Central & East European, Russian & Eurasian Studies (Erasmus Mundus International Master)

My 12 week visit to Glasgow in 2013 was focused on three objectives:

1)   Teaching an elective course offered as part of the Erasmus Mundus International Master’s Programme

2)   Conducting research related to the EM Programme subject-area

3)   Building closer institutional links between Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (associate partner in the EM Consortium) and Glasgow University (the EM Programme host) and other Consortium partners.

 

Teaching

As part of the EM IMRCEES programme, I developed and taught a course entitled “Post-Soviet Ukraine: A Case Study in Socio-Economic and Political Transformation.” This course was specifically developed for the EM IMRCEES programme prior to my arrival in Glasgow (I was the first in a series of lecturers from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy to participate in the programme), and then was repeated in modified format by colleagues in subsequent years. The course consisted of 5 in-class sessions (3 hours each), and independent study based on an extensive supplied reading list. Participants were evaluated based on a final written paper.

Students were engaging, but surprisingly poorly prepared for a course focusing specifically on Ukraine. Although their knowledge of Soviet history, and of the post-Soviet transition in Central Europe and Russia was adequate, during the first class it became very clear that Ukraine had been peripheral or not present in their previous studies of the region. For this reason, the course material was simplified somewhat from its original design, and more summary readings were assigned instead of previously planned in-depth and/or theoretical sources.

In the end the course was successful, and students performed well in their final papers, outlining useful insights that clearly reflected their depth of learning. Several expressed interest in coming to Ukraine to pursue research during their second year of studies, but due to the political situation in Kyiv in Nov 2013 – Feb 2014, these plans were of necessity cancelled.

 

Research

The 12-week period that I spent in Glasgow in early 2013 was an extremely productive time. When applying for the visiting scholar position I had intended to use this period to complete a monograph on Ukraine’s post-Soviet transformation (largely based on course materials and previous research), and although this was not accomplished during my stay, I did manage to write a significant amount (approximately two thirds of the planned text), and more importantly, was able to access library sources and literature directly relevant to my research that was unavailable to me from Kyiv. The University of Glasgow library proved an invaluable resource, allowing me to extend the theoretical scope of my research from the Ukrainian case to a broader Soviet and post-Soviet context. Specifically, in trying to understand the quality of agency in social transformation (e.g. entrepreneurship and/or political leadership), my readings in the UG library exposed me to literature on charisma, and specifically to the works of Ken Jowitt on Leninist charisma. I am grateful to UG senior professor Terry Cox for the consultations he provided during my stay on this topic.

As it happened, the book that I had planned to write remains unfinished. Several months after my return to Kyiv, the political situation quickly developed into what came to be known as the Revolution of Dignity. During these heady months I published several blogs and articles analyzing the situation on the streets of the capital, comparing the protests to the Orange Revolution a decade before (texts largely based on writing done while a visiting scholar at UG), and analyzing the political elite networks behind the scenes. During my previous stay in Glasgow as a visiting scholar I had prepared a presentation for the Center for Russian and East European Studies West Coast Seminar series entitled “Will Ukraine’s political regime (again) soon change? Analysis of elite circulation after parliamentary elections.” This research presentation turned out to be somewhat prophetic, and laid the groundwork for much analysis during the course of revolutionary events several months later.

 

Institutional links

As noted, research consultations with Prof. Terry Cox were held during my stay at UG. In addition, because mine was the first visit by a scholar from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy to Glasgow as part of EM IMCREES, I was tasked with establishing interpersonal links that could eventually lead to our university becoming a full partner in the programme consortium. Again, due to the subsequent political situation in Ukraine, this goal was not achieved. However, significant groundwork was completed through meetings with CEES Subject Head Prof. Geoffrey Swain, programme director Dr. Clare McManus, and CEES academic staff with research interests in Ukraine including Dr. Ammon Cheskin.

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First published: 15 December 2016