The goal of the Symposium is to present new research and innovative thinking that explores the political, socioeconomic, and cultural dynamics in Ukrainian society. The Symposium seeks to integrate and draw on a wide range of theories and new scholarly research by applying them to Ukraine as a case study.

The Symposium is open to current graduate students and recent graduates (those who graduated in the past two years) from North America and Europe. Cross- national and cross -historical comparisons in the wider context of the post -communist space are encouraged. Submissions can focus on a variety of topics including, but not limited to, the following:

• Sociopolitical and Economic Development;
• Identity and Regionalism;
• National Security, Foreign Relations, and Diaspora;
• Language (translation, bilingualism, etc.);
• Literature, Film, and Media;
• New Approaches to National History and the Politics of Memory.

Previous Symposiums have seen a wide range of participants from: Canada, the United States, England, Holland, Ukraine, Germany, Poland and other countries. Emerging international scholars are provided with a diverse, professional, and open environment that allows for constructive dialogue.

Participants will also have the opportunity to interact with academics working in similar fields.

Previous attendees and guest lecturers include: Dominique Arel, Paul D’Anieri, Marta Dyczok, Taras Koznarsky, Alexander J. Motyl, Mykola Riabchuk, Peter Solomon, Maxim Tarnawsky, Frank Sysyn, Serhy Yekelchyk, Paul R. Magocsi, and Lucan A. Way.

We are proud to announce that this year’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Andrew L. Wilson. He is a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations. He was previously a Reader in Ukrainian Studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at the University College London. Dr. Wilson is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

He has published widely on the culture and politics of the European neighbourhood, specifically on Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, and on the comparative politics of democratization in the post-Soviet countries. His publications include Virtual Politics: Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World (Yale University Press, 2005) and Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship (Yale University Press, 2012), among others.

Please submit an abstract (maximum 400 words) and the following curriculum vitae form by Friday, November 29th, 2013. Proposals should be submitted via email to ukrainian.gradsymposium@utoronto.ca.

Authors whose papers are selected will be notified by Friday, December 6th, 2013.

Applicants should indicate funding needs at the time of submission. Although funding may be available in the form of travel and accommodation grants, presenters are encouraged to seek external sources of funding.