IU expands Ukrainian scholars program
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An Indiana University fellowship program that has helped 69 Ukrainian scholars continue their research and teaching since Russia’s invasion of the eastern European country will now expand to eight additional Big Ten universities.
The IU-Ukraine Nonresidential Scholars Program has had two cohorts of scholars since the IU Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute launched the effort in June 2022, less than four months after Russia invaded Ukraine. The program provides cash stipends and online resources to help participants continue their studies.
The initiative will now be expanded thanks to additional financial support from the Big Ten Academic Alliance, a collaboration among the schools focused on academics. The additional universities are Penn State University, Ohio State University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, University of Washington and University of Maryland.
“This program was built on IU’s decades-long leadership in research and teaching of Eastern European languages and cultures and has been successful because of the dedication of our faculty in that area and beyond,” IU Bloomington Provost Rahul Shrivastav said in a news release. “Facilitating an expansion of the program to our Big Ten peers is a testament to our commitment to advancing research that aims to make the world a better place.”
Participants in the program want to stay in Ukraine for professional, legal or personal reasons despite the ongoing war, IU said. The initial scholars each received a $5,000 stipend and access to IU Libraries’ online resources and collaborated with IU faculty in research, teaching and publishing.
Without the financial support, IU said, some fellows would have had to quit their academic careers because of the low salaries. Other fellows were able to continue their research while serving in the Ukrainian armed forces.
One fellow received the first doctoral degree awarded by the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture of Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, IU said. Her husband, a fellow artist and student, died during the war.
The program’s third cohort will consist of at least 30 Ukrainian scholars in the social sciences and humanities who will complete a one-year, nonresidential scholarship at one of the nine Big Ten host schools. The Big Ten Academic Alliance will provide matching funds for each Ukrainian fellow, doubling each university’s financial contribution, and provide additional funds, the news release said.
“This year’s program features the broad theme of Preservation and Restoration as a priority area,” Sarah Phillips, an anthropology professor who is coordinating the program, said in the release. “We wanted to bring together a cohort of scholars focused on questions of preservation of cultural heritage, the environment, infrastructure and human life, and strategies for rebuilding after an event like this war. Coalescing multidisciplinary expertise on this topic is important for Ukraine and can lead to more collaborations on projects in the future.”
The fellows’ research will be the cornerstone of IU’s Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Studies Conference in March 2025, IU said.