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Thu, November 10, 1:00 to 2:45pm CST (1:00 to 2:45pm CST), The Palmer House Hilton, Floor: 7th Floor, LaSalle 2

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

As the world is witnessing the unfolding Russian invasion of Ukraine, many Ukrainian Studies scholars struggle to address the Ukrainian condition in the face of war-induced shock and polarization. During the Roundtable, scholars from the newly launched project “(Un)Disciplined: Pluralizing Ukrainian Studies” (UNDIPUS, funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research), as well as their external partners, will discuss the limitations and affective, ethical, and methodological “red lines” imposed by the current Russian-Ukrainian war. How can we approach the war-torn nation both analytically and affectionally? Which conceptual frameworks can be insightful for a more nuanced understanding of the rapidly evolving and yet invariably shocking situation in Ukraine? Employing gender/feminist, post/decolonial thinking, as well as psychoanalysis, participants will discuss different analytic language(s) for grasping the experience of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war. With regard to the deep and ongoing traumatization the war events have caused, they will particularly focus on the lures of reductionist, polarized, and mobilizational narratives and try to map out ways of studying Ukraine without losing a humanist and critical stance. At the same time, the Roundtable is also conceived as the first international presentation of the UNDIPUS project, which should illuminate how an intended “pluralization” of Ukrainian Studies could contribute to a productive rethinking of the discipline and culture even in times of severe crisis.

Members:

Oleksandr Chertenko, U of Giessen (Germany)

Roman Dubasevych, U of Greifswald (Germany)

Maria Mayerchyk, National Academy of Sciences (Ukraine)

Olga Plakhotnik, U of Greifswald (Germany)