On November 9, 2021, a meeting within the framework of external academic mobility of higher education students of Faculty of Ukrainian Philology of Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University with a teacher of the Ukrainian language at the University of Alberta, Doctor of Philosophy Dariia Polianska, was held. The event, moderated by representatives of the Rector’s Office, the teaching staff of the Faculty of Ukrainian Philology and the postgraduate cohort of KSPU, was moderated by Nataliia Maliuha.
It is significant that on the International Day of Ukrainian Literature and Language the Ukrainian-Canadian philological contacts were emphasized, and the personal achievements of the young Ukrainian woman were represented in the context of research in modern languages and culturology, which are developed and studied at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies in the University of Alberta. The meeting also discussed various aspects of academic mobility, which are now widely open to undergraduate and graduate students, and the possibility of their implementation in the personal experience of a graduate of the Faculty of Ukrainian Philology, who in 2019 has successfully defended her dissertation and received a doctorate degree in Slavic languages and literatures and teaches Ukrainian language with other Ukrainian studies courses at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
The University of Alberta (Canada) trains about 39,300 students in various programs, including only about 7,700-7,800 postgraduate students. International students represent 151 countries. Training in programs in Ukrainian language and literature, as well as Ukrainian folklore is carried out at Faculty of Arts. Since 1976, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) has been operating at the University, conducting research and publishing activities on Ukrainian and Ukrainian-Canadian topics.
The University of Alberta is an institution that includes 150 buildings located in 50 neighborhoods of Edmonton. The university is a major economic player in Alberta, with an impact on the province’s economy estimated at $12.3 billion annually, or 5% of the province’s gross domestic product.
Edmonton is one of the two largest centers of the Ukrainian community in Canada, along with the Greater Toronto area. According to the latest census, 144620 (14%) residence of the city are of Ukrainian origin. Architecture and life of Ukrainian Alberta settlements of the 1892-1930 period is recreated in the open-air museum entitled “Cultural Heritage of the Ukrainian Village”, located 40 km east of Edmonton (in operation since 1975). In 1983, the world’s first monument to the victims of the Holodomor, “The Broken Ring of Life” was installed at the entrance to Edmonton City Hall. It is quite natural that the University of Alberta in Canada is a leading institution for the study of Ukraine.
Dr. Dariia Polianska told about her academic path – from degree of bachelor and master at KSPU to the lecturer of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Alberta. She shared her own experiences from different stages of postgraduate life, a story about the peculiarities of various educational programs (master’s and postgraduate) and the specifics of teaching for certain categories of students, etc.
The participants of event watched not only the presentation that accompanied the speaker’s story but also the video “Eco Ukraine” about the infinity of “Ukrainian world”, traditions and innovations of Ukrainian eco-brands as an educational and methodological support of educational courses, which the lecturer has been using in her professional activities for two years.
The meeting was held in a very warm atmosphere, there were memories of studying at KSPU and sincere thanks to the teachers of the Faculty of Ukrainian Philology. Every present had the opportunity to ask questions to the speaker in the chat and receive detailed answers. Particular interest in the information was observed in the students and postgraduate audience, so Dariia Polianska, in addition to answering questions from the lecturers, gave a number of comments to the great interest in academic mobility by students of different levels.
The outcome of the meeting was touching and, indeed, quite sensual. The Head of the Department of Ukrainian Language, Doctor of Philology, Professor Zhanna Koloiz, Dean of the Faculty of Ukrainian Philology, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor Liubov Semenenko, moderator of the festive room, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor Nataliia Maliuha and present lecturers spoke the words of gratitude. A lot of good, kind words were written by students and postgraduates of KSPU in a chat at the end of the meeting with Dr. Dariia Polianska.
It is necessary to tell about one more significant thing of the celebratory action: the important, deep message which was traced during all performance of our graduate and compatriot Dariia Polianska. She repeatedly emphasized the most important value, which she understood only in Canada, far from the Ukrainian land – the awareness of national identity, her belonging to ethnic sources and the urgent need to speak her native language.
