The experiences and academic understandings of war are constantly evolving as Ukraine continues to grapple with the ongoing Russian invasion. This is one of the emerging issues that the CEU Invisible University for Ukraine (IUFU) Winter School, held from January 11-18, 2025 at Central European University's (CEU) Budapest site aims to tackle: the challenges related to how we know things and how we go about studying and researching them in this unprecedented situation.
The in-person event brings together 35 scholars, 50 students, and five artists from Ukraine and beyond to critically analyze the ongoing war's political, social, legal, and cultural ramifications. It provides a space to explore how we understand and process wartime experiences while reflecting on the wider implications of Russia's aggression.
Participants include American military analyst Michael Kofman, known for his expertise on the Russian Armed Forces; Journalist Natalie Nougayrede, known for her coverage of Russian news and becoming the first female Editor in Chief of the French newspaper Le Monde; Associate Professor Serhiy Kudelia, an expert on ethnopolitical conflicts, terrorism, political regimes, and post-Soviet politics; Mykola Riabtsuk, poet, translator, prose writer, and essayist, president of the Ukrainian PEN Сenter; and Associate Professor Katri Pynnöniemi, holder of the Mannerheim Chair of Russian Security Studies in Helsinki.
The importance of art in articulating the complexities of war is recognized through special sessions dedicated to Ukrainian artistic responses to the conflict with the involvement of contemporary Ukrainian artists Nikita Kadan, documentary film director Anna Kryvenko; and poet Natalka Bilotserkivets. Workshops focus on the role of cultural production in times of crisis and the ways in which cultural objects and practices can shape collective memory, identity, and resistance.
"Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 fundamentally challenged well-entrenched conceptions of history, sovereignty, and justice," says IUFU founder Balazs Trencsenyi, Director of CEU's Institute for Advanced Study. "The complexity, unpredictability, and emotional immediacy of the war pose significant challenges for scholars across disciplines in Ukraine and globally as well."
The Winter School aims to provide a framework for understanding this chaotic and turbulent moment in history, examining the intersection of personal experiences and scholarly analysis by drawing from a variety of academic fields. "The program encourages participants to wrestle with the tension between the personal and the academic, the lived experience, and the analytical, "IUFU Winter School Program Director Tetiana Zemliakova, lead researcher, CEU Democracy Institute, added.
Key themes include:
- Mobilization & Agency - Exploring individual and collective actions in wartime, especially focusing on civil society and the transition from the 2014 Revolution of Dignity to the War in Donbas.
- Research & Writing - Engaging with memory studies, political sciences, law, history, and humanities, allowing participants to collaborate in thematic groups on various projects.
- Rationality & the Irrational - Analyzing the complex rationales behind wartime actions, including hybrid warfare, imperialistic narratives, and cultural claims to territory.
- Lawfare & War Termination - Investigating ceasefire agreements, legal negotiations, and the challenges of ending conflicts, particularly the Minsk Agreements.
- Strategic Continuities & Political Ruptures - Examining shifts in Ukrainian and Russian strategies and discussing the impact of war on state and society.
- Beyond the Predictable - A student-led session analyzing various aspects of the war and reflecting on the future of IUFU.
