Authors of a collective monograph on languages and cultures in wartime Ukraine met the UzhNU rector
Alongside the published research, they discussed academic mobility for staff and students, UzhNU’s cooperation with European universities, wartime changes at the university, and plans ahead.
On 11 April, Uzhhorod National University hosted the presentation of the collective monograph “Languages and Cultures in Times of War.” It brings together scholarly articles by 14 researchers from 10 countries.
Several of the monograph’s authors came to Uzhhorod for the presentation — Alex Krouglov (professor at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London), Dr Nadiya Kiss (University of Erfurt), Dr Liudmyla Pidkuimukha (Justus Liebig University Giessen), and Taras Kremin (Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language). Together with Halyna Shumytska, head of the UzhNU Research Centre for the Sociology of Language and professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Work; Dmytro Afanasiev, acting head of that department; and Myroslava Lendel, UzhNU Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, the guests met Rector Volodymyr Smolanka.
“The monograph grew out of a scholarly conference held last year in London. Mr Alex [Krouglov — Ed.] was its chief organiser. About 60 people from more than 40 countries took part, but only some of the prepared papers entered the volume. The collection is bilingual: part in Ukrainian, part in English,” noted Halyna Shumytska.
Rector Volodymyr Smolanka highly praised the international team’s work and expressed gratitude: “Now, during the war, it is extremely important to assess different aspects of our life. The situation, including the linguistic one, is changing, so we must look ahead and work for the future. We greatly value international cooperation, so thank you for your help and for opening windows onto the world for us. Great credit also goes to our specialists who keep moving forward and use every opportunity to do so.”
The meeting also covered academic mobility for teachers and students, UzhNU’s cooperation with European higher education institutions, changes at the university since the full-scale invasion, and plans for the future.
Alex Krouglov presented the rector with a copy of the collective monograph, and Nadiya Kiss presented the joint study with Monika Wingender, “Contested Language Diversity in Wartime Ukraine. National Minorities, Language Biographies and the Linguistic Landscape,” whose editors include faculty of Uzhhorod National University. In return, the guests received gifts from UzhNU.
Anastasiia Labyk
Source:
UzhNU Media Center
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