The workshop seeks to place the practical and theoretical dilemmas facing Ukrainian academia after the full-scale Russian invasion into a broader and multi-dimensional framework of discussion and interpretation. It focuses on two heated issues, which also have certain linkages, namely the question of academic freedom and autonomy in crisis situations, and the relevance of the decolonial/postcolonial framework as a new setting for academic self-positioning and political agency. Is it possible to argue for academic freedom and also opt for certain ideological directions in interpreting the past and the present of a country. Is it possible not to aim at certain kinds of ideological directions in wartime? Does the decolonializing agenda offer an emancipatory drive for knowledge production, or it reproduces yet another “newspeak”? What is the place of politics on campus? What is the role of academic diaspora during wartime? What will be the role of higher education in a post-conflict society?
The event involves both Ukrainian colleagues involved in the rethinking of the educational system and individual disciplinary directions in Ukraine and also scholars from the region dealing with similar questions. All this is all the more important as culture wars are raging around the universities both in the USA and in Europe, as autocratic regimes seek to reshape them while in democratic societies often radically incompatible political and cultural agendas are clashing violently at the campuses.
The format of the workshop is meant to facilitate a dialogue, with short position papers presented by the participants and inviting the audience to participate actively in the discussion. Given the limitations of border-crossing for some of the Ukrainian colleagues, the workshop will run in a hybrid format, with a possibility to join also online.
PROGRAM:
11:00 – 11:10 AM Welcome and Introduction, N15 Room 103
Balázs Trencsényi (IAS CEU / CEU DI / CEU)
Viktoriya Sereda (VUIAS)
Daniel Schönpflug (VUIAS / Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin / FU Berlin)
11:10 AM – 1:15 PM: Panel 1
Chair: Kálmán Mizsei (IAS CEU / EU High Level Advisers Program - Republic of Moldova)
Ádám Takács (ELTE / University of Alberta): Universities at war: Reflections on some historical examples
Iván Zoltán Dénes (IAS CEU / University of Jewish Studies, Hungary): Liberty and nation
Volodymyr Yermolenko (VUIAS – IAS CEU / National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy): Thinking in dark times: why humanities are necessary even during the war (online)
Bogdan Kryvolapov (VUIAS – IAS CEU / Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University): Peculiarities of ensuring the educational process under martial law: personal experiences and recommendations (online)
Tetiana Gardashuk (VUIAS - NIAS / National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine): Environmental colonial practices of Russian aggression in Ukraine (online)
1:15 – 2:45 PM Lunch break
2:45 – 4:25 PM: Panel 2
Chair: Nikolai Vukov (IAS CEU / Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Daniel Palm (CEU DI / University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria): Research on decolonizing higher education: A dividing line between Popper and Bourdieu?
Dongxian Jiang (IAS CEU / Fordham University): The American-centrism in American academia
Gábor Egry (Institute of Political History, Hungary): An illiberal postmodern turn? Authoritarian politics of memory and the hijacking of progressive historiographic agendas in Hungary
Zoltán Ginelli (Ludovika University of Public Service, Hungary): ‘We will march on Brussels’: Misunderstanding Hungary’s colonial turn
4:25 – 4:30 PM Closing remarks
4:30 – 5:00 PM Reception
5:00 – 6:00 PM: Wartime reflections (Auditorium B)
Moderators:
Asmati Chibalashvili (VUIAS – IAS CEU / MARI, National Academy of Arts, Ukraine)
Szabolcs László (IAS CEU / HUN-REN Research Center for the Humanities)
Asmati Chibalashvili and Lia Chibalashvili: Seven Basic Emotions in Wartime
Audiovisual performance. Music for two performers and a prepared piano (composed by Asmati Chibalashvili) accompanied by seven paintings (by Volodymyr Mukhin). The performance invites the viewer to explore the seven basic emotions mentioned in Paul Ekman's theory — fear, anger, joy, sadness, contempt, disgust, and surprise.
Iryna Mysleiko and Larisa Taranets: Presentation of the activities of the UKRAINIAN ASSOCIATION "UNITY” (ЄДНІСТЬ)
The discussion will address key questions about the psychological consequences of the last two years' events. This will help to understand the collective and individual emotional experiences during the war.
Screening of the shortfilm by Victor Sydorenko "BLACK EARTH. FORCED DISORIENTATION"
The screening is part of the exhibition project of the same name, which includes paintings and graphics (from the series "Flashes of Black Earth") in addition to the film. The project was created in the years 2022-2023 and was presented in March 2024 at the Kyiv National Art Gallery.
The event is supported by the Volkswagen Foundation and the Open Society University Network.