In 2024, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, part of the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, launched the Ukrainian Studies Hub Research Grant program. Open to all Notre Dame faculty, and especially those collaborating with colleagues from Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), these grants support research focused on Ukraine and Ukrainian studies.
Several proposals have already been successful since the program launched, including:
-
“Student stories of resilience and resistance: Training UCU students in documentary film making in collaborative UCU-ND masterclasses,” led by:
-
Ian Kuijt, professor of anthropology
-
Fr. Andrii Shestak, director of the School of Journalism and Communication (UCU)
-
“How the war has disrupted our thinking: Philosophy in Ukraine after ten years of Russian aggression (2014–2024),” led by:
-
Clemens Sedmak, professor of social ethics
-
Volodymyr Turchynovskyy, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (UCU)
-
“Hromada: A Documentary Short Film on the Ukrainian War Refugees in Georgia,” led by George Sikharulidze, associate professor of film production.
-
“Hope in Action: Exploring Ukrainian Educators’ Understanding, Cultivation, and Enactment of Hope Within War,” led by:
-
Jessica McManus Warnell, teaching professor and Rex and Alice A. Martin Faculty Director of the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership
-
Sophia Opatska, vice-rector of strategic development (UCU)
-
Amy Kenworthy, professor of management (Bond University)
-
“Civic Relations in Early Modern Lviv: A Digital Reconstruction of Social Networks,” led by:
-
Tim Weninger, associate professor of computer science and engineering
-
Orysia Vira, lecturer in the Department of History (UCU)
-
Andriy Hrynykha, project and program manager, communications manager in the Faculty of Applied Sciences (UCU)
-
Oles Dobosevych, deputy dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences (UCU)
This program is administered through the institute’s Ukrainian Studies Hub initiative, which was officially inaugurated March 6–8, 2025, with the global conference “Revolutions of Hope: Resilience and Recovery in Ukraine.”
Regarding the program, Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute, said, “The Ukrainian Studies Hub Research grants allow us to support and enhance the level of scholarship about Ukraine across campus and around the world.” He added, “This is the core of the mission of the Ukrainian Studies Hub. We are already seeing excellent and insightful projects come through, and I am particularly excited to see further collaboration generated between Notre Dame and Ukrainian Catholic University.”
In the 2025-26 academic year, the institute has committed to continuing this grant program with additional leadership and guidance from Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian studies at the University of Cambridge and visiting professor at Notre Dame. Any Notre Dame faculty member with an eligible research project may submit a proposal. Applications are open and will be evaluated on a rolling basis.
The Ukrainian Studies Hub will also host its first public event of the 2025-26 academic year on Friday, September 26, 2025, 3:30–4:30 p.m. in 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Hall. Finnin will offer a lecture titled “Chornobyl Madonna: Catastrophe and Hope in Ukraine and the Collapse of the Soviet Union.” A short reception will follow.
Originally published by at nanovic.nd.edu on September 17, 2025.