Scholarly and 
Educational Initiatives

Development of a Shared Historical Narrative

The UJE’s shared historical narrative project envisions a single text covering Ukrainian-Jewish interaction and relations over the centuries on which respected and acknowledged experts basically agree. The goal is to provide the context necessary for an empathetic and nuanced understanding of the history, inclusive of normal times and times of crisis.

To achieve such a shared narrative, the UJE has convened leading scholars/experts from around the world in a phased series of roundtable discussions and working conferences, at which key issues in the shared history have been addressed. Since 2009, these roundtables and conferences have engaged a network of close to two hundred scholars/experts in a discussion of issues from the sixteenth century to the end of World War II. Further roundtables will treat the postwar Soviet period and the period since Ukrainian independence.

A description of the shared historical narrative project is to be found here. Information regarding the participants and the programs of the roundtables and working conferences to date are to be found here.

Panels, symposia and conferences on themes relevant to UJE’s mission

UJE has organized, participated in, or helped sponsor symposia, such as: “The state of Ukrainian-Jewish academic research (University of Toronto, 2008); “Images of ‘the other’ in Ukrainian and Jewish literature” (University of Toronto); and “Assessing the Past to Understand the Present” (with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Kyiv, Ukraine).

UJE has also provided support for visiting speakers at the annual Danyliw Seminar (University of Ottawa); as well as panels and presentations at major scholarly conferences, including the Association for Jewish Studies, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, and the Association for the Study of Nationalities.

Sponsorship of university-level courses

UJE has provided support for a pioneering survey course on Ukrainian-Jewish relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2010-2011; a series of short-term courses at four Ukrainian universities, delivered by lecturers from Israeli universities through a co-operative arrangement with the Chais Center of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; and components of the 2013 Summer Program in Jewish Studies at the Center for Urban History in Lviv.

UJE’s Chair has also funded the establishment of three chairs in Jewish studies and Ukrainian-Jewish relations at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, and helped launch an M.A. program in Jewish Studies at Mohyla Academy in Kyiv.