On March 31, 2025, Viktoriia Nesterenko will speak at an online seminar with a presentation titled “Researcher-Respondent Interaction: Within and Beyond the Interview Space.”
Oral historians in Ukraine work with extremely difficult topics related to trauma, war, and displacement. We are often the first to hear a person’s story in all its harrowing detail. No matter how much we try to maintain distance, such dialogues inevitably create a special bond between the respondent and the researcher. Perspectives on this relationship vary—some projects allow communication beyond the interview, while others strictly prohibit it. During the conversation itself, we navigate a delicate balance between respecting the respondent’s freedom and exercising our own judgment (for example, persuading an interviewee from a frontline area to use a pseudonym). We ensure participants of their anonymity, yet we recruit new respondents using the snowball method. We emphasize the absence of pressure, yet we seek assistance from local authorities. These contradictions raise important ethical questions:
We will explore these dilemmas at the seminar on March 31. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion!
Viktoriia NESTERENKO is a Senior Lecturer at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, historian. Since 2020, she has been working with the Museum of War Childhood, collecting stories of children affected by the war in Donbas and the full-scale invasion. In 2023 and 2024, she coordinated the Center for Urban History’s project “Those Who Remained: Testimonies of Residents of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv Region.” Her research interests include the role of one’s hometown as a resource for resilience during wartime.
Event Details
Date: March 31, 2025
Time: 18-00 (Kyiv time)
Language: Ukrainian
Details are here