I Will Hope Despite All Odds: Ukrainian Students Narrate Their Stories of Courage and Hope

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Students' Experiences of Learning

Abstract

What does it mean to live in hope when facing trials and tribulations? This study examines the narratives of Ukrainian university student activists who participated in the 2013-14 Maidan revolutionary events and juxtaposes these narratives with philosophical discourses on violence and civility. What inspires these students’ social and political activism? How do they respond to the acts of violence? What do they conceive of civil society? What are their hopes and aspirations within the context of current events in Ukraine? This study is an appeal to reason and its constructive powers and an outrage against all forms of violence. In the darkest of times, I dare to hope against all odds - Contra spem spero!

Author

• Antonina Lukenchuk, National-Louis University