25. April 2025
In March 2022, under the immediate impression of Russia’s total invasion of Ukraine, the Central European University, Budapest/Vienna, founded the ‘Invisible University for Ukraine’. The Imre Kertész Kolleg at the University of Jena is part of this study programme for Ukrainian students for the past six semesters. This transnational solidarity programme for for junior and senior undergraduate (BA) and graduate (MA and PhD) students from Ukraine, whether residing in Ukraine or in refuge, whose studies have been affected by the war supports the existing educational opportunities of Ukrainian universities by closing the gaps that temporarily emerged due to the Russian invasion. It also seeks to articulate the Ukrainian cause internationally in the context of overlapping conflicts and crises by giving voice to the young generation of Ukrainian intellectuals.
Some of these voices of the young generation are summarised in the anthology "Invisible University for Ukraine. Essays on Democracy at War", recently published by Cornell University Press. This volume is available as open access and is a remarkable portrayal of the students, their teachers and the innovative educational model developed in the face of the ongoing war. The book brings together reflections from those involved in the IUFU on what it means to live under constant military fire, to be confronted with the loss of friends and loved ones, to have to deal with hatred, and to endure fears about the future.
On 25 April the IUFU will present this book at the Humboldt University in Berlin, followed by a panel discussion on the topic of academics and students at risk and the role of higher education in Ukraine and beyond.
When: 25 April 2025, 15.00-17.00
Where: Room 2249 A. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Main Building, 1st mezzanine floor, Unter den Linden 6, 10117 Berlin
If you would like to know more about the work of the IUFU students, please visit Visible Ukraine, which is an interdisciplinary web journal with a focus on humanities and social sciences launched in 2022 by the students themselves. Among other activities, the journal publishes the best research papers stemming from the IUFU courses. IUFU students also organize other extracurricular activities, such as book clubs and thematic discussions.