University joins international academic network backed by Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska
New York University has established a Ukrainian Studies initiative, which will include academic programming and certification, a webinar series, and participation in the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies—an academic network launched by Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine.
“NYU’s academic offerings, its global presence, and its long-standing historic connections to Ukraine’s diaspora make the university a model institution for the study of Ukraine,” says Anastasiia Vlasenkoopens in a new tab, an NYU visiting assistant professor who was raised in Kyiv and who will oversee the initiative. “Roughly 60,000 Ukrainians came to New York City after World War II, helping to establish the still-thriving Little Ukraine neighborhood that borders the NYU campus.”
“NYU’s Ukrainian Studies initiative is distinctive among American programs because it places the social sciences at the center,” adds Professor Anne Lounsberyopens in a new tab, chair of the university’s Department of Russian and Slavic Studies, pointing to course offerings in politics, history, literature, film, art, and the Ukrainian language. “It approaches Ukraine not solely as a subject of area studies, but as a central case for the study of democratization, wartime governance, national identity, and institutional resilience.”
NYU’s Ukrainian Studies initiative will encompass multiple components:
- A certificate in Ukrainian Studies
- A Ukrainian Studies track as part of study within NYU’s Department of Russian and Slavic Studies, Wilf Family Department of Politics, and International Relations program
- A public webinar series with Columbia University’s Harriman Institute
Earlier this month, NYU joined the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies, which aims to unite universities and research institutions in enhancing knowledge of Ukraine and in further developing Ukrainian studies. Other members include the University of Vienna, the University of Helsinki, and Ireland’s University College Cork. The organization was launched by First Lady Zelenska in 2024.
The initiative adds to NYU’s existing work linked to Ukraine:
In 2022, NYU Libraries created a Ukraine Research Guideopens in a new tab, which assembles books, databases, digital repositories, news sources, and research institutions across Ukrainian history and civilization.
Since 2022, the NYU Center for Responsible AIopens in a new tab has run RAI for Ukraineopens in a new tab in partnership with Ukrainian Catholic University, providing students in Ukraine whose education has been disrupted by the war with access to high-quality research opportunities. The program connects students with mentors at academic institutions around the world for collaborative research in responsible AI, with numerous projects leading to peer-reviewed publications in top conferences and journals. Among these was a studyopens in a new tab that found Russia’s invasion of Ukraine displaced approximately 36,500 graduating high school students in 2022, 16 percent of the country’s senior class, while causing an additional 41,500 students to abandon the traditional pathway to higher education entirely during that year.
James Devitt
NYU News
