Subject matter interest in Ukrainian studies at EU universities is constantly growing. In particular, this semester, undergraduate students at Bielefeld University (Germany) have the opportunity to attend an author's course of lectures on the development of the Ukrainian diaspora. The lecturer from Ukraine will be Taras Romashchenko, deputy head of the Institute of Economics and Law and associate professor of the Department of Economics and International Economic Relations at Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy.

“In the current semester, the administration of the main university in Bielefeld (by the way, Cherkasy's sister city since May 2023) has shown interest in teaching a completely new master's degree course that would directly concern Ukraine and Ukrainians. Given the range of my “international migration” research interests, I developed and proposed my own course for future masters: “Ukrainian Diaspora: from Past to Present”. The proposal was unconditionally supported and approved”, says Taras Romashchenko.

It is estimated that today the Ukrainian diaspora in the world numbers around 20 million people, making it one of the largest ethnic communities outside of its country of origin. The full-scale war has triggered a new powerful wave of forced emigration of Ukrainians, the humanitarian, demographic and socio-economic consequences of which are currently difficult to overestimate for all parties involved.

The master's course allows foreign students to form a holistic impression of the Ukrainian diaspora in the world, to identify the causes and peculiarities of its formation in different historical periods. The main focus of the course will be on the modern development of the Ukrainian diaspora (since 1991). Particular emphasis will be placed on the formation of a new wave of migration of Ukrainians abroad and the interaction of the Ukrainian diaspora with the country of origin to overcome the devastating consequences of the unprovoked aggression of a neighbouring state.

Taras Romashchenko's lectures provoked great interest among the students of the German university. Master's students from Germany, the USA, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bolivia and other countries have already taken part in the course.

Department of Economics and International Economic Relations