Perspectives on Media and
Communications in Ukraine

What role are mass media and communications playing in the larger political, economic and social changes occurring in post communist Ukraine?


25 April 2009
University of Western Ontario
Windermere Manor
200 Collip Circle, London, ON
Registration: Click here 		27 April 2009
University of Toronto
Munk Centre for International Studies
1 Devonshire Place, Room 108, North Building
Registration: webapp.mcis.utoronto.ca

Conference Description:
Communications are one of the most basic features of human behaviour, and have been at the centre of Ukraine’s transformation process from glasnost to the present. Yet mass media remains a little studied topic within study of the post communist transformations and the democratization project more broadly.

This conference focused on the role media is playing in one post communist country, Ukraine, and examined the issues from a variety of perspectives. It brought together an international group of the top scholars and practitioners who conduct research and work in various aspects of media, journalism and communications in Ukraine, and the larger context in which they operate. This interdisciplinary group included political scientists, communications scholars, a legal expert, NGO actors and a historian. The papers presented at the conference will be published either as an edited collection or a special issue of a scholarly journal.

The conference was sponsored by 3 institutions: University of Western Ontario, (UWO) University of Toronto (U of T), National University of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA). It was held on two campuses, one day at the UWO in London and one day at the U of T. Such an approach allowed for a collaborative effort among scholars and students on two campuses, promoted collaboration between universities which facilitated knowledge transfer and research synergy. It built on existing programmes among the three universities and further developed research contacts, providing a forum for scholars to deepen research contacts and the potential to develop new collaborative projects.

The President of the top university in Ukraine, The National University of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA), Dr. Serhiy Kvit, participated in the conference, thus providing an opportunity for deepening institutional collaboration between these universities. The Dean of the Journalism Faculty from NaUKMA, Dr. Yevhen Fedchenko, the co-organizer of this conference, shared his research findings, and also forged new relationships with his counterparts at UWO and U of T to further deepen existing cooperation agreements between the various universities. The conference also included practitioners in the field of international aid and advice to Ukraine in media policy, both from a Canadian and US perspective, which built links between academia and government sponsored agencies working in this area.

Scholars and students from various departments and faculties were involved in the conference in a variety of capacities, as chairs, discussants and participants. Invitations were also issued to the Consulate of Ukraine in Toronto as well as scholarly and community associations in both Toronto and London.

Conference organizers:
Marta Dyczok, DPhil (Oxon), UWO
Yevhen Fedchenko, Dean of Journalism, NaUKMA

For further information please contact:
Marta Dyczok: mdyczok@uwo.ca

Sponsored by:
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
University of Western Ontario
University of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine
Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine, University of Toronto