ONU Explained What Happened to the Department of Ukrainian History

Three days after the decision to reorganize the faculties was made, the administration of Odessa Mechnikov National University commented on the situation.

According to the university, due to a decline in the number of students enrolled in these faculties, it became necessary to bring their structure into compliance with current legislation. 

This involves the dissolution of the Department of Ukrainian History within the university’s Faculty of History.

In accordance with the decision of the Academic Council, the reorganization was carried out by establishing new faculties at Odessa National University named after I. I. Mechnikov:

• the Faculty of History and Philology;
• the Faculty of International Relations, Media, and Social and Political Sciences.

The Department of History and Archaeology was incorporated into the Faculty of History and Philology. The Faculty of International Relations, Media, and Social and Political Sciences now includes:

• the Department of Media Communications;
• the Department of Cultural Studies and Sociocultural Processes;
• the Department of Philosophy and Methodology of Science.

The university insists that it will continue to offer all existing educational programs at the corresponding levels of higher education. 

The decision sparked outrage; for example, Serhiy Hutsalyuk, former head of the Southern Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance, accused University Rector Vyacheslav Truba of a lack of patriotism. 

“Mr. Truba, aren’t you doing something wrong here? Our war for Ukraine’s independence is also a war for the right to interpret our own history ourselves, rather than living by imperial myths. The Department of Ukrainian History was the place where Ukrainian historians were trained. And many graduates are now defending Ukraine with weapons in their hands. Who will restore, defend, and preserve our historical memory in the future?” he said.

Taras Honcharuk, Ph.D. in History and professor, considers the elimination of the independent Department of Ukrainian History a blow to national identity in the midst of a full-scale war.  

Кирило Бойко