On April 24-26, the international scientific conference «Engagement with the Past, Activism in the Present» was held on the basis of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland).

Scientists of Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy participated in the conference.

In addition, Oleksandr Cherevko, the rector of Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy and Andrzej Sokala, rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, signed an agreement on cooperation between the universities.

«UMK and Cherkasy National University will strengthen cooperation in the field of student exchange and conducting joint research» — the agreement is reported on the Facebook page of the Polish higher education institution.

The conference was organized by the Faculty of History at Nicolaus Copernicus University.

Its purpose was the development of cooperation between members of the YUFE consortium and Ukrainian universities in the framework of discussions on the history of engagement in issues of the past.

One of the tasks of the conference in Toruń was to build networks of cooperation and stimulate international debates on how history and knowledge of the past have been and are being used, and the consequences of this process for modern Europe.

Among the issues addressed during the meeting were narratives about the past and conflicts; grassroots and top-down initiatives, independent archival and documentation initiatives; community involvement in historical education and activities in public space; ways of using narratives about the past; oppositional narratives about the past and their role; emotions and the past in historical studies.

The conference was attended by representatives of universities associated with YUFE and universities of Ukraine, as well as representatives of NGOs. It was intended not only to stimulate an international scientific discussion, but also to involve social partners from different countries.

The conference was financed by Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) within the task by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland. The event was held under the slogan «Solidarity of European Universities with Ukraine».

Among the participants were scientists from Poland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, and Cyprus.

Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy was one of the co-organizers of the conference.

BKNUC was represented by rector Oleksandr Cherevko, professors Yevhen Sinkevych and Olha Morozova (Department of World History and International Relations), PhD student Olha Kopchynska.

Scientists of Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy made presentations.

— My presentation was about the activities of the university during the times of war. I told about how we educate patriots of Ukraine by teaching. How do we carry out the educational process, engage in science, and help the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the conditions of air raids and russian energy terror.

Historians, professors of our university Yevhen Sinkevych and Olha Morozova gave a presentation «The Role of Archives and Museums in Preserving the Narratives of the Past».

Polish partners are consistent in their support of Ukraine — they showed respect for the Ukrainian delegation and attention to our challenges.

I had a meeting with the Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Professor Andrzej Sokala, and the Dean of the Faculty of History, Stanisław Roszak. Prospects and directions of cooperation were discussed. A programme agreement was signed between Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy and Nicolaus Copernicus University. We expect that this will be a strategic partnership for long-term cooperation.

I am grateful to NAWA, the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine, and all our Polish friends for their assistance in organizing the trip, — noted the rector of BKNUC Oleksandr Cherevko.

During the conference, attention was focused on the war in Ukraine, the importance of the vision of the past and its use in the future.

The organizers of the event expressed hope that the meeting of scientists in Toruń will be the beginning of future cooperation between individuals and institutions interested in archives, forgetting, emotions, conflict and trauma.
It is also about this on the website of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.

Reference: Young Universities for the Future of Europe is one of the 41 consortia selected by the European Commission to build and test the European University model — an open, non-elitist, integrating environment that offers innovation, interdisciplinarity and the highest quality in research and education.

Education-Scientific Institute of International Relations, History and Philosophy