The IU Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute will oversee 20 non-residential year-long positions for Ukrainian scholars, Provost Rahul Shrivastav announced last week. Institute director Dr. Sarah Phillips said the fellowships will provide Ukrainian academics with stable employment and research opportunities.
“There aren’t a lot of non-residential programs for scholars who for personal reasons, professional reasons, or even legal reasons have to remain inside Ukraine,” Phillips said. “So we thought it would be a really good opportunity not only for Ukrainian scholars whose professional lives have been disrupted by the war, but also for Indiana University and our colleagues here.”
Unlike residential fellowships, non-residential fellowships are available to scholars remotely, even if they remain in Ukraine for personal, legal, or practical reasons.
READ MORE: IU colleagues collaborate on Ukrainian cultural preservation
Ukrainian cultural and educational centers have been deliberate targets of Russian attacks. In particular, Karazin University in Kharkiv where Phillips has many colleagues has been nearly destroyed.
“It was at least in part the destruction of that university’s infrastructure, but also the resilience of the university’s administration to come up with a plan B that really stimulated this program,” Phillips said.
Phillips hopes the program will create ties between U.S. and Ukrainian academics that will last beyond the war. The program will include a series of lectures and workshops.
“(We’re) just trying to build and solidify an intellectual community around the work that our colleagues in Ukraine are doing,” she said, “and learn from them just as much as they are learning from us.”
