As the academic year began, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies marked September with a powerful series of Ukraine-focused events that brought together global partnership, cultural testimony, and scholarly insight. Together, these three moments reflect the institute’s ongoing commitment to fostering dialogue, solidarity, and informed understanding of Ukraine at a critical time in its history.
Notre Dame joins Global Coalition of Ukrainian Universities
This September, the University of Notre Dame formally entered the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies, formalized in a public event and panel in New York City with Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine. Through this step, Notre Dame joins a growing international network dedicated to strengthening Ukrainian higher education, promoting collaborative research, and supporting students and scholars affected by the ongoing war.
Membership in the coalition underscores Notre Dame’s commitment to international solidarity and aligns closely with the mission of the Nanovic Institute to build global partnerships rooted in dignity, academic exchange, and long-term resilience.
Ukrainian Rockstar Slava Vakarchuk: Music, testimony, and a call to action
The Nanovic Institute also hosted Ukrainian rock musician Slava Vakarchuk to speak on campus while he was touring across the United States, raising funds for Ukrainian communities impacted by the war. Blending performance with personal testimony, Slava spoke about the realities of life in Ukraine today and the urgency of sustaining international support. This invited the Notre Dame community to encounter Ukrainian voices in a personal way. By sharing his story and using his platform for advocacy, Slava brought a human dimension to the conflict, a powerful reminder of the power of culture to mobilize compassion.
Professor Rory Finnin on the Chornobyl Madonna: Culture, faith, and the birth of modern Ukraine
To complete the week of Ukrainian Hub events, the Nanovic Institute welcomed visiting Professor Rory Finnin of Ukranian Studies from the University of Cambridge, for a lecture. His lecture examined how art, silence, and faith have shaped Ukraine’s path from the Chornobyl disaster to independence.
Finnin described Chornobyl as a catastrophe of consciousness that exposed the moral decay of the Soviet system and awakened a cultural response among Ukrainian writers and artists. He focused on Ivan Drach’s poem titled "The Chornobyl Madonna" in which the figure of Mary becomes a symbol of endurance and moral clarity amid devastation. Reflecting on the poem’s central figure, Finnin observed that “she is also a locus of horror,” a reminder of how the Madonna carries both the suffering of a wounded world and the strength that emerges from it. For Finnin, the Madonna embodies the resilience that later animated Ukraine’s democratic movement, which culminated in acts of collective courage such as the 1990 Living Chain.
The lecture offered a vivid reminder that Ukraine’s political awakening was not only a geopolitical event but also a cultural and spiritual one. It is a story of people transforming silence into voice and suffering into hope.
Joining the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies, hearing first-hand experiences about the ongoing war from Ukrainian musician Slava, and learning more about the country’s cultural history from Professor Finnin highlight the breadth of the Nanovic Institute’s commitment to Ukraine. As the year continues, the institute will create more opportunities for learning, solidarity, and global awareness, deepening our engagement with Ukraine and its people.
Originally published by at nanovic.nd.edu on December 15, 2025.