NEWS

 

Davidson is showing its support for Ukraine with yard signs, ribbons, listening to Ukraine’s national anthem, and learning from experts about the war waged by Russia in Ukraine. Dr. Amanda Ewington, Davidson College professor and chair of the Russian Studies Department, has spoken at least four times to educate local citizens about that invasion.

Dr. Ewington spoke at a Rally on the Town Green, on a DavidsonLearns zoom Event (which reached its capacity limit of 100 prior to the start of the program), an outdoor presentation in the St. Alban’s Neighborhood (with over 100 people in attendance), and a presentation at The Pines (in-person and on zoom). This is in addition to her responsibilities at Davidson College and keeping up with colleagues and friends in Ukraine and Russia.  

Dr. Ewington has taught Russian language, literature, culture, and history since 2002. She first visited Russia as a high school student in 1985. Since then, she has traveled, studied, and researched there frequently, including a Fulbright year in the late 1990s. Dr. Ewington’s presentations draw on years of teaching a historical survey course “Russia & the West,” with an emphasis on Putin’s use of historical distortions to justify his unprovoked war on Ukraine. She also provided context for the current mood among the Russian people as their country becomes increasingly isolated from the rest of the world due to sanctions and domestic crackdowns on independent media and free speech.

Here are some links for those who might be interested in learning more about Ukraine from Ukrainian voices and Ukrainian perspectives.

Books

• Serhii Plokhy, The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine (Basic Books, 2015). Plokhii is the director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and a prolific scholar of Ukrainian history. This book is geared to a general audience.
• Marci Shore, Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution (Yale UP, 2018). Shore is a history professor at Yale. The book focuses on the 2013-2014 Ukrainian revolution.
• Plokhy’s list of the best five books on Ukraine and Russia.

Websites/News

• The Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI) has an incredibly helpful page for learning more about Russia’s war on Ukraine and Ukrainian history, including a FAQ section. Useful for the general public!
• Timothy Snyder (Yale) offers a helpful overview of Ukrainian history here.
• ASEEES (Assoc. for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies) has a unified calendar of events on Ukraine that are open to the public via Zoom or webinars.
• Follow current events at the Kyiv Independent, a reputable English-language newspaper.
• For top-notch reporting on Russia and Ukraine by journalists who have had to flee Russia, but continue with their important work by keeping the editorial offices in Estonia, see Meduza’s English-language site. Also,Meduza needs support. Like all independent media in Russia, they have been labeled a “foreign agent” and are now banned in Russia. They need funding from readers outside Russia to stay afloat. They continue to get real news into Russia via the Russian version of their site for Russians connecting via VPN and via their Telegram channel.
• Follow my “Ukraine” Twitter list for posts from journalists, policy people, politicians, and others with regional expertise, some of whom are on the ground in Ukraine.
• Zelensky’s social media: Follow Ukrainian President Zelensky on Facebook and Twitter.

Help Ukraine:

• See the Razom for Ukraine link tree for ways you can make a difference.
• World Central Kitchen/ Chefs for Ukraine to help feed Ukrainians.
• This Washington Post article also lists ways you can help.