UCL SSEES: BA Degrees in Ukrainian:

Ukrainian and East European Studies (UCAS R788)
Modern Languages (Ukrainian and another language) (UCAS R000)

Dr Andrew Wilson
Senior Lecturer in Ukrainian Studies

Ukraine is one of Europe's oldest, but most complex countries. Its territory and history have constantly been occupied and rewritten. To many Russians, Kyiv is still the 'mother of Russian cities', the place where their national history began. Kyiv was also home to the religious revival and Cossack state of the seventeenth century, which produced fine buildings in the 'Ukrainian Baroque' style, like the rebuilt Monastery of St. Michael of the Golden Domes below, rebuilt in the late 1990s after destruction by the communists in 1935.

Monastery of St. Michael of the Golden Domes

Ukraine experienced a 'national revival' in the nineteenth century, when the modern Ukrainian language was standardised, followed by several failed attempts at independence in 1917-20, a nationalist guerrilla war from 1943 until the mid-1950s, before finally emerging as an independent state in 1991, having played a key role in precipitating the end of the USSR.

Ukraine is still marked by its centuries of linkage to Russia, and by seventy years of Soviet rule. Galicia in west Ukraine, on the other hand, is a former Habsburg territory with a real central European feel. Half the overall population speak Ukrainian and half Russian, and the two interact and overlap. Two rich languages, literatures and cultures are in competition. On the Ukrainian side that means writers like Nikolai Gogol (1809-52) and Taras Shevchenko (1814-61), the renowned film director Oleksandr Dovzhenko (1894-1956), and modern writers like Yurii Andrukhovych, a leading post-modernist, and Andrei Kurkov, who writes crimes stories set in Kyiv. He calls himself a Ukrainian, but writes in Russian.

Politics is also divided, both between these two cultures and between a young, would-be European democracy and the manipulative and corrupt politics of the old guard. The 'Orange Revolution' of 2004 dramatically symbolised the victory of the former, with hundreds of thousands of peaceful, cheerful protestors triumphing against electoral fraud. Since then, progress has been mixed, but the changes unleashed in 2004 have still to play out.

At SSEES you can study Ukrainian from scratch up to an advanced level in four years. 'Ukrainian Culture and Text' provides an introduction to Ukrainian life through the study of a multitude of 'texts': national symbols, short literature extracts, newspaper pieces, cartoons and film. You will also study 'The Making of Modern Ukraine': with one term covering Ukraine's history up to independence in 1991, and one term covering modern politics and society, including the study of the Orange Revolution and its aftermath. The course-unit system also gives you the flexibility to compose your individual programme of study. As part of the BA Ukrainian and East European Studies degree (UCAS R788), you can take optional courses in comparative literature, cinema, other languages, culture, history and social sciences. Ukrainian is also available as part of a joint Modern Languages degree (UCAS R000) with other European languages such as French, Spanish, or even Dutch.

After four years of study, you will have gained not only excellent language skills but also a profound knowledge of Ukraine's politics, history and culture that will prepare you for a wide variety of careers in today's and tomorrow's Europe.

Core Courses:

Year 1
SEEU1001 Ukrainian Language (1.0)
SEEU1002 Ukrainian Culture and Text (0.5)
SEEU1003 Ukrainian Culture and Text (0.5)
Plus two optional course units

Year 2
SEEU2001 Ukrainian Language 2a - Comprehension (0.5)
SEEU2002 Ukrainian Language 2b - Production (0.5)
SESS2104 The Making of Modern Ukraine (1.0)
Plus two optional course units

Year 3
SEEE3001 Study Abroad Project

Year 4
SEEU4001 Ukrainian Language 3a - Comprehension (0.5)
SEEU4002 Ukrainian Language 3b - Production (0.5)
SEZZ4901 Free-Standing Dissertation on a Ukrainian Topic
Plus two optional course units

Optional Courses:
SEEE2005 Cinema in Eastern Europe (0.5 or 1.0)
SEEE1005 Culture in Eastern Europe: Anthropological Approaches (0.5)
SEEP1002 Introduction to East European Literatures in Translation (0.5 or 1.0)
SEEE1004 Language and Society (1.0)
SEEE2007 Linguistics and Verbal Art: Forms of Content (0.5)
SEEE2006 Linguistics and Verbal Art: Forms of Expression (0.5)
SEEE2008 Vampires, Society and Culture: Transylvania and Beyond (0.5)