University Of Michigan Scholars' Textbook Will Help Teach About Ukraine Professor

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Genevieve Zubrzycki, a French-Canadian and American scholar, professor of sociology and lecturer at the University of Michigan (U.S.), where she heads, among other things, the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE), said this in a comment to Ukrinform.

"We created a textbook for high school students, also for the teachers preparing, helping the teachers to teach about Ukraine. So it's not just about one country, it concerns Europe, it concerns the world, and it's related to big, big issues, human rights, sovereignty, justice, etc. So, it's teaching about ideas of sovereignty, democracy, human rights, war crimes, genocide, etc. And then, through that, they [students] learn about Ukraine," Zubrzycki said.

She added that the authors used data collected by the team of Ukrainian journalist and civil society activist Nataliya Gumenyuk. (In spring 2022, Gumenyuk and international colleagues founded The Reckoning Project: Ukraine Testifies, an international initiative at the intersection of journalism and international justice.) The team worked with witness testimonies, while the textbook authors sought to develop materials about the war in Ukraine, including for people who know little about the country and are neither interested in nor concerned about what is happening there.

Genevieve Zubrzycki

"So, there's different ways that you can actually sensitize the American public to the situation in Ukraine, even if they don't know anything about Ukraine and they couldn't care less," the professor explained.

The textbook has already been translated into Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian in cooperation with Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Work is underway on Polish and French versions, and there are plans to translate it into Spanish and Portuguese to reach the widest possible audience, as support for Ukraine around the world is very important.

The textbooks are available free of charge on the website, where students can also find relevant information, including through virtual reality tools that allow them to experience what it means to be in a place under bombardment, what people there hear and what they see.

Read also: From 'evacuation' to deportation: How Russia abducted Ukrainian children

According to Zubrzycki, the international project's uniqueness lies in the fact that it is based on witness testimonies covering the first two years of the war. It also includes a map showing the advance of Russian troops and the resistance put up by Ukrainians. The map allows users to track incidents of violence resulting from the invasion.

Work on the project began in August 2022, with new elements added each year. During the first two years, data was collected from The Reckoning Project, after which an archive and a digital website were created, followed by the textbooks.

Gumenyuk and her team collected evidence after receiving training from lawyers so that it could be presented in court, including at the International Criminal Court in The Hague or in Ukrainian courts. They also worked with Ukraine's prosecutor general to ensure that journalistic accounts would not be dismissed for failing to meet legal standards, the American professor said, describing the cooperation between her university and the Ukrainian non-governmental organization as unique.

The University of Michigan also works with many different Ukrainian organizations, she added, not necessarily as part of this project. In particular, in December 2024, the university hosted a major meeting with numerous experts to provide recommendations to Donald Trump's incoming administration. The university does a great deal to inform the American public, the professor said. She believes it is important to reach young people who are becoming more aware of the issue, as well as those who have not yet formed a particular worldview.

"So it's important, it's very important. Education is key for that. Absolutely. We're doing what we can," the professor said.

Photo credit: Olga Tanasiychuk / Ukrinform

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