Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) – Berlin (KIU) • European University Viadrina

KIU PhD programme - Call for applications out now

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Eröffnung von KIU mit Eduard Mühle, Susann Worschech und Anton Hofreiter

Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies officially opened

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Rewatch the livestream of the opening ceremony of KIU

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About

The KIU competence network is a four-year DAAD-funded project to strengthen Ukraine-related research, teaching, networking and transfer activities. The competence network, initiated and led by the European University Viadrina, includes the ZOiS, the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, the Freie Universität Berlin, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin.

The project aims at establishing a visible center of Ukraine-related teaching and research. Based on close scientific cooperation in the German capital region and in an international framework, innovative research, new academic courses and a successful transfer of Ukraine-related knowledge in and between science, politics, business and society will be ensured.

Arbeitsplatz, Laptop, Bildschirm, Tastatur, Büro

26. November 2024

KIU PhD programme - Call for applications

The call for applications for the KIU PhD program has been published. The program offers 9 PhD scholarships plus 6 positions for associated doctoral students. The whole duration of the program is 36 months, starting in April 2025. The application portal is going to open on 15 December 2024.

Film screening and discussion - 20 days in Mariupol

The US Embassy, together with the Competence Network for Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies (KIU) and the European University Viadrina, invite you to a film screening with lecture of Michael Kimmage on Wednesday, November 27, 6 p.m., in the main building of the Viadrina.

Launch of the KIU Brown Bag Lunch Lectures with Mykhailo Minakov

Goodbye to Homo Sovieticus: Reviving the Heroic and Creative Spirit of the 1990s In this talk, KIU research fellow Mykhailo Minakov will revisit the intellectual heritage of Ukrainian and Russian philosophy and literature in the late 1980s and the 1990s. This was a period when the Soviet Union – and all related institutions and practices – collapsed, opening up a space for human creativity in science, politics, the arts and the economy. It was a period when the world, history, and what it means to be human were re-imagined. As the search for a “New Human” started in emerging Eastern European societies, the “Soviet Man” became a thing of the past. How did philosophers and writers theorize and artistically symbolize the break with "Soviet Civilization"? What post-Soviet Humans and social worlds were projected? How is this story linked to our own time? These are the questions Mykhailo Minakov will address. Mykhailo Minakov (born on 6 October 1971) is a political philosopher based in Kyiv and Milan. His major philosophical investigations focus on human experience, social knowledge, political systems, historical consciousness, and multiple modernities. Mykhailo has been a Principal Investigator for Ukraine, and editor-in-chief of the Wilson Center blog Focus Ukraine since 1 March 2018. Everybody is invited to have their lunch during the presentation. Note: No lunch provided, please bring your own.

Monday, 25th November 2024, 6–8 PM, Natalia Otrishchenko (L’viv), "History and Beyond: Frames for Sense-Making during the War"

War is an ultimate disruption in human experience; it causes reevaluation and reframing, as the predictability of everyday life is lost due to violence and destruction. People learn to navigate in a new reality and search for possible connections—to experiences of others, family narratives, history textbooks, stories available in the culture, etc. Natalia Otrishenko will refer to the documentation project “24/02/22, 5 am: Testimonies from the war” that was launched in March 2022 as a reaction to the russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She will reflect on the examples from the interviews where people refer to the idea of "impossible war” but also provide different meaning-making frames to explain the event. The lecture will describe the transformation of the extended self during the war as people reframe their lives regarding the past(s)—their personal ones, families, communities, and society in general. It will conclude with notes on new war temporalities that not only disentangle personal stories but also make new connections within them.

Monday, 25th November 2024, 6–8 PM, "Academia in Ukraine in Times of War. Current Challenges and Future Perspectives" (Panel Discussion)

Starting with the report presentation on the consequences of russia´s full-scale invasion for Ukrainian academia, the event continues with a panel discussion on the future challenges and reform directions of the Ukrainian science and higher education system. The SCIENCE AT RISK Monitoring Report on Ukraine examines the consequences of the russian full-scale invasion for Ukrainian academia based on the analysis of the online-survey results among Ukrainian scholars. Analyzing 1.720 responses, the Report draws conclusions about the state and needs of Ukrainian scientists in times of war. Registration needed!

Course Catalog for Winter Semester 2024/2025 has been published!

The KIU course catalog “Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies” is a guide for putting together an individual Ukraine focus at the three KIU universities – European University Viadrina, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Freie Universität Berlin – at both the BA and MA level. The course catalog summarizes the current courses on Ukraine and thus offers the possibility of a cross-institutional and interdisciplinary focus. Students from all three universities are welcome to attend the courses at the other universities in the competence network. Courses at the MA level are already eligible for the certificate program “Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies”, which will start in the winter semester of 2025.

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Fellowships and Programmes

Fellowships

The KIU Research Fellowship in Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies supports innovative and significant research on topics related to Ukraine.

die Lampen, graefin-doenhoff-gebaeude-innensansicht

Programmes

The KIU Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) – Berlin offers various programmes. Among them is its first Summer School on "War in Ukraine: Destruction of heritage – mastering legacy".