The Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia at the University of Michigan presents a “Focus on Ukraine” series throughout the month of February, marking the occasion of the second full year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The series includes a distinguished lecture by Iuliia Mendel—former press secretary to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, two documentary films that will be screened at the Michigan Theater, and a lecture on public health in Ukraine during and after the war. The events are all free and open to the public; details are as follows:
Monday, February 5, 5:30 pm at the Michigan Theater – Film screening of 20 Days in Mariupol, an Oscar-nominated film by director Mstyslav Chernov, followed by a Q&A discussion with the film’s producers. In this documentary, “an Associated Press team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion.” The film and discussion are presented in collaboration with the Wallace House Center for Journalists as the Eisendrath Symposium, honoring former director Charles R. Eisendrath and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.
Monday, February 12, 5:30 pm at the Michigan Theater – Film screening of Life to the Limit, followed by a Q&A with director Pavlo Peleshok. “From the fragments of memories and their own film archive, veterans Pavlo Peleshok and Yurko Ivanyshyn assembled a mosaic of the causes and consequences of today’s Russian-Ukrainian war, starting from the end of 2013. They went to the front as volunteers, visited the hotspots of Donbas, and through it all, continued to create content in order to show the world the truth about the terrible war that became possible in the 21st century.”
Monday, February 19, 5:30 pm at Rackham Amphitheatre – WCEE Distinguished Lecture, “The Fight of our Lives,” with speaker Iuliia Mendel, journalist and former press secretary to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Mendel will discuss her book, The Fight of Our Lives (2022), which she wrote with the sound of Russian bombs and exploding shells in the background, detailing life under Russian siege in 2022. She says goodbye to her fiancé who joins the front lines, like so many other Ukrainian men. Throughout this story of Zelenskyy, Ukraine, and its extraordinary people, Mendel reminds us of the paramount importance of truth and human values, especially in these darkest of times. Mendel is the 2023-24 WCEE Distinguished Fellow and a Knight-Wallace Fellow.
Wednesday, February 21, 12:00 pm on Zoom at myumi.ch/8em3k – CREES Noon Lecture by Olha Kostetska, public health lead at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, entitled “Public Health in Ukraine: Challenges and Opportunities during the War and Priorities for the Post-War Recovery.” Kostetska will identify key challenges faced by the Ukrainian public health system during the war, which include compromised capacity for the public health system to prevent, detect, and respond to emergencies. She will explore the stakeholders in and beyond Ukraine who are working to address the most pressing needs and risks, and prevent future crises. This lecture is presented by the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREES), with support from WCEE.
“It is crucial that we continue to bring stories from Ukraine to the world, which is why we have organized this series at the University of Michigan,” says WCEE Director Geneviève Zubrzycki, William H. Sewell Jr. Collegiate Professor of Sociology. “As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches the end of its second year, we cannot turn away from the violence and countless losses that everyday Ukrainians face. WCEE is committed to keeping focus on this war, which has regional and global implications. We are proud to offer public events like this series, to support our Ukrainian Scholars, and to investigate war crimes in partnership with The Reckoning Project NGO.”
Contact: Małgorzata Kowalczyk | gosiak@umich.edu
The Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) supports faculty and student research, teaching, collaboration, and public engagement in studying the institutions, cultures, and histories of these regions. WCEE is comprised of the Center for European Studies (CES); Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREES); and Copernicus Center for Polish Studies (CCPS); and is housed at the University of Michigan International Institute. For more information, visit ii.umich.edu/wcee.
