help you form a balanced and nuanced view of Ukrainian culture, identities, and society.
Scholars from Ukraine will help you do that.
Dr Olha Dubchak (Lecture:: Ukrainian Language and Literature: Origins and Development), Ph.D. in Philology, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief at Vikhola publishing house, writer
Prof Dr Vakhtang Kebuladze (Lecture: Freedom, Dignity, and Solidarity in Ukraine's Culture ), Professor of Theoretical and Practical Philosophy at Taras Shevchenko National University (Kyiv, Ukraine) writer, and philosopher
Prof Dr Volodymyr Masliychuk (Lectures: Between Byzantine and Rome: Religion in Ukraine and Ukraine as Cultural Frontier), Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of Early Modern History of Eastern and Central Europe, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Dr Oksana Kis (Lecture: Ukrainian Women in History), historian and anthropologist, Ph.D. in History, Senior Research Associate, Head of the Department of Social Anthropology, Institute of Ethnology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and President of the Ukrainian Association for Research in Women’s History
Dr Ihor Lylo (Lecture: City and Village), historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences,, director of the NGO Institute of Galician Cuisine, a visiting professor at the Jagiellonian University (Krakow) and the University of California San Diego (CA, U.S.).
Dr Olena Braichenko (Lecture: Food in Ukrainian Culture), Ph.D in History, researcher in gastronomic culture, founder of an independent research and educational project Їzhakultura
Tetiana Filevska (Lecture: Avant-garde in Ukraine and the Legacy of the Executed Renaissance), creative director at the Ukrainian Institute, specialist in the field of modern art, cultural activist, researcher of Ukrainian art of the 20th century, curator of art projects
Dr Svitlana Biedarieva (Lecture: Ukrainian Art and War), Ph.D. in Art History (Courtauld Institute of Art), curator, and artist. Visiting Non-Resident Fellow at George Washington University and CEC ArtsLink, New York
Olena Huseinova (Lecture: Ukrainian Culture and the World ), writer, radio presenter and producer, head of the literary programs department at Radio Kultura (Suspilne, the public broadcasting company of Ukraine)
The concept of the course was developed by Tetiana Filevska, Creative Director, Ukrainian Institute and Dr Oleksandra Gaidai, Head of Academic Programs, Ukrainian Institute
Narrator:
Marc Raymond Wilkins, film director, presenter
Promo voice:
Oleksii Safin, professional interpreter
All visuals, photographs, and video materials are taken from open public sources and used exclusively for educational purposes.
The online course “Ukrainian Culture : Understanding the Country and Its People” has been developed by the Ukrainian Institute and online education studio EdEra with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework of the EU4USociety project. Its contents are the sole responsibility of of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.
