“Ukraine between 'the East' and ' the West': The Final Cut?”
Dr. Georgiy Kasianov, Head of the Department of Contemporary Politics and History at the Institute of the History of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine.
April 16, 5:00 pm. Humanities 1006.
Abstract: The most conventional vision of Ukraine holds that this country is historically locked in an ambivalent position between "the West" (or Europe) and "the East" (as a rule equated to Russia). Additionally, Ukraine has its own internal East-West division determined by different political, cultural, historical legacies. The recent Maidan revolt started as a protest against halting the pro-European, pro-Western drive of Ukraine. In fact, contemporary events in Ukraine: the Revolution of Dignity, the war in the east of the country, attempts of broad societal reforms aimed at future accession to the European Union manifest the most decisive attempt to overcome the East-Wes' ambivalence in favor of "the West" and "Western civilization."
To view the poster for this event, click here