The School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics hosted a group of academic delegates from Ukraine for a workshop on 'Migration, Forced Displacement and the Politics of Loss in Ukraine and beyond' on 20-23 June 2023. The workshop, organised by Dr Evi Chatzipanagiotidou (Senior Lecturer in Anthropology), was funded by the UK-Ukraine R&I twinning grants scheme and brought together staff members from the twin institutions of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (BGKU) and Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in order to consolidate collaboration between the two institutions.

It unpacked connections between forced migration and the concept of loss in the displacement crisis in Ukraine and beyond, with the aim of offering policy-makers and organisations bottom-up understandings of how to better provide support to affected groups. The focus on ‘loss’ engendered understandings of displacement and crisis in Ukrainian borderlands, urban spaces, and other European contexts. Staff from the two universities built on research synergies on the themes of conflict and displacement, European integration, and access to education in order to consolidate the institutional twinning partnership.

The seven delegates from the BGKU, who included former Minister of Education of Ukraine Professor Lillia Hrynevych, were welcomed by Professor Margaret Topping (PVC, Global Engagement) and Professor James Davis (HoS, HAPP) on the opening day. In the course of the workshop, they had the opportunity to meet with a number of staff across the Faculty, from disciplines such as Anthropology, Politics, Philosophy, History, Law, Sociology, Criminology, Education. The delegates were also welcomed by the Director of the Mitchell Institute Professor Richard English, with whom they discussed opportunities for further collaboration and exchanges regarding research, staff and student mobility, and teaching and training provision. 

BGKU representative, Professor Olha Vyhovska commented: