We are deeply grateful to all our colleagues who have intensified their efforts during these challenging times, initiating numerous oral history projects related to the Russian war in Ukraine. These projects are taking place both within Ukraine and abroad, among Ukrainian citizens who have become internally displaced persons.
Over nearly 20 years, the Ukrainian Oral History Association has become a well-established information, consulting, and coordinating platform, bringing together Ukrainian and international specialists who use oral history methods in their work. We sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to creating this professional platform and actively participated in the dissemination of expert oral history knowledge. The scope of such collaborations has been and will continue to be broad, including our conferences, roundtables, collections of academic articles, lectures, and public presentations.
The Ukrainian Oral History Association is returning in an updated format and with a new mandate.
Our Mission
To promote the development of oral history in Ukraine and Ukrainian studies globally.
Key Objectives
- Facilitate the active exchange of scholarly expertise through events such as conferences, seminars, and symposiums.
- Provide professional methodological support to researchers.
- Engage in active collaboration with the international network of national and regional oral history associations.
- Cooperate with academic associations in related fields, such as history, sociology, anthropology, and ethnology, by organizing joint initiatives.
We are pleased to announce that on September 7, 2023, during the Association’s working group meeting, a decision was made to activate the Association’s activities during wartime.
The working group consisted of the following members:
- Svitlana Makhovska — PhD in History, ethnologist, anthropologist, Deputy Director and Head of the Museum-Archive of Folk Culture of Ukrainian Polissya at the State Research Center for Protection of Cultural Heritage from Technological Disasters (Kyiv, Ukraine), co-founder of the Chernihiv Research Center for War Anthropology (Chernihiv, Ukraine), co-founder of the NGO “Center for Applied Anthropology” (Kyiv, Ukraine).
- Halyna Bodnar — PhD in History, Associate Professor at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Lviv, Ukraine).
- Ihor Lyman — Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at Berdiansk State Pedagogical University (Berdiansk, Ukraine).
- Anna Olenenko — PhD in History, Associate Professor at the Khortytsia National Academy (Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine), University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada).
- Albert Venger — PhD in History, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of World History at Dnipro National University (Dnipro, Ukraine).
- Gelinada Grinchenko — Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Scholar-at-Risk, University of Wuppertal (Germany).
- Oksana Kuzmenko — Doctor of Philological Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Department of Social Anthropology, Institute of Ethnology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Lviv, Ukraine).
- Yuliia Skubytska — PhD, Associate Research Scholar, Princeton University (USA).
- Natalia Khanenko-Friesen — Cultural Anthropologist, Professor at the University of Alberta, Director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (Edmonton, Canada).
As a result of the discussions during the first working group meeting, a decision was made to elect Dr. Gelinada Grinchenko and Dr. Natalia Khanenko-Friesen as co-chairs of the Association, and Dr. Anna Olenenko as the Secretary of the Association (for a term of three years).
The working group continues to develop the activities of the Association. Stay updated with announcements on the Association’s Facebook page.
We invite oral historians, as well as those who study Ukrainian history, society, and culture, to join our community.
