Ukrainian Universities as Agents of Memory Work in Post-War Ukraine: dilemmas and possibilities

• In Event: Building peace through Higher Education

Proposal

Our knowledge about the role of higher education institutions in war times is gradually claiming its place in existing academic literature and discourses concerning themselves with higher education and society (e.g. MIllican, 2018). By contrast, our knowledge and vision of the role of universities as agents for societal-level healing from social traumas remain in an incipient state. This limits our ability to leverage the power of higher education in contexts where societal healing is imperative for the continuous existence of nations and communities. This conceptual paper, inspired by the events of Russian aggression in Ukraine draws on literature in the fields of history, social psychology and higher education reform to discuss the dilemmas and opportunities for Ukrainian universities to serve as the agents of memory work in pursuit of internal societal healing both from the faraway past traumas and from the present war with Russia.


Ukraine is a heavily traumatised society (Yurchuk, 2012 Applebaum, 2017). In the last century, it has undergone at least four major traumatic experiences (Holodomor of 1933 perpetrated by Stalin, Nazi invasion 1941-1945; the explosion of the Chornobyl nuclear plant in 1986; the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991; Russian invasion of 2022). The consequences of such large-scale events are bound to have a profound influence on the social fabric of the nation (Sztompka, 2004 ). Collective/cultural/political trauma (Bowen and Shaanta Murshid, 2016; Sztompka, 2004; von Sommaruga Howard, 2019 ) are the umbrella terms that are often used to sum up the consequences. Societies strive to forget, move away or simply bury the challenging events in the hope of moving on (e.g. von Sommaruga Howard, 2019; Chang, 2017) to a better future. However, such natural responses to overwhelming events often lead to generational disconnect (von Sommaruga Howard, 2019; Bezo and Maggie, 2015) and a weakening national identity, social distrust, and malfunctioning social institutions (Yurchuk, 2012) which in turn tend to perpetuate the trauma, leaving the society and its people vulnerable to further aggression from within and the outside.
Yurchuk (2012) argues that for Ukrainian society find healing, it needs to undertake memory work, to connect the dots of disconnected history, and integrate divergent and politically charged interpretations of historical events in living memory of its citizens. Working with memories to digest, integrate, repair, and reconcile and find new meanings is the goal of such healing work. To undertake this work, society needs to rely on its memory agents, those who would be accepted by the general public as legitimate social institutions who can be trusted with a delicate task. This is where one of the biggest challenges lies. In traumatised ruptured cultures such trusted social institutions are hard to come by. Can universities perform this function reliably?


The recent history of higher education in Ukraine mirrors the traumatic patterns of the wider society (Rumyantseva et. al. (2019). It is characterised by distrust, conflict, corruption and a fractured understanding about the present state and the future of the sector (Rumyantseva and Logvynenko, 2017). Universities like many other social institutions have been caught up in the trauma trap, unable to exercise cycle-breaking leadership.
Russian aggression in Ukraine as shocking and outrageous as it is, has also mobilized Ukrainian and European societies in ways that are unprecedented. Present-day Ukraine’s resilience in the face of the persistent Russian aggression lasting for over a year at the time of writing is a testimony to the fact that Ukrainian citizens wish to remain Ukrainian. The Ukrainian government, which was expected to desert its country, remained in power against all expectations (Pisano, 2022). All key state, economic and social systems remain functional (although challenged) despite the crisis of war. Ukrainian sociologists note an increase in the public’s trust in key social institutions in Ukraine, starting with the military (96% say they trust them) and the President (84%). If these trends were to remain after the war, Ukraine’s road to recovery would be more sustainable and better resourced.
The role of higher education during the process of rebuilding has been loudly articulated (e.g. Royal Society, 2023). Despite part shortcomings, Ukrainian higher education is getting noticed now for its ability to resist the invasion by supporting war efforts. European Association for International Education (2022) has distinguished the Ukrainian higher education sector as a whole as the winner of the Winder 2022 Award for Vision and Leadership. The award ‘recognises and applauds the outstanding fortitude and resilience displayed by Ukrainian higher education institutions’ at the time of invasion. Not only universities are surviving loss of infrastructure, students and staff, but they also have shown a capacity to engage with the wider communities in an actively supportive capacity like never before. Many universities across Ukraine function as cohesive teams internally and in collaboration with external stakeholders, providing services outside of university remit in peaceful times. For example, Ukrainian colleagues report that their institutions are supplying soldiers on the front line with such basic necessities as food, clothes, and medicine. Universities donate their dormitory spaces to accommodate internally displaced civilians and act as memory agents through the international project ‘Unissued Diplomas’ that issues diplomas to student soldiers who have died on the battlefield (Gamba, 2023).
This fairly drastic change in the status and reputation of Ukrainian higher education at least as perceived by the European stakeholders is encouraging, however, is it sustainable? And what and who will it take to ensure that universities in Ukraine remain on the path that will actively contribute to the re-building a more cohesive and more reflective society committed to democratic values and principles? The rest of this paper will be exploring the tensions between the legacy of Ukrainian higher education and the possibilities presented by their powers of protest. The intention is to create a research and policy agenda that will enable universities to deliver on the mission of post-war rebuilding in ways that heal divisive social traumas.

Author

• Nataliya Rumyantseva, University of Greenwich