“Russia’s war, Ukraine’s resistance: historical, cultural, religious and media aspects” – Lecture Series

The full invasion of Russia in Ukraine in February 2022 has become a shock for many people in Ukraine and outside of the country. Despite the localised military actions that happened at the Donbas territory since 2014, still various groups and institutions, including media outlets and big political parties (such as currently banned pro-Russian party ‘Opposition Platform — For Life’) promoted the ideas of post-war era and "brother nations", while the conflict itself was not taken seriously in the West. Only after the war outbreak the did the attention shifted to the socio-historical context of Ukraine and the development of the country and the nation in opposition to Russian influence, and not as a part of "Russian world".

The current lecture series is aimed at revealing some of the aspects that pre-defined and framed the current occasions. On the one hand, the lectures will present the development of Ukrainian identity, nation and sovereignty in different historical context and under various, often contradicting factors. On the other hand, important part of the series is to show how Russia attempted to influence the country from several angles, often using media, culture and religion as tools of spreading narratives harmful for Ukrainian nation-building.

History, culture and identity, religion and media comprise four core topics that will be discussed in the lecture series, important to understand the varieties of the development of Ukraine and Ukrainian folk and unravel possible reasons behind the tragic events we currently observe and experience.

Lectures will be held from 21.03 till 13.06 every Tuesday (except for 11.04) from 16:15 to 17:45 online in English. Please see below for the link and schedule.

Webex Link for the lecture series: https://uni-flensburg.webex.com/uni-flensburg/j.php?MTID=mefba53d85eba3a44e87a2e7ab825480e

Date Name and Affiliation Lecture Title
21.03.23 Karina Korostelina, George Mason University Dynamics of identity and attitudes toward peace and war in Ukraine? further information Meeting recording (Video)
28.03.23 Yulia Yurchuk, Södertörn University Tears, sweat, and glory: challenges and resources of collective memories in Ukraine (from early 1990s to present day) further information Meeting recording (Video)
04.04.23 Marco Puleri, University of Bologna, Ukrainian, Russophone, (Other) Russian: The Archipelago of Post-Soviet Nation-Building further information  
18.04.23 Ricarda Vulpius, University of Münster Russia’s version of Ukrainian history - rewriting the past further information Meeting recording
(Video)
25.04.23 Olga Filippova, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University & University of Eastern Finland Tracking Ukrainian national identity: from ‘unexpected nation’ to the ‘freedom nation’ further information Meeting recording
(Video)
  Oleksandra Deineko, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University & Oslo Metropolitan University Building bridges: the power of social cohesion in Ukrainian society under the war further information  
02.05.23 Alexander Wöll, University of Potsdam Ukrainian modernism - Lesya Ukrajinka and Ol'ha Kobyljans'ka further information Meeting recording (Video)  
  Alessandro Achilli, University of Cagliari Making Ukrainian literature national again: Serhiy Zhadan's evolution from elite to mass culture further information    
09.05.23 Kristina Stoeckl, LUISS University The role of religion in Russia’s war against Ukraine further information Meeting recording (Video)  
16.05.23 Regina Elsner, Centre for East-European and International Studies Orthodoxy at war: Religious arguments in Russia’s aggression further information Meeting recording (Video)  
23.05.23 Catherine Wanner, Pennsylvania State University Two Orthodoxies?:  The Weaponization of Religion after Russia's Invasion of Ukraine further information Meeting recording (Video)  
30.05.23 Adam Kuz, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz The Russian genocide in Ukraine and its goals further information Meeting recording (Video)  
06.06.23 Mykola Makhortykh, University of Bern

Hey, Google, are there US biolabs in Ukraine?

AI-driven systems as a means of facilitating and countering the spread of disinformation about the war in Ukraine

further information Meeting recording (Video)  
13.06.23 - Historical, cultural, religious and media aspects of Russia's war in Ukraine. A concluding discussion further information Meeting recording (Video)  

** The series is organised by the group of scholars at the Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF) in cooperation with the Interdisciplinary Centre for European Studies (ICES, EUF), European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) and fellow of the Philipp Schwarz Initiative (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) **

Poster - Lecture Series