Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies
A quarter century of excellence
In 2002, federal and provincial dignitaries, academics, religious leaders, and the Ukrainian-Canadian Community attended a gala to celebrate the twenty-five years of excellence and accomplishments of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. Dr Manoly Lupul and a group of fellow academics from across the country set about securing funds, endowments, and academic support for an institute dedicated to protecting Ukrainian culture, which was rapidly disintegrating, partly due to the occupying Soviet Union that was actively suppressing any signs of Ukrainian individuality. Since then, the CIUS has become an international leader of Ukrainian studies.
Original: ExpressNews
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The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) is a leading centre of Ukrainian studies outside Ukraine. It is an integral part of the University of Alberta under the jurisdiction of the Vice-President (Research). Founded in 1976, following joint efforts by Ukrainian community leaders and academics, to provide an institutional home for Ukrainian scholarship in Canada, CIUS is dedicated to the development of Ukrainian studies in Canada and supports such studies internationally. In addition to its main office at the University of Alberta, CIUS maintains a branch office at the University of Toronto.
CIUS fulfills its mandate by organizing research and scholarship in Ukrainian and Ukrainian-Canadian studies: it publishes books and a scholarly journal; develops materials for Ukrainian-language education, mainly for western Canada's bilingual school program; organizes conferences, lectures, and a seminar series; and awards graduate and undergraduate scholarships, as well as research grants to scholars. CIUS also contributes to the cultural and educational development of community groups in Canada by providing specialists and resources for their activities. It fosters international links of mutual benefit to Canada and the world, especially with Ukraine, by initiating and managing major international endeavours, including Canada-Ukraine legislative and intergovernmental projects.
CIUS is financed in part from the operating budget of the University of Alberta. Other support comes from grants for specific projects and income earned from endowment funds.
CIUS organizes its work through the following major units and programs:
The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press
CIUS Press is a leading publisher of scholarly books about Ukraine and Ukrainians in Canada. While its primary focus is on new and original scholarship in English on Ukrainian history, language, and literature, Ukrainians in Canada, and contemporary Ukraine, it also publishes English translations of Ukrainian scholarly monographs and fiction, as well as monographs in Ukrainian. As of 2006, it had issued over 150 books and more than 60 research reports. The Journal of Ukrainian Studies, published semi-annually by CIUS since 1976, is the only scholarly periodical in Canada devoted solely to Ukrainian and Ukrainian-Canadian studies. The journal publishes articles in English by Canadian, Ukrainian, and other scholars; scholarly material in English translation; reviews of scholarly publications and textbooks in Ukrainian studies; and occasional literary translations and guides to research.
Ukrainian Language Education Centre (ULEC)
Through ULEC and in partnership with Alberta Education, CIUS develops print and digital learning resources. Its major publishing project has been the Nova: Ukrainian-Language Development Series for grades one through six. ULEC also serves the professional development needs of Ukrainian language teachers by co-sponsoring inservices.
Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine
CIUS's first major project, the five-volume Encyclopedia of Ukraine (University of Toronto Press, 1984–1993), was prepared in co-operation with the West European centre of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (Sarcelles, France) and jointly funded by the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies (CFUS). A volume containing a name index and list of errata was published by CIUS Press in 2001. In the same year, the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (IEU) project was launched. Once completed, the IEU will be the most comprehensive source of information in English on Ukraine, its history, people, geography, society, economy, diaspora, and cultural heritage. Visit the online encyclopedia at www.encyclopediaofukraine.com.
The Peter Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Historical Research
The Peter Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Historical Research was established at CIUS in 1989 on the basis of an endowment initiated by Mr Peter Jacyk (1921–2001) of Toronto. The Centre's major ongoing project is the editing and publication of an English translation of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's classic ten-volume History of Ukraine-Rus'.
Ukrainian Canadian Program
The Ukrainian Canadian Program (UCP) conducts and promotes scholarly research, organizes conferences, and encourages the preservation of archival materials in the field of Ukrainian-Canadian studies.
Stasiuk Program for the Study of Contemporary Ukraine
Founded in 1990 on the basis of the Stasiuk Family Endowment Fund, the Stasiuk Program provides current analysis of events in Ukraine for the scholarly community, government, media, and the general public.
Research Program on Religion and Culture
The Research Program on Religion and Culture (formerly the Ukrainian Church Studies Program) is devoted to study of the history and current status of Ukrainian churches in Ukraine and the diaspora, especially in Canada.
The Kowalsky Program for the Study of Eastern Ukraine
The Kowalsky Program for the Study of Eastern Ukraine was established in 1998 on the basis of a donation by Michael Kowalsky (1908–2000) and Daria Mucak-Kowalsky. The Program, which supports Ukrainian studies and the national revival in Eastern Ukraine, established the Kowalsky Eastern Ukrainian Institute at Kharkiv University in 1999 to direct and co-ordinate work and activities there.
The Danylo Struk Program in Ukrainian Literature
The Danylo Struk Program in Ukrainian Literature was established in 1999 in memory of Danylo Husar Struk (1940–1999) to promote Ukrainian literature in the English-speaking world. It sponsors research, writing, and translating; promotes access to texts through print and electronic publications; and organizes public lectures and readings. The Program supports the annual Danylo Husar Struk Memorial Lecture in Toronto and has initiated a project to publish English translations of scholarly essays on Ukrainian literature.
To find out more about the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, please visit its website.