Edgar TaylorKellogg Institute Visiting FellowLecturer in the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Makerere University This book project charts the entangled fates of racial populism and electoral democracy in the public life of Uganda’s urban centers between the developmental colonialism of the late 1940s through the economic dependency and stagnation of the 1970s. It uses previously inaccessible archives, historical newspapers and interviews to illuminate how urban populism was informed by deep historical conversations over authority and reciprocal obligation among elites and commoners anchored in a Luganda conceptual vocabulary. The project also shows how activists inhabited changing infrastructures — of media, urban commerce, residential segregation, and legal paternalism — to uphold and subvert democratic ideals. The book will be anchored in African social history but will contribute to debates over democracy and racial populism in the wake of colonial violence among political historians and anthropologists of the state. More information here

The impacts of extreme climate and weather events pose a greater threat to communities in politically fragile settings. Join Halvard Buhaug, research director and research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), for a conversation focused on the importance of investing in peace, justice, and strong institutions for mitigating risk and successfully adapting to a changing climate. Register to Attend via Zoom About the Speaker Halvard Buhaug Research Director and Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO); Professor of Political Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU); and Associate Editor of the Journal of Peace Research   Much of his research concerns security dimensions of climate change, which has received funding from the European Union, the World Bank, the US Department of Defense, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the Research Council of Norway. He is the recipient of the 2015 Karl Deutsch Award; principal investigator for two ERC projects (Consolidator Grant 2015-2021; Advanced Grant 2022-), and chapter Lead Author in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (2022). Originally published at pulte.nd.edu.

The roots of modern Ukraine are the rhythms and rhymes of Taras Shevchenko (1814-61). His innovative poetry has long been Ukraine’s source code, a cultural algorithm in pursuit of personal, national, and universal human freedom. Today it helps fuel widespread grassroots resistance against a Russian war of aggression and conquest that threatens all of Europe. In this lecture, Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge, places Shevchenko’s work in the context of a long Ukrainian anticolonial struggle against Russian imperialism. Through close readings, he examines Shevchenko’s fierce “solidarity with the subaltern” and explores coded mysteries in his painting and poetry, where freedom is depicted as buried and entombed, awaiting rescue. All are welcome to this public lecture. Lunch will be available beginning at 12:00 p.m., while supplies last. About the speakerRory Finnin (Photo by Peter Ringenberg/University of Notre Dame).Rory Finnin is professor of Ukrainian studies at the University of Cambridge. He launched the Cambridge Ukrainian Studies program in 2008. Finnin’s primary research interest is the interplay of culture and identity in Ukraine. His broader research interests include nationalism studies, solidarity studies, and cultural memory in the region of the Black Sea. Finnin is a graduate of St Ignatius High School (Cleveland), Georgetown University (B.A.), and Columbia University (Ph.D.). From 1995-97 he served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine. In 2024, he received the Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies for his book Blood of Others: Stalin's Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity (University of Toronto Press, 2022).   Finnin will also be featured in the Ukrainian Studies Hub conference "Revolutions of Hope: Resilience and Recovery in Ukraine," March 6-8, 2025. He will join Archbishop Borys Gudziak during the opening keynote session.   Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

The Ukrainian Studies Hub will host its first conference on March 6–8, 2025. This conference will feature academic discussions, lectures, and presentations centered around Ukraine and Ukrainian studies. For more information about this conference, please visit the conference page. Learn more about the conference The conference will convene leading academics, policymakers, faith leaders, and artists to examine how hope has shaped Ukraine through pivotal historical moments, including its independence in 1991, the Russian aggression of 2014, and the full-scale invasion, which began in 2022 and continues. Keynote speakers include:Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Ukraine Mission to the U.S.Archbishop Borys Gudziak, president of Ukrainian Catholic University and Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia;Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies, University of Cambridge, and recipient of the Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies in 2024;Olesya Kromeychuk, director, Ukrainian Institute London; andSerhii Plokhii, professor of Ukrainian history, Harvard University.For a complete list of panelists and speakers, view the conference schedule. The conference is supported and co-sponsored by:Department of German, Slavic, and Eurasian Studies;Kellogg Institute for International Studies;Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies;Notre Dame Democracy Initiative;Notre Dame Global;Office of the President at Notre Dame;Raclin Murphy Museum of Art; andUkrainian Catholic University.Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

To open the first, biennial Ukrainian Studies Hub conference "Revolutions of Hope: Resilience and Recovery in Ukraine," join Archbishop Borys Gudziak, president of Ukrainian Catholic University, as he engages with Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies at the University of Cambridge and recipient of the 2024 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies, on ways to cultivate hope in Ukraine. This event is part of the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum “What do we owe each other?” and also looks ahead to the recently announced 2025-26 Notre Dame Forum theme “Cultivating Hope.” Opening remarks will be offered by Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., and a panel of distinguished guests:Ambassador Oksana MarkarovaUkraine Mission to the U.S.Bishop Kevin RhodesBishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend DioceseTaras DobkoRector of Ukrainian Catholic UniversityThis event is open to the public and part of the wider Ukrainian Studies Hub Conference (March 6-8, 2025), organized by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and co-sponsors across the University. Anyone may register to attend panel discussions at no cost, and other plenary sessions and cultural events will be open to the public without registration. See the full schedule and register for the conferenceOriginally published at nanovic.nd.edu.

The Ukrainian Studies Hub will host its first conference on March 6–8, 2025. This conference will feature academic discussions, lectures, and presentations centered around Ukraine and Ukrainian studies. For more information about this conference, please visit the conference page. Learn more about the conference The conference will convene leading academics, policymakers, faith leaders, and artists to examine how hope has shaped Ukraine through pivotal historical moments, including its independence in 1991, the Russian aggression of 2014, and the full-scale invasion, which began in 2022 and continues. Keynote speakers include:Ambassador Oksana Markarova, Ukraine Mission to the U.S.Archbishop Borys Gudziak, president of Ukrainian Catholic University and Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia;Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies, University of Cambridge, and recipient of the Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies in 2024;Olesya Kromeychuk, director, Ukrainian Institute London; andSerhii Plokhii, professor of Ukrainian history, Harvard University.For a complete list of panelists and speakers, view the conference schedule. The conference is supported and co-sponsored by:Department of German, Slavic, and Eurasian Studies;Kellogg Institute for International Studies;Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies;Notre Dame Democracy Initiative;Notre Dame Global;Office of the President at Notre Dame;Raclin Murphy Museum of Art; andUkrainian Catholic University.Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.