Scientific Conference “Sobornist. Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the ‘Great Re-Unification’ of Ukrainian Lands” was held in New York

07.05.2019

On May 04, 2019, scientific conference “ ‘Sobornist’ Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the ‘Great Re-Unification’ of Ukrainian Lands” was held at the Ukrainian Museum (New York, USA). The conference was held in a series of “Ukrainian Historical Encounters Series” events the main initiators and organizers of which were Center for US – Ukraine Relations, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Ukrainian Harvard Studios, and others.

Серед учасників заходу були знані вчені та політичні діячі, зокрема Денис Семенович (Генеральне консульство України в Нью-Йорку), проф. Любомир Гайда (Гарвардський університет), проф. Анна Процик (Університет Нью-Йорка), проф. Зенон Василів (Коледж Ітака), д-р Андрій Когут (Галузевий архів Служби безпеки України), д -р Володимир Бірчак (Центр дослідження визвольного руху, Український католицький університет), д-р Філіп Карбер (Секретаріат оборони США), Гусейн Оилупінар (Гарвардський університет), д-р Сергій Квіт (Національний університет Києво-Могилянська академія; Національна агенція щодо забезпечення якості вищої освіти в Україні) та ін. Музей "Пам'ять єврейського народу та Голокост в Україні" на конференції представляв заступник директора з наукової роботи д-р Єгор Врадій.

Famous scholars and politicians, in particular Denys Semenovych (Consulate General of Ukraine in New York), Prof. Lyubomyr Hayda (Harvard University), Prof. Anna Procyk (New York University), Prof. Zenon Vasylivv (Ithaca College), Dr. Andrii Kogut (Branch archive of the Security Service of Ukraine), Dr. Volodymyr Birchak (Center of the liberation movement studies, Ukrainian Catholic University), Dr. Philipp Carber (US Secretary of Defense), Huseyn Oilupinar (Harvard University), Dr. Serhii Kvit (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy; National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Ukraine) and others were among the event participants. Dr. Yehor Vradii, deputy director on scientific work presented the Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” at the conference.

The conference speeches and panel discussions were devoted to comprehension of the Ukrainian Sobornist’ experience of struggle, as well as analyzing and forecasting of contemporary challenges, which threatens to it. These issues, being relevant to the Ukrainian state and society, have become the subject of discussion during the final panel of the conference. Speakers Dr. Serhii Kvit and Dr. Yehor Vradii were considering the sense of «Sobornist’» in the area of historical memory and ways of presenting the history of Ukrainian lands, the temptation of national selfishness during the historical narrative creation, on the one hand, and the danger of stereotyped openly mythologized ideas about the past, created in the Soviet empire, on the other hand. Dr. Yehor Vradii in his speech focused attention on the most popular discussions are related to the tragic experience in Ukraine and abroad, in particular, the Holodomor in 1932 – 1933, the Holocaust, deportation of Crimean Tatars and other Crimean nations. The importance of these terrible phenomena studying is extremely relevant now, because now, in the XXI century, dehumanization technologies as the first stage on the way to genocide, are used by several countries of the world. At the same time experience genocides of the twentieth century is extremely important and requires objective research and, at the same time, moral solidarity with the victims regardless of quantitative scales or ethnic, religious or social affiliation.

Also on this day in the Ukrainian Museum of New York, the solemn opening of the exhibition «Deportation of the Crimean Tatars in the faces: 75 years later» was held. It shows the portraits of witnesses of the tragedy, made by a photo of Zarema Yaliboyl who visited the peninsula in March 2019. The initiator of the exhibition was Ms. Sevgil Musayeva-Borovik (“Ukrayinska Pravda”). A group of scientists and public figures from Ukraine and the United States worked on its preparation. In the Museum of Ukraine (New York), the exhibition will be held until September, and then will go to Canada and Ukraine.