Science and Education

The Canada-Ukraine archaeological expedition has conducted annual field research in the town of Baturyn, Chernihiv Oblast, irrespective of the military actions in eastern Ukraine. In 2014, some 50 students and scholars from the universities of Chernihiv, Kyiv, and Hlukhiv took part in the excavations there. Last summer, the expedition involved 45 members from these institutions. The expedition was headed by archaeologists Yurii Sytyi and Dr. Viacheslav Skorokhod of Chernihiv National University. Dr. Volodymyr Mezentsev of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) at the University of Alberta is the executive director of the Baturyn archaeological project from the Canadian side. Prof. Zenon Kohut, distinguished historian of the Hetmanate and previous director of CIUS, is the...

The Holodomor National Awareness Tour “Mobile Classroom” is preparing to take to the road this fall with the goal of increasing awareness of the Holodomor across Canada. A Fleetwood RV bus has been purchased as the centerpiece of the tour, a federally funded initiative to educate Canadians about the famine engineered by Joseph Stalin in 1932-33. Through the lens of the Holodomor, the tour will promote understanding of the consequences of hate and discrimination and highlight the values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law...

In 2014, the Canada-Ukraine archaeological expedition continued excavating the remnants of Hetman Ivan Mazepa’s main residence in Baturyn, the former capital of the Cossack state. Prior to 1700, he constructed a richly embellished brick baroque palace that was burned by Russian troops during their total destruction of the town in 1708. Many fragments of fine multicoloured glazed and terracotta floor, stove, and façade revetment tiles were found. These decorative details of Mazepa’s villa represent the advanced 17th-century Kyivan school of architectural majolica...

The Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation (UCEF) is honoured to announce a $5 million gift from the Temerty Family Foundation in support of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv, Ukraine. This extraordinary gift will enable the University to build a state of the art Library on its new Stryiskyi Park campus in central Lviv and will provide a $1 million Endowment for the ongoing support of the Library. It brings the total support of the Temerty Family Foundation for programs funded by UCEF at UCU to $6.2 million. The gift was announced by UCU President, Bishop Borys Gudziak on November 1 in Toronto, at a Gala...

On November 13th, Ukraine commemorated the anniversary of the destruction of Baturyn, Chernihiv Oblast, by Russian forces in 1708. Like every year, the Baturyn National Historical and Cultural Preserve organized mass meetings, concerts, and memorial services for victims of this tragedy in the town. The local state administration, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, professors and students from the Chernihiv National University who study Baturyn’s antiquities, Cossack organizations, the media, town residents, and guests took part in this solemn commemoration. In 2013-14, Canadian and Ukrainian archaeologists and historians continued their annual summer excavations in Baturyn...

In commemoration of the eightieth anniversary ofthe famine-genocide of 1932–33 in Ukraine, CIUS Press has publishedThe Holodomor Reader, the first comprehensive English-languagesourcebook on this tragedy of the Ukrainian people. The Reader is anindispensable text for those who teach, study, or simply seek to better understand the Soviet Union, Stalinism, Ukraine, and genocide. Compiled, edited, and with an introduction by Bohdan Klid andAlexander J. Motyl, The Holodomor Reader offers a comprehensive array of materials on the Holodomor, many of which have been translatedespecially for this publication. The materials are grouped in sixsections: scholarship; legal assessments, findings, and resolutions; eyewitness accounts and memoirs; survivor testimonies, memoirs, diaries, and letters; documents; and works of literature. Each section is prefaced with introductory remarks describing the contents. The book also...