Women's Dimensions of the Past: Perceptions, Experiences, Representations

Ukrainian Association for Research in Women's History and the Center for Urban History, with the support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation, invite you to participate in an International Conference, "Women's Dimensions of the Past: Perceptions, Experiences, Representations," to commemorate the 10th anniversary of UAFHR

Women have at all times made half of mankind, at least. However, their historical experience is hardly reflected in chronicles or archives. Little do we know of women from most monographs or history textbooks. Global and national histories only present women who managed to get their name in the standard narrative through success in a certain "masculine area" (primarily in politics, military affairs, religion, or education). However, does this absence mean that women were not making history but only passively living it? Or, perhaps, they were simply acting in different ways, less notable but in no way less significant for social progress.

The history of Ukraine in recent times is rich in dramatic events that have crucially impacted entire generations: governments and regimes rose and fell; laws and borders changed; bloody warfare and revolutions raged; huge masses of people resettled, both voluntarily and forcefully; cities were constructed and villages destroyed; Ukrainian education and culture experienced boom and repression; citizens gained and lost rights, they fought against regimes, and collaborated with them. Women, in many ways, have been involved in all these historical processes within Ukraine, whether political, military, cultural, economic, migration, research and education. Nevertheless, their engagement and their roles remain little known.
What do we know about the actual historical experience of real women in the whirlwind of various historic events? How do we see the female past in times of historical turbulence and in times of relative peace? How are women's experiences represented in literature, art, and cinema? How have Ukrainian women changed under the impact of developments in which they participated or which they simply witnessed? Which sources could tell us about the life and activities of women in the fullest and most verifiable manner? What can the knowledge of women's history offer for a better understanding of contemporary processes in Ukraine today?

The 10th anniversary of activities of the Ukrainian Association for Research in Women's History, established in October 2010 in Lviv, will offer a unique opportunity to discuss the status of research in women's history in Ukraine, to review the developments and identify challenges of studying women's experiences in the history of Ukraine, to join our efforts and reflect on the prospects in this area and its role in modernizing Ukrainian historical research.

The working language of the conference – Ukrainian.

In the future, we plan to compile a collection of essays on the basis of conference materials. The selection of texts for the publication will be exercised separately upon completion of the conference.

Organizing Committee:
Oksana Kis, Doctor of History, President UAWHR
Sofia Dyak, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Urban History
Olena Stiazhkina, Doctor of History, senior research fellow at the Institute of the History of Ukraine, NAS of Ukraine
Maryana Baydak, Candidate of History, a research fellow at the Institute of Ethnography, NAS of Ukraine
Kateryna Kobchenko, Candidate of History, senior research fellow at the Center of Ukrainian Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University
Ivanna Cherchovych, Candidate of History, independent researcher

Logistics and Communication:
Viktoriia Panas, Maryana Mazurak (Center for Urban History)

Credits

Image: Woman on Sapieha Street (Stepana Bandery street now). Collection: Oleksandr Moskalenko // Urban Media Archive

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