aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] Ukrainian courses beginning next week

[Diana Howansky <dhh2@columbia.edu>]

[As noted below, please be aware that individuals who are non-Columbia 
students and/or who study at other universities are eligible to take 
these courses.]

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY OFFERS UKRAINIAN COURSES IN SPRING 2006

Columbia University and the Harriman Institute will offer a number of 
courses in Ukrainian history, literature and language during the spring 
2006 semester, WHICH WILL BEGIN ON JANUARY 17TH. Descriptions of the 
courses offered are as follows (please note that dates and times are 
subject to change):

•	“History of Modern Ukraine” (W3226) is a course for undergraduate, as 
well as graduate, students that covers Ukrainian history from the 
eighteenth century to the present. It examines the connection between 
modern Ukraine and early modern Ukraine, the evolution of the Ukrainian 
national movement, and the interrelations of the peoples who populated 
Ukraine (Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, Russians, etc.). Special attention is 
paid to the twentieth century, including the contention of national and 
Marxist-Soviet ideologies, and the tragic consequences of Soviet and 
Nazi totalitarianism as well as of genocides and wars. The course 
concludes with a discussion of the emergence of independent Ukraine and 
the state's evolution in the last fifteen years. This course will be 
taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:10pm-2:25pm in 703 Hamilton 
Hall. The instructor is Prof. Frank Sysyn, Canadian Institute of 
Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta.

•	“The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ukraine and Muscovy-Russia in the 
Early Modern Period” (G8231) is a course geared towards graduate 
students, which examines the polities, societies, and cultures of the 
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Cossack Hetmanate, and 
Muscovy-Imperial Russia in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. 
Special attention is paid to the interaction of states and the flow of 
social models and cultural developments. The role of Poland in the 
"Westernization" of Ukraine and Russia, the relation of Western and 
Eastern Christianity, the remaking of Eastern Europe by the rise of the 
Russian Empire, and the relation of the political thought and identities 
of the period to modern nations are major themes. The course will 
consist of discussion sessions based on reading (in English) of 
monographs on specific topics. The course will be taught on Mondays from 
2:10pm-4:00pm in 1218 International Affairs Building. The instructor is 
Prof. Frank Sysyn, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University 
of Alberta.

•	“Language, Culture, and Identity Issues in Contemporary Ukraine” 
(G6100) is an interdisciplinary course geared towards graduate students. 
Ukraine, as a nation located on the border between two different 
civilizations -- Eurasian and European -- and exposed to various 
cultural and political influences throughout its history, provides 
students of the region with a great many paradoxes that often look like 
ambivalence, if not ambiguity. Language, culture, and identity issues 
contribute greatly to Ukraine’s paradoxes and controversies but, also, 
to the nation’s uniqueness and potential dynamic. All these issues will 
be analyzed in the proposed course from a cultural-anthropological 
perspective, within the context of post-Soviet transition and the 
processes of de-communization, de-colonization, ‘delayed’ nation 
building, and re-adoption of liberal-democratic ideas of 
multiculturalism and multilingualism in a traditionally non-liberal and 
not-so-democratic-yet environment. This course will be taught on 
Wednesdays from 2:10pm-4:00pm in 406 Hamilton Hall. The instructor is 
Mykola Riabchuk, University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.”

•	“Elementary Ukrainian II” (W1102) is a course for undergraduate and 
graduate students that is designed for individuals with little or no 
knowledge of Ukrainian. Basic grammar structures are introduced and 
reinforced with equal emphasis on developing oral and written 
communication skills. Specific attention is paid to acquisition by 
students of high-frequency vocabulary and its optimal use in 
communicative transactions closely imitating real-life settings. By the 
end of the course, students are expected to conduct short conversations 
concerning common aspects of daily life; to be able to initiate, 
maintain, and bring to a close simple exchanges by asking and responding 
to all major types of questions; and to read simple factual texts and 
write routine messages. The course will be taught on Tuesdays and 
Thursdays from 5:40-6:55 PM in 716A Hamilton Hall. The instructor is 
Rory Finnan, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, Columbia 
University.

•	 “Intermediate Ukrainian II” (W1202) is a course for undergraduate and 
graduate students that starts with a review and subsequent reinforcement 
of grammar fundamentals and core vocabulary pertaining to the most 
common aspects of daily life. Principal emphasis is placed on further 
development of students’ communicative skills (oral and written) on such 
topics as the self, family, work and leisure, travel, meals and others. 
A number of Ukrainian language idiosyncrasies, like verb aspect and 
verbs of motion, receive special attention. Course materials are 
selected with the aim of introducing students to some functional and 
stylistic differences in modern Ukrainian, as well as distinctions 
between the Kyiv and Lviv literary variants. By the end of the course, 
students will be able to narrate and describe in all major time frames, 
and deal effectively with unanticipated complications in most formal and 
informal settings. The course will be taught on Mondays and Wednesdays 
from 6:10-7:25 PM in 716A Hamilton Hall. The instructor is Dr. Yuri 
Shevchuk, Lecturer of Ukrainian Language and Culture, Dept. of Slavic 
Languages and Literature, Columbia University.

•	“Advanced Ukrainian II” (W3002) is a course for undergraduate and 
graduate students who wish to develop their mastery of Ukrainian. 
Further study of grammar includes patterns of word formation, 
participle, gerund, declension of numerals, a more in-depth study of 
such difficult subjects as verbal aspect, and verbs of motion. Original 
texts and other materials drawn from classical and contemporary 
Ukrainian literature, press, electronic media and film are designed to 
give students familiarity with linguistic features typical of such 
functional styles as written and spoken, formal and informal, scientific 
and newspaper language, etc. The course is designed to enable students 
to discuss extensively a wide range of general interest topics and some 
special fields of interest, particularly relating to their research and 
work, politics and culture; to hypothesize; to support opinions and 
handle linguistically unfamiliar situations; as well as to conduct 
independent field research with Ukrainian language sources. The classes 
is taught largely or exclusively in Ukrainian. The course will be taught 
on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:10-5:25 PM in 716A Hamilton Hall. The 
instructor is Dr. Yuri Shevchuk, Lecturer of Ukrainian Language and 
Culture, Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literature, Columbia University.

Many of these courses are open, in addition to Columbia students, to 
outside individuals interested in non-credit continuing studies, as well 
as to students from other universities in the New York metropolitan 
area. Undergraduate and graduate students from New York University can 
register directly with their school for Ukrainian language classes at 
Columbia, while PhD candidates and master degree students from 
universities which are part of the Columbia University Consortium (e.g. 
NYU, CUNY, New School) can register for non-language courses by 
obtaining appropriate approval from both their home school and Columbia.

For further information, please contact Diana Howansky, Ukrainian 
Studies Program at Columbia University, by phone at (212) 854-4697 or by 
email at dhh2@columbia.edu.

-- 
Diana Howansky
Staff Associate
Ukrainian Studies Program
Columbia University
Room 1209, MC3345
420 W. 118th Street
New York, NY  10027
(212) 854-4697
ukrainianstudies@columbia.edu
http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/ukrainianstudies/