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An International Conference for Young Researchers took place at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

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Published on Thursday, 29 March 2018 16:34

The Department of History of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, The Student Scholarly Society "Potluck" and The Center for Polish and European Studies organized an International Conference for Young Researchers Exploring the Past: New Social History at the Crossroads of Methodological Trends.

50 young scholars from Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Germany, Spain and USA who work in different fields of social history and social anthropology came to Kyiv-Mohyla Academy to present and discuss their researches. The foreigners also had a chance to explore the Academy and the city of Kyiv, and to listen to traditional Ukrainian folk music.

This conference was initiated by the students of History, and they carried out the whole process of organization from invitations to grant management. They also plan to print out the book of presented papers. This is the second year the student society makes such kind of a conference, the first took part in 2017, but then it only reached the national level – people from multiple Ukrainian universities.

Daryna Podhornova (2nd year Master student of History and Jewish Studies) shares her experience as one of the chief organizers:

“Why we wanted to do this? One of the reasons: in Ukraine many conferences are like you come, present your topic and go, that’s all. We decided to create a space where people really come to share their ideas, where an active feedback is given from both their peers and some more experienced scholars whom we invited as opponents. Our conference had two main tasks: to help young researchers in developing their studies and to attract new foreign scholars to Ukraine, to built more international contacts.”

And here are some reviews from the participants:

“The impressions are great. The topic was very interesting for me, and the format as well. I decided to participate, because it’s really a great opportunity to talk over my project. I was also curious about what people in Ukraine are working on, what topics are relevant here. That’s not my first time in Ukraine, and every time the impressions are very positive, especially of people. And Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, I only heard of it due to this conference, I think, that’s a great international university, you’ve got a huge scientific potential.”

Oleksandr Shuba (Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany)

“The problem is Ukraine has few conferences for young researchers, and there is no special conference on urban studies at all. Once I see a call for any conference where urban studies are accepted I just go there – I know it’s my only chance to present my research to the colleagues in Ukraine. So it was great here that I could discuss my topic with the so many specialists. Mohylianka is an example of a European university, and for us it’s an example to follow, we can learn how to develop European traditions, how to manage international grants, and other things. So, thank you for a good example.”

Viktoriia Nesterenko (Karazin National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine)

A report by Olesia Dalebiha, 2 nd year Master student of Philology; Kyiv-Mohyla Strategic Development Center