Ongoing lecture series on Ukraine conflict
SUNY Geneseo is holding an ongoing series of lectures and discussions throughout the semester on the conflict in Ukraine. On Thursday, Sept. 29, several Geneseo faculty members will give brief lectures and discuss key developments in Ukrainian history and national identity since 2014 from 5 p.m – 6:30 p.m. in Newton 201. There will be a question and answer session following the lectures.
On Oct. 24 the Riviera Theater will be showing The Earth is Blue as an Orange, a film by poet and filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk about a family of five living in war-torn areas of Ukraine. The film is open to the public and will feature a presentation by representatives of ROC Maidan, the charity arm of the Ukrainian Cultural Center of Rochester. On Nov. 1 the political science department will hold another lecture on global reactions and responses to the conflict in Ukraine, featuring speakers Professors Raslan Ibrahim and Andrew Hart.
English lecturer and National Endowment for the Arts Fellow Sonya Bilocerkowycz said that the series of lectures were a continuation of past lectures on Ukraine spurred by both faculty interest and student engagement.
“Last spring, we did a roundtable panel in the first week or so of the war,” Bilocerkowycz said. “There we had a round table with faculty from different disciplines who were sort of commenting on the current events. It was held in Newton 201 or another room that holds like 125 people, and the room was completely packed. People were sitting in the aisles, on the floor, on the stairs, there was standing room only. And that really revealed to us that there was interest and desire to learn more about the situation.”
According to Bilocerkowycz, there are also several Geneseo faculty members who have friends or family living in and around Ukraine who are interested in spreading education and awareness on the conflict and impact on Ukraine.
“We really just wanted to offer a space for people to come and ask questions to deepen their understanding. It’s definitely, for me and a few of the other faculty members who have family or friends in Ukraine, it’s a big part of the motivation for wanting to host these discussions. But we also were spurred by what seemed to be a lot of student interest and curiosity in the topic as well,” said Bilocerkowycz.
Bilocerkowycz said that she hopes the series of lectures will not only spread awareness of the conflict in Ukraine, but also provide ways for students and Geneseo community members to give aid to those in Ukraine who are affected.
She said, “I’m hoping to either bring [to the movie screening at the Riviera Theater] a representative or some information about a local Rochester area activist group which is called ROC Maidan. Ever since February they have been doing really amazing work at collecting much needed medical supplies and humanitarian aid and getting it directly to people on the ground in Ukraine. It seems that these mutual aid projects are really the fastest and most efficient way of getting lifesaving materials to people that are on the frontlines or in communities under Russian shelling, so that organization in Rochester has been doing amazing work. I’m hoping to think about some more creative ways that Geneseo students can get involved too.”
Students will also be able to learn more about Ukrainian culture and history through Bilocerkowycz’s upcoming course in Ukrainian literature. The course will be available starting in the spring 2023 semester and will be an introduction to classic and contemporary Ukrainian writing. Bilocerkowycz said that she hopes students will be interested in Ukrainian literature despite its relative lack of popularity.
“With it being a [general education class], I anticipate that there’ll be a lot of students that will maybe find themselves in the course and then be pleasantly surprised to be interested in the material. But you know, we’ll see. It’s kind of an experiment in that way,” she said.
