Department of German and Slavic Studies

Goal: To study the experience of Ukrainian education transformation in war conditions as a global phenomenon of the XXI century and to highlight the main issues for further international communication to support students, teachers and scholars whose work is influenced by other ongoing conflicts and global adversities. The conference serves as a platform to share research findings, best practices, and policy recommendations to ensure the continuity and quality of education in Ukraine amid war and global challenges.

Tasks: To analyze and discuss the most problematic issues students, teachers, and scholars face in a situation that forces them to study/work in war conditions; to seek new solutions while taking into consideration questions of safety, the psychological impact, and the necessitated transformation of educational methodology during these challenging times; to explore possible adaptation strategies and assess the role of educators in fostering resilience; to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration.

Thematic sessions:
1. Education in Ukraine during wartime: basic threats and challenges.
2. The transformation of research and education caused by war situations and global challenges: methods, technologies, instruments.
3. Media literacy education: combating propaganda, fake news, and misinformation.
4. Artificial intelligence in crisis: an assistant or a threat.
5. Civil society in a world of war and crisis: challenges for education.
6. The experience of Ukrainian and Canadian international students.
Languages of the conference: English, Ukrainian.

Form of participation: In person, online, or via video recording of reports with PowerPoint presentation.

Time procedure: Report of approx. 10 mins, followed by a discussion of about 10 mins.

Organizing Committee Contacts: ukrcan2022@gmail.com

Mykola A. Zhurba, Dr.Sc. (Philosophy of Culture, Philosophical Anthropology) Professor at the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities and Methods of Teaching in the Luhansk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education, Ukraine; Visiting Scholar, Department of German & Slavic Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Olena V. Gordiyenko, Dr.Sc. (Germanic Languages), Assoc. Prof. of Foreign Languages, Foreign Languages Department, Zaporizhzhia State Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine; Visiting Scholar, Department of German & Slavic Studies and Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Olga A. Khamedova, PhD (Ukrainian Literature), Assoc. Prof. of Ukrainian Literature and Folklore, Department of Journalism and New Media, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University, Kyiv, Ukraine; Visiting Scholar, Department of German & Slavic Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies Program, Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Resistance: Transnational Perspectives

Conveners:
Stephan Jaeger (German & Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba)
Adam Muller (Peace & Conflict Studies, University of Manitoba)

“Every people, every society, needs a culture of resistance, a culture of being difficult and disobedient, that is the only way they will ever be able to stand up to the inevitable abuse of power by whoever runs the state apparatus, the capitalists, the communists, the socialists, the Gandhians, whoever.” - Arundhati Roy

We live in an age with massive struggles about the right forms of human society, shaped by new wars and threats, by antagonistic identities that hardly allow for dialogue and discourse, and challenges to democratic systems unimaginable in post Second-World-War society, and by technological innovation challenging or fundamentally altering human existence. Resistance can be approached in many ways, literally and metaphorically, as forms of cultural resistance in our present, as forms of media, memory, and the (fictive) imagination depicting various cultural, political, and historical forms of resistance. Resistance – to be distinguished from mere opposition – can be defined as a cultural form or as a form of action for either change or for defending values. It is usually delineated through its opposition to an existing power or system. In societies divided by opposing ideologies, it is a challenge to understand forms of resistance.

Proposals are invited for an interdisciplinary conference on the subject of resistance. The conference, to be held at the University of Manitoba, is in partnership with University of Trier. The scope of the conference is broad, and the theme is intended to encompass scholarship on all forms of resistance in culture and society (personal, collective, institutional, etc.). Of particular interest is work pertaining to resistance as it is understood, and circulates (is celebrated, contested, etc.) in Canadian, German, and related transnational academic and cultural contexts. Presentations are welcome to address works and issues from different fields, media, and conceptual perspectives across and beyond the humanities and social sciences.

Papers are invited on any topic relating to resistance, including but not limited to the following:

• Resistance during warfare, occupation, and genocide
• Resistance as moral obligation in a totalitarian society or dictatorship
• Populist Resistance
• Political Resistance
• Resisting technology (AI, drones, etc.)
• Resisting change or innovation
• Transnational resistance
• Violent resistance
• Resistance and religious faith

Before submitting your application to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for the German Studies MA program or the Slavic Studies MA program, you will need to first contact the department via the Graduate Chair (German_Slavic@umanitoba.ca) to discuss an appropriate academic advisor for you.

You can also contact a German and Slavic Studies faculty member directly if you are specifically interested in their research.

In an email, please let us know the following:

• your area(s) of study and research interest,
• a bit about yourself, and how to best contact you,
• a brief summary of your relevant education, community and/or work experiences,
• a description of your proposed research topic.

Past German Studies and Slavic Studies theses can be found on MSpace.

View past German Studies and Slavic Studies theses on MSpace